Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"You're still young yerself," Sam reminded her. "Twenty-one, if I remember correctly. What makes you think you don' deserve a chance anymore? Ye've got options. Mrs. Aoli's been t'the keep every week askin' about you, askin' if yer alrigh' an' tellin' me I'd better not hurt you or she'll set 'er kids on me. Ma an' Da keep tellin' me t'be nicer, tha' I can't keep seein' everythin' in black and white. Kell clearly thinks yer somethin' special. Hell, even my little sisters vouch fer you. Ashelin thinks yer an angel fer helpin' 'er best friend's Ma, an' ever since she heard yer voice, Heather's sure you're a good sort."

Sam sighed, stroking his beard once more. "I want ya t'know... I don' disagree with them. But my job is t'see in black an' white, an' catch people who break th'law. It's nothin' personal, Fiona." It was the first time he'd ever called her by her first name, aside from when he'd read her name off the jail roster.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Because there is no way that I will ever be able to do what I really want to do. Working for Hara is fine, but I want to sew and create things. That costs money that I don't have." She admitted to Sam, blushing furiously as she told someone her great dream for the first time. "Maybe one day when I'm older."

She let out a sigh as Sam told her that it was nothing personal. "I know. I know that you have a job to do, Sam."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam looked at her for a long moment as if seeing her in a new light. They had a strange sort of understanding now. An honest thief with nowhere to go, and a grim soldier with a job to do.

Their food was brought out, and they ate in peace together despite how Sam should've been chasing her down and dragging her to the keep. Instead, he relaxed, letting the spring sun warm him through his dark uniform in the still-cool air.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I've always envied your family." Fiona said softly as they enjoyed their meal together. "All of you seem so joyful and you want to spend time with one another. I wish that I had been able to have something like that. Brothers and sisters to keep me company and keep me honest."

The day that her mother had drank herself to death, her father had unleashed a tirade against Fiona that she couldn't understand at three years old. He called her all sorts of names, aching for the woman that he loved and trapped by the little girl that he didn't want. He blamed her for her mother's issues and the fact that her mother's family wanted nothing to do with them.

"You're the cause of all this." Her father has hissed at her as she cowered in the corner of their dirty cabin, the one that her mother had only been taken out of an hour earlier. "If you had just been normal, we might have been happy."

Fiona didn't cry at that. She kept all of those tears inside. Tears only made him more angry and she did love her father enough to not want him to be upset. It was a horrible childhood.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam glanced over at Fiona as she spoke, and he murmured, "Y'know it's only tha' way because Ma an' Da had terrible childhoods themselves. They never wanted us t'have t'deal with parents like Tamblin 'r William of Chester." But he couldn't help wondering just what problem Fiona'd had. "Can I ask... what was the problem? With your family, I mean. You don't have t'tell me if y'don't want to."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona glanced down at the food she had been enjoying and knew that she would lose her appetite when she told him about her childhood. Carefully, she placed the bowl down in her lap and took in a deep breath, her cub blue eyes looking off towards the distance for a long moment.

"My Ma and Da were soul mates. He met her when he traveled to Scandinavia and promised her everything under the sun to get her to come back to Scotland with him. Her name was Tatiana Olegsson. Her father didn't trust my Da, even more so when she got pregnant with me shortly after they had met. My Da brought out the worst in her and their problems only got deeper when they came here."

"My grandfather, Ephriam, tried everything he could to make life easier for the both of them. He built them a house to share. He bought all of the things that they would need when I came. My Da was a proud fox and it wounded his pride that his father was having to do all of the things that he should have." Fiona remembered the intense anger that Owen Blackstone had held for his father, like a burning hot forge. "When I was born...everything changed. There had never been a human before on either side of the family. My Da called me a monster and an abomination. His anger made my Ma drink more and more until her body couldn't handle it anymore. She died when I was three. He didn't want a little girl...he wanted a fox like him."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam wanted to reach out a put a comforting hand on her shoulder like he might with his family, but he wasn't sure it was his place. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I shouldn' 'ave asked." Not only did he not want sympathy to affect his job, but he hated to hear that good people were treated so harshly when he was lucky enough to have a large, loving family.

 

[heartofcourage]

"It's alright." Fiona said softly as Sam apologized for asking. "It's my life. I can't change the things that happened. I can only hope that maybe one day I will make things different for myself."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You can," Sam nodded as if absolutely certain. "Anyone can. Just look at Ria and Kell." He offered her that rare, small smile before finishing his meal and rising to put his armor back on. "Speakin' o' Kell... he'll probably come lookin' for me before long if I stay. An' I don' want him t'know I jus' had lunch with th'girl I've been chasin', though I'm sure 'e'll find out soon enough."

