Claymore and Dagger (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"I'd rather not bother anyone..."

"Owen, do not resign yourself to death. In fact, I was hoping to talk you into settling here for good after Solstice, stay with the family."

Owen looked at Oleg as if he was a madman then.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'm staying until spring. And then I'll be going back to Inverness. You can come with me if you wish." Fiona said softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"You're both out of your minds. No one here or there wants Owen Blackstone to come back. That's why I'm not staying..."

"Owen," Sam finally spoke up, gaining the Fox's attention. "I know this isn' my family, shouldn' be my business... But you're welcome in Inverness if you've truly changed. As for here, it migh' be a little rougher, but in either place, ye'll find good people o' all races who'll welcome you long as yer honest an' decent. Your family doesn' hate you. Even an outsider li' me can see tha'. An' even if she was afraid o' you once... Fiona doesn' hate you."

"... And just who are you?" Owen asked quietly.

"Samuel Ghis, General o' Inverness an' it's city guard... An' yer daughter's greatest admirer t'say the least. Ye've left a lot o' scars from what little I know... But no' hate. An' I'm sure Suara would be glad t'welcome a brother Erygonian home too."

"The man speaks true, Owen," Oleg added softly.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Da, there is a lot that we need to talk about and work through, but you shouldn't punish yourself anymore. I don't blame you for what happened. I might not completely understand it but I do not blame you."

 

[KieranSoares]

Owen sighed, as if some ages-old tension left him, but he felt weak too. "I suppose... I ought to say what I came to tell..."

"I'll wait outside," Sam murmured, but Owen raised a hand.

"No, lad. If you're with my daughter, you're welcome to know." Sam simply nodded in response, and Owen thought for a long moment before beginning. "My letter said most of it. After I left Sweden, I went searching for dragons in the hopes of making sure they were safe, or to help them flee to safety. But... most I found were no more than skulls above knights' and warriors' fireplaces. I did find three alive between France and Austria, but some French squire fancying himself a fairytale knight in shining armor came and slew one. She could hardly fly... Thankfully, though, her mother ended that boy's career in dragon-slaying. I sent her off toward the Himalayas for safety. The third I found was ancient, having stayed in a cave feeding on bats and blind fish for so long that he himself had gone blind. I couldn't do anything for him... Someone had cut off his wings. He told me to go and save the young, even send them to him if they had no other place to go. His existence wasn't a miserable one, just lonely. I had intended to send those I found to him, but... I found no more alive. I don't remember how long I wandered, but I was eventually cornered by Hunters. Werefoxes are uncommon in Austria, so they sold me instead of skinning me... I ended up in a Portuguese coal mine."

Owen had to pause for a moment, the memories hitting him hard. "I had it easy... My fur was still fine then. They would make me work for a while, then trot me out to be a waiter at banquets that the mines owners' had every couple weeks, cleaned up and dressed only in chains and trousers should a guest find one of us werefolk beautiful and want to buy us for a good price. I traded owners, but never left those mines and banquet halls for two years. Until my last owners' son, a 'radical were-loving pagan' according to his uncles, bought my freedom after my fur got singed badly in a mine fire, and sent me north toward Amsterdam. He didn't have the influence to help me get there, but I managed. And in Amsterdam, werefolk are free as second-class citizens can be... My fur took a long time to recover, as well as the burns, but no one cares what you look like as a dockhand, so I worked loading and unloading ships until I had the coin to make it here... Having my drake made it take longer, but... Someone had tossed him aside like garbage in an alley with a broken leg, and after he healed, he saved me from thugs more times than I can count. I wasn't about to sell him. And... having him made the journey actually cheaper, being faster than going on foot or horseback, and he can hunt for himself and me if need be. So... here we are."

 

[heartofcourage]

Her father's life hadn't been good and Fiona felt pity for Owen Blackstone. The once proud werefox had been beaten down by a life of hard living and mistreatment. He seemed so old compared to the last time that she had seen him, but she supposed that she herself had been a scared little girl at the time.

"I waited. For three days. It took Grandpa that long to get the letter you had left behind at the tavern for him, telling him that you were gone and he could have me." Fiona said softly. "He simply told me that you were dead. If I had known that you were still out there, I would have helped to pay for your freedom."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Don't spare me pity, Fiona. I deserved much worse, for more than just you and your mother," Owen murmured.

"You must move past these things, son. If only for the sake of giving yourself permission to enjoy your daughter and the love she still has for you, that we have for you as your family even if you've wronged us. Angry as I was back then... My daughter chose you. That makes you as much my son as any of my boys. Look to the now, Owen, or you'll regret it too." Oleg rose. "Talk to your daughter. We'll be around." Taking Anya and Sam with him, he left Owen and Fiona alone in the den.

Owen's ears slowly laid back, but not completely. "I... Thought of you. Often... I regretted leaving... But I was too proud to go back after I stepped foot on that ship. I thought of sending letters, but I never knew what I could possibly write to you and Da that wouldn't sound fake or... Remorseless."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Grandpa was so happy that I could come home." Fiona murmured as she took a seat next to her father. "He was the happiest fox in the world. But late a night, he would sit next to the fire and weep for you. He always told me that he didn't just lose his son, he lost his friend."

