Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Fiona remained in bed until she heard Will leave the house. Her stomach was in knots and she didn't feel much like eating. Instead, she finally gathered herself enough to get out of bed and head towards the loch. When she saw Invah sunning herself that morning, she paused, knowing that the wise dragon would guess what had happened in an instant. She pressed forward, however.

"Invah?" Fiona called in a quiet, defeated tone as she came up to her. "Are you ready to leave for Scandinavia? I think I'd like to go soon. Tomorrow, if possible."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I can go anytime." Invah murmured as she heard Fiona's voice. Opening her wise, teal eyes, she looked down at the girl who was like her own fledgling. "Why so suddenly?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"I just want to go." Fiona murmured as Invah looked at her with her wise gaze. "There's really no reason for me to stay here any longer."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm guessing something happened with Samuel," Invah sighed, drawing Fiona close against her chest. "What is it?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"He won't even look at me anymore." Fiona said, bursting into tears as Invah hugged her against her chest. "He won't let me explain. I did what I had to do to leave my old life behind. I did all of this for him so that my past wouldn't come back anymore."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Oh, little kit," she murmured, nuzzling Fiona's cheek lightly. "Just give him time, my love. Samuel is stubborn, and has had no luck in love until you. Let him cool down."

 

[heartofcourage]

"No, it's over." Fiona sniffled as Invah did her best to try and comfort her. "He'll never forgive me. I know him. I ruined everything."

 

[KieranSoares]

Invah was quiet for a long moment, until she asked softly, "Did you say goodbye to Will yet?" She knew Fiona needed time away.

 

[heartofcourage]

"No. I told him to go away this morning." Fiona said as Invah spoke to her in soft, soothing tones. "He's out with his horse by now."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Then leave him a note. Go gather your things and we'll go," Invah told her, her wings shifting on her back.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Right now?" Fiona asked, looking up at Invah as she told her to leave Will a note and gather a few things.

Fiona simply nodded and when Invah placed her back on the ground, she walked back to her home. She packed a few things that she would need. A few dresses, her warm cloak, a few other items were all added to the pack. She also wrote a note as Invah had suggested, telling Will that she was leaving with the dragon and she would be back in a few weeks. If he needed anything, Aleister would take care of him. In the mean time, he needed to keep up his work and stay out of trouble.

She left the note on the kitchen table before she turned to leave. She felt incredibly depressed and defeated as she locked the door behind her and started the trek back towards the loch.

 

[KieranSoares]

When Fiona arrived, Invah had her huge wings unfurled, stretching them out in the sun in preparation for her first flight since she was wounded. Fiona had only seen her fly once, but hadn't been able to enjoy it considering all that had been going on.

Invah's wings were covered in scars from battles long past, whereas her scales, which shed occasionally and regrew, were not, except for a few places where she'd once had such deep wounds that the scales never came back. There were several such places under where her wings were usually folded, telling of how enemies had aimed to shoot her out of the sky when she was still a warrior.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona handed Invah her bag, pulling on her warmer cloak as she turned to look back at the loch. Her heart ached so much that she swore she might die. She promised herself that she wouldn't cry any longer. That was a difficult promise to keep. Reaching for her necklace, she pulled out her small collection of items and glanced down at them for a long moment.

"I should give him this back." She murmured softly, fingering the button that she had kept from Sam's jacket.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Do you want me to take you to the keep?" Invah asked softly, her wings folding and her tail swishing lightly across the grass.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona thought about that for a long moment and then finally nodded, glancing up at Invah with a broken gaze. "I could at least leave it with his mother. I don't think he wants to see me right now. I don't know if I blame him."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Come along, then, love," Invah murmured, laying flat and helping Fiona climb up on her back. Invah was so large that Fiona could sit quite comfortably along her fur-ridged spine. Invah turned toward town and entered the east gate which was just big enough. Normally she would take the south gate, which was every bit as huge as the keep citadel's gate. Once in the courtyard after plenty of staring from the townsfolk, Invah let Fiona down. Guards went to find Julia, letting her know the dragon had arrived with Fiona.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona was standing back on the ground when Julia arrived with a guard escorting her. Julia had concerned etched on her face as she saw Fiona standing so defeated in front of Invah, her eyes and nose red from tears.

"Fiona, love, what happened?" Julia asked softly, knowing that the young woman was in a fragile state.

"I broke his heart." Fiona said simply, looking up at Julia with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "That's all I can say."

She reached up to pull off the necklace, working his button off the leather strap before she handed it to Julia. "Sam needs this back. There's no reason for me to keep it any longer."

"Sam has a hard temper, Fiona, but he'll calm down." Julia said softly, glancing up at Invah.

"It doesn't matter. I'm going to find my family. He won't have to see me again for a very long time." Fiona murmured, her voice cracking as she turned back to Invah, hiding the wet sheen of tears on her lashes from Sam's mother.