 

[heartofcourage]

"He probably already knows." Fiona said as he stood to put on his armor. "I'm convinced that there are very few secrets you can keep from him."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Long as 'e doesn' tell anyone an' ruin my reputation, I can deal with tha'," Sam chuckled slightly. "Gods forbid if Ma 'r Kate find out." Once he fastened his cloak, he nodded to Fiona. "Good luck, Blackstone."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You'll have to outrun my drake next time, Ghis." Fiona said as Sam looked down at her and wished her luck. "Looks like I might have the upper hand now."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Only when you have the drake, though," he smirked ever so slightly before going to fetch his horse. Roman eventually wandered to Fiona, earning all kinds of curious glances from the younger folk, and adoring looks of recognition from the older ones who'd come all the way from southern Europe and Africa with Tidannon and Tidus. They hadn't been able to bring drakes with them, the beasts too large to transport en masse over the English Channel without actually having them swim across. That hadn't been even remotely possible that winter they arrived.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona smiled as Roman found her, nuzzling against her fondly as he sniffed at the leftovers of her meal. "None of that now. You'll get fat." She teased the scaled beast, nudging his nose away from the bowl as she placed it aside.

 

[KieranSoares]

Roman grumbled as she took the bowl away, but he didn't push. Instead, he just rolled onto his side and pulled her close with his huge arms. Drakes had hand-like front feet and short thumbs- not nearly as dexterous as humans- so Roman could hold onto her or pick things up if he really wanted to, though he usually batted at objects like a cat and preferred picking things up in his teeth. He pulled Fiona against his huge chest and nuzzled against her hair and her shoulder like a wolf marking his cub, before laying back with a long, content sigh.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I agree. A nap sounds fantastic." Fiona said as Roman pulled her close, nuzzling against her long blonde hair before he held her against his chest. "The sun is nice and warm and I'm sure that you're tired of being cooped up in your shed."

 

[KieranSoares]

Roman's simple answer was a yawn before he curled around her, his tail tip resting beside his head with Fiona against his side. They were left alone for a long while until soft voices reached them, and Roman twitched with a rumble, lifting his head to look around toward his back where a group of four little werefolk children were staring at him in awe. Two were black werecats, and two were wolves.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona opened her eyes as Roman shifted, glancing at the children that had come upon them. She stretched and looked towards the four, giving them a smile.

"Kosovo." She said with a smile. "Would you like to meet Roman?"

 

[KieranSoares]

The children all looked at one another before the oldest and bravest spoke up. "My chana said she had a drake just like him in Africa. We've never seen one before."

Roman rose then, standing over Fiona and sweeping his tail round as the children stared at him. He showed off just a bit, lifting his head high and standing tall and straight as he could.

 

[heartofcourage]

"He loves to play." Fiona said with a laugh as Roman stood to show off his impressive form to the children. "He's like a giant cat."

"My mama says that you're a dragon caller." Said one of the little girls, making Fiona laugh softly.

"I'm nothing special, little cub. I just happen to have a bond with this brute."

 

[KieranSoares]

Roman snuffled around the children, investigating and letting them up close. The little girl's brother insisted on what their mother had said. "Mama's never wrong about things like that. She's a spirit Elder."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Blackstone's have had a bond with drakes and dragons for generations." Fiona said softly as the cubs insisted that she was a dragon caller. "But none of us have called them in many, many years. I don't even get to be a full werefox like the rest of my family."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You don't have to be a were to be a dragon caller," the oldest insisted before Roman nudged his cheek and made him laugh. Soon Roman was chasing around with them, but he was incredibly gentle.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona let them believe what they wanted to believe as she took a seat in the warm sunlight. Roman ran and played like a cub himself, chasing after the rocks that the younger children would throw. It was like he was a dog, making them laugh and giving them memories that they would never forget for the rest of their days.

 

[KieranSoares]

Eventually the children's mother's called them home and Roman returned to Fiona to nuzzle up against her once more. He paused to see an old white werewolf approaching. She walked slowly and carefully, her form fragile in her old age. She'd heard of Roman and his rider and came to see him herself.

"Kosaav," she greeted them in Erygonian. "I am Suara Corel."