Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[KieranSoares]

Sam looped an arm about Fiona's waist as they headed into the tavern, where they found the usual small crowd and Tavir and Stacia effortlessly running it all. They didn't even have to ask before Tavir sent Stacia their way.

 

[heartofcourage]

"The biggest, hardiest meal that you have, Stacia." Fiona ordered as she settled in next to the fire with a content sigh. "And then whatever Sam wants. It's been a long day and I haven't eaten since breakfast this morning."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Same fer me," Sam said with a smile to his old friend. "Oh, an' careful o' yer barn out there. Ye've got a new resident an' a very protective father."

 

[heartofcourage]

"So, the little egg hatched?" Stacia asked, giving the two of them a smile. "I'll make sure to leave them some extra milk and meat outside the barn door then. Roman has been bringing the items I leave for them inside to Kennah."

She left the both of them a few moments later, mugs of ale delivered by a helper shortly there after. Fiona sat back and relaxed, her muscles slowly staring to recover from the day's activities.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam was still a bit on edge after facing his deepest nightmare phobia, but he smiled across to Fiona after a while. "Y'know, you looked like you belonged in tha' saddle, up there with Invah."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I feel like I've been meant to do this my entire life." Fiona said with a smile towards Sam. "Like it was something missing that I never even knew was missing. My grandpa had so many stories of his relatives flying. I thought they were just tales for a lonely little girl."

 

[KieranSoares]

"An' now you're gonna be th'hero of all kinds o' stories in th'future," Sam chuckled. "I signed up fer quite a ride stickin' with you, didn' I?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"You know I would give it al up if you asked, right?" Fiona asked, letting him know that he had a say in this crazy little adventure. "I trust you to keep me safe, but I also want you to have a say in this, Sam. It our life together, not just one person or another."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Fiona..." Sam reached over to take her hand. "I'd never ask you t'give up somethin' you love unless I was sure it wasn' good for you. I saw you come alive out there," Sam told her with a fond smile. "I can 'andle a bit o' worry. An' part o' the reason I wanted t'work with ya... well, it was because I wanted t'make sure I could help if y'ever needed it. Even if I'm scared out o' my wits about most of it fer myself... I'm not so much scared fer you as excited. If y'want t'do this, I want you t'do it."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Since when did you turn into a hopeless romantic?" Fiona asked, leaning across the table to kiss him with a silly little grin on her features. "You make me feel like I'm worth so much more. I love you, Samuel."

"Alright, love birds." Stacia said as she started setting plates of herrings and Egyptian meats on the table. "Tavir made you a feast as requested. A little from Sweden and a little from Egypt."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Thanks, love," Sam smiled to Stacia, the look on his face letting her know everything was just about right in his world.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Save all that sweet talking for your fox." Stacia commented, kissing Sam's cheek before she went back to work behind the bar.

"She can see straight though you." Fiona said with a smile, helping herself to generous portions of everything that was set out on the table.

 

[KieranSoares]

"See right through what? I can't be sweet t'my friends?" Sam gave Fiona a little smirk. "I learned it from my Da. He's always sweet-talkin' all the women around th'keep, but they know where 'is heart lies."

 

[heartofcourage]

"And just where does your heart lie?" Fiona asked, giving him a small grin as she simply wanted to hear him say the words.

 

[KieranSoares]

"With a Dragon Rider, mostly. But I have to save a little bit of it for my family, if you don't mind," Sam told her, knowing she understood that part of his heart and mind would always reside with the Ghis Clan, just as he understood a part of hers would remain with her own family.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I think that I could handle that." Fiona said as she reached out for Sam's hand. "I think we can both split our time between our families. They all mean something to us and it's important to keep them happy."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam gladly took her hand and leaned over to kiss her cheek before they finally tucked into their meal. It did him a world of good to know they both agreed that family was too important to set aside.

After dinner, Sam wanted to check in on the drakes one more time, opening up the barn door a bit to glance in. He smiled to Fiona with a finger to his lips, letting her see inside too. Kennah was laying on her side, fast asleep with little Elin asleep in her arms. Roman laid behind Kennah with his head on her shoulder, and his eyes opened to look at Sam and Fiona with a soft rumble, though he didn't move.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona smiled as she watched the drakes in their peaceful little family moment. Roman's deep rumble told of his contentment but also warned them to stay away for a while longer. She couldn't blame him. If she had a brand new baby, she would want to spend as much time alone with it as possible. In time, as Elin grew, he would become more open to the idea of having them near to the baby.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam closed the door, leaving it unlocked as usual so Roman could come and go, and he wrapped an arm about Fiona's waist as they walked back toward Oleg's home. Everything was right in the world, if only for the moment.

The coming days were tough on Fiona physically, Dmitri set on making sure she knew some basic fighting, first aid, and survival skills before he was willing to move onto the really difficult things. And he constantly pushed her to master the bow both in the saddle and on the ground, insisting that there might come a day when Invah couldn't hunt for herself if she was hurt, so Fiona needed to be able to do it for her. It would also come in handy anyway so Fiona could hunt her own meat rather than buy. Sam insisted she use a light shortbow, the closest he could find to match her size and strength. His own bow had far too heavy of a draw for her. And with Rory's help, Sam put in an order to a Malmo leather worker and tannery to have her gear custom-made. The local tribe didn't have the capabilities to make exactly what she needed. However, Malmo lacked any suitable saddle-makers that could even begin to fit the makings of a dragon saddle in their workshops, so Sam's plan to have David do it instead still stood, and he mailed the patterns ahead with an explanation to his brother-in-law.