 

[KieranSoares]

Invah helped Fiona back up, and looked to Julia. "I'll let you know when we return, Julia. Until then..." She touched Julia's cheek ever so lightly in a silent farewell, and turned to head to an open space in the courtyard. Once she was sure Fiona was set, her powerful wings unfurled and Invah got a running start, taking off and rising high over the town in only a few beats.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia watched in awe as Invah took off with a few beats of her wings. She had never seen anything else like it in her life, but she felt absolutely gutted for her son and the woman that he had fallen in love with. Fiona looked defeated, utterly crushed. Perhaps time away from Inverness would do her some good...

Fiona held on to Invah's mane as she took to the sky, everything familiar dropping from around her as they set off on their journey. Glancing down below, she could see all of Inverness and it was a beautiful sight. However, all she wanted to do was bury her face against Invah's smooth scales and sleep the rest of the day away.

She heard a strange cry, however. Glancing back towards the ground, she saw the drakes in the keep paddock running in a group as they saw Invah taking to the sky. Roman was calling out, his sharp cry reaching her way up there in the sky.

"I'm sorry, beastie." She whispered softly. "I'm so sorry."

 

[KieranSoares]

Invah looked down as well, feeling rather bad that she couldn't bring Roman. He wouldn't be able to stand being carried for three days without any room to move. Drakes couldn't go that long without exercise, while Invah could sleep while flying and not touch the ground for a whole month except to eat. Feeding Fiona wouldn't be hard. All she needed to do was catch a few fish and roast them, her scales being invulnerable to dragon flame.

Invah flew out over the bay before turning straight east, gliding once the ocean winds caught her. "Sleep, little one," Invah spoke above the wind around them. Fiona was just behind Invah's shoulders in a place protected from the brunt of the wind, and her back was broad enough that it was safe to sleep. Invah would never let her fall.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona did just that, curling up beneath her cloak against Invah's warm scales. The tears came again, swift and violent, and she was soon sobbing again. She couldn't help it as her heart broke into pieces. She had lost Sam for good. She was leaving Will behind with just a note. And now Roman... It was too much for her heart to take as she cried herself to sleep.

A few hours later, Julia and Brogan walked down the hall of the keep to the library. Julia had told her husband what she suspected was going on and the both of them were going to get the story from their incredibly stubborn son. Pushing open the library door, Julia saw Heather sitting at the long table with her brother, listening as he went over a book of Scottish history. He would spend more time with Heather when he was stressed. The girl knew not to ask her brother questions and could gauge his moods better than anyone else.

"Heather, love? Would you give us some time alone with Sam?" Julia asked, moving to stroke her fingers through Heather's dark hair. "Your Da and I need to talk to him."

"Of course, Mama." Heather said, pushing herself back from the table while Sunny scampered out from beneath the table where she had been resting on Heather's lap.

She watched as Heather and her kitten left the room before Brogan closed it behind her and she returned her gaze back towards her son. "You're going to tell us both what happened." Julia said softly as she placed the returned button on the table beside Sam's hand.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam only glanced down at the button, and Julia saw something flicker across his emotionless expression. He flipped his book closed and stood, his answer quiet, even dangerous. "I'm no' a child, Ma. My business is my own... an' I don' want t'talk about it." It was a tone he didn't mean to use with his mother and both his parents could see his temper was flaring just under the surface. Even his stoic demeanor was beginning to crack.

"Sam," Brogan murmured, stepping in front of his son before the young man could walk away. "We're worried, lad."

"You don' need t'be." Sam's reaction was instant when Brogan tried to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. He jolted away and fixed Brogan with a glare that was almost pure fury. But they could see the underlying pain.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Samuel." Julia said as her son snapped at her, pushing his father in an effort to get away from the questions of a family that wanted to help him. "Love, she's gone from Inverness. She said she was going to look for her family. She looked absolutely broken. I just want to know what happened."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Broken...?" Sam's gaze returned to Julia. "Goddamn broken? Broken, my ass, Ma!"

"Sam..." Brogan began, seeing his son begin to break.

"She probably 'ad the time of 'er life, runnin' off t'sleep with some gang Wolf!" Sam roared, making even Brogan concerned that he might truly snap. "She can sleep with all Scandinavia fer all I care!" His voice cracked at that, and though he didn't mean it at all, he just wanted to hurt someone or something, even if it was as simple as Fiona's name.

Sam seized the button off the table and.threw it across the library before turning to an open window and climbing out into the garden to escape his parents, heading off toward the barrack training fields.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia could see the anguish in her son's green eyes as he tried so hard to remain angry. He could never hate Fiona. He just wanted to hurt someone to get rid of his own hurt. She wanted to scoop him up and hold him as she had when he was a little boy who was angry and scared, but she didn't do anything as he threw the button across the room and escaped through an open window.

"What do we do, love?" Julia asked, looking over at Brogan with concern written very plainly on her features.