By the time Fiona's full set of light leather gear came in, the snow was beginning to melt, telling of a warm spring approaching. Fiona knew it was coming when Sam made a special trip to Malmo with Kennah- his first all winter- to pick it up. Roman took care of the hatchling beautifully on his own, but he'd begun to trust Fiona, and Owen surprisingly, to look after Elin when he had to hunt.

Sam arrived one evening just after Fiona had finished an exhausting training session with Dmitri focused on how to set broken dragon bones and how to help tears in the wings heal. While it wasn't physically taxing, it was mentally overwhelming how terribly intricate it all was and how truly fragile a dragon's wings could be. They'd studied Invah's wings closely and Dmitri had shown Fiona where there were tears that had been properly treated, and those that hadn't been. Dragons tore little bits of their wings often, but anything larger than say an arrow hole could be dangerous and rip further during flight. Large holes or rips could send a dragon plummeting toward the earth.

When Fiona returned to her grandfather's home, Kennah was outside laying in the newly-grown, short grass in the fading sunset, her tail curling lazily as she enjoyed being warm outside for a change. Her saddlebags were hanging on a nearby bit of fence along with two large canvas bags, and Fiona could see Sam off a ways shooting a bow at a target. It was certainly a Mongolian bow and it looked like his with the metal threads in the limbs and the gorgeous horn handle which created a pincer shape around where the arrow fired from, but it was too small to be his bow. And he had a new leather quiver attached to his belt, the arrows held in place like a proper dragon rider's quiver did. The arrows were fletched white, long and thick bodkin-style arrows that packed a powerful punch and stayed straight longer even in the wind. Near him there was a bundle leaned up against the fence, as tall as he was.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona was absolutely exhausted as she returned home, pausing when she saw Kennah lounging in the sunlight. No doubt Roman would be along soon with little Elin in tow. Elin would dawdle after her father, romping like a spry little drake. She would squeak when he get too far ahead of her and he would always pause until she caught up. It made Fiona smile.

She moved toward Sam, kissing his cheek before she took a seat beside him, too tired to do much but sit there. She should have sought food, but she just wanted to sit there with Sam, not thinking about anything.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Hiya, love," Sam smiled to her. "So I brought yer gear... an' a couple extra things." He placed the bow in her hands and set the quiver beside her. "I ordered those in from Mongolia. I'll teach ya how t' make th'arrows sometime. And..." Sam unraveled the tall bundle, revealing another weapon. Sam had secretly commissioned the bow, and a custom glaive for her, one whose staff was almost as tall as she was, with a foot-and-a-half long blade with a small hilt to prevent fingers accidentally slipping onto the blade during two-hand fighting. And though it was curved, the blade was sharpened so that it could stab or slash beautifully, and the handle was wrapped with wet-molded hide so that it fit perfectly and had little grooves from a long strand of leather underneath to give it a good grip.

Also in the bundle was a fine steel shortsword with an angled hilt and leather-wrapped handle, the pommel set with a black jet stone. And with it was a small steel buckler painted with the tribal Blackstone symbol.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Samuel." Fiona said softly as he showed her the sword that he had commissioned for her with the black stone embedded and the symbol of her father's family. "This is so much more than what we agree upon."

She pulled him down for another kiss, unable to protest much further than that. She knew he would never listen to her when she told him that he was spoiling her.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam's arms wrapped around her waist and he grinned even as he kissed her. He was incredibly excited about the custom gear and weapons, and almost giddy as he pulled out the glaive, stepping back to give it a test spin and a couple slashes. "Dmitri gave me th'proper design fer this an' I sent it t'Kjotva's best smith. It's jus' the right weight an' balanced perfectly, an' the proper length fer you." It was a formidable weapon, meant to be the main weapon on dragon-back alongside the bow, whereas the sword and buckler were for close fighting on foot or on horseback. They were essentially backup weapons but could be used in any melee situation should she be disarmed of her glaive or be unable to use it for any reason.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You're like a little boy with a bag full of sweets." Fiona commented as she heads the tiny call of Elin as Roman and the baby appeared over the ridge.

Kesh was with them as well, having bonded with the other drakes as Elin grew. He was a doting uncle to the baby as she hurried to her mother, purring and growling as she greeted her back.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kennah rose to greet her hatchling, catching her when she nearly overbalanced. After a week away, the little drake had missed her mother. Kennah scooped her up in one arm to nuzzle her, greeting Roman soon after as Kesh watched quite contently.

Sam let Fiona take the glaive while he went to greet the drakes too, and Kennah put Elin right into his arms. Sam had gotten to pet the little hatchling before, but never hold her. She remembered him, and gladly latched onto his shirt and nuzzled up against him.