She let out a long sigh and shook her head, thinking about her grandfather fondly. "He took me to Loch Fae and showed me all of the spots that you played as a kit. I think it was his way of keeping me connected to you, even if I still had nightmares. He showed me the spot where he married Grandma in the misty highlands. He wanted me to know all of the family stories in case you never did come back."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I never planned to come anywhere near the isles or Scandinavia again," he murmured. "At first it was because I wanted to run, then later it was because I thought I'd never be welcome back. And then... I got tired. I don't want to run anymore." It was difficult to be open with anyone, especially Fiona whom he expected to lash out at him at any moment, and with good reason.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You don't have to run anymore." Fiona said softly, daring to reach out and touch her father's hand. "I can care for you. Help you have a good life anywhere you want."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You don't have to take care of me... but I... I'd be glad for the help to get settled..." Owen had once been far more stubborn, perhaps the source of Fiona's own stubborn spirit, but he wanted to find comfort again. "I don't know where I'll stay. But I do want to go back to Scotland at least for a while, if only to give your mother and grandfather the respect they deserve." He looked down at their hands together. The last time he'd let her hold his hand, it'd been on a particularly difficult day when his anger had crumbled into depression after losing Tatianna, and he'd finally let himself be comforted if only for that day.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I miss her." Fiona whispered softly as her father looked at their joined hands. "As silly as it sounds. It gets harder and harder to remember her."

 

[KieranSoares]

"It doesn't sound silly. I... don't remember her voice. Hardly at all." Owen looked over to meet Fiona's gaze. "Sometimes... all I want is to hear it one more time, just so I can have that piece back."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It was deep and raspy. With that slight little accent. I never really thought much about it until she spoke to me in Swedish. It would deepen and I could get lost in her words." Fiona said with a little smile, squeezing his hand. "She used to call me Fifi. She said Fiona was too serious for a little girl."

"Fifi, don't be so serious. Go and play." Fiona said, mimicking her mother almost perfectly.

 

[KieranSoares]

Owen let out a quiet chuckle, a sound that had become so foreign to him. "She wanted to name you after her mother, and I wanted to name you after mine. Eventually we met in the middle on a name we both admired."

 

[heartofcourage]

"And you won by naming me after a dragon slayer." Fiona commented on her middle name. "I tried so hard to make you proud. You have no idea how hard I worked at it."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I would have been... if I hadn't been such an idiot. If it means anything... I am proud. I may not know everything that's gone on since I left, but you became a decent person and Oleg's family adores you. And that man you were with... Samuel. He's a decent sort too."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Things with Sam are complicated." Fiona said softly, looking to her father. "My hopes are that things will work out in the end but right now, things are tentative."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I hope they do work out," he told her, "but at least from what little I saw... he's a good sort."

Not knowing what else to say, Owen finally drew Fiona to his side, hugging her gently. He was ready for her to pull away, but he wanted to show her at least that bit of love that he'd so often denied her years before.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona was stiff at first as Owen pulled her against his side. She wasn't used to him showing her any kind of affection, but soon enough she was leaning into his side. She wrapped her arm around him and held him tightly, reconnecting with the father that she barely knew.

 

[KieranSoares]

When the family eventually rejoined them along with Sam, Fiona could see the tension her uncles- except for Rhett- felt around Owen, but they were courteous at least. Oleg and Anya were welcoming, and Rhett was his usual kind self, not harboring any ill will toward the fox who'd been through so much.

 

[heartofcourage]

Before dinner began, Fiona asked her uncles to come with her to her room. As the door closed, she turned to face them, knowing that they were hurting as much as she was over the loss of her Ma.

"I know you don't like him because of what happened to Ma. He's my da, my flesh and blood, no matter what happened in the past. I'm not asking that you forgive him. I am asking that you give him a chance to make amends. Mama loved him deeply."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Easier said than done, little kit," Voluun sighed. "I feel pity for him, but not enough to believe he's changed. Once he's back on his own feet again, he may well become the same man he used to be back then."

"You can't assume the worst of him immediately," Yul murmured. Though he too was bothered by Owen's return, he wasn't about to treat his brother-in-law like a stranger when he was in such a weak state.

"It's hard not to," Juno sighed. "I don't want to... but I can't help feeling protective of everyone."

 

[heartofcourage]

"He's all that I have." Fiona said, trying to plead her case to her three uncles who seemed completely unprepared for Owen to have returned. "And as horrible as he was to me, I want to believe that he can change and be the father that I always needed."

"At least for this week, can you make the effort to make him feel welcome?" Fiona asked, knowing that the Solstice was incredibly important for everyone.

 

[KieranSoares]

"No one is ever left out of the Solstice or made unwelcome," Voluun was the first to tell her. "The Winter Solstice marks the ending of the year, the hardest times of the year, before the spring rebirth. If Owen is genuine, then you'll find come spring that we will have buried most of our grudges and inhibitions against him. But until he proves himself... we'll be courteous, no more. It's stubborn... but I'm not ready to place any kind of trust in him. That said... he is welcome. As a survivor of slavery, this Solstice will be his welcome back to his own kind. I won't ruin that for him."

"Me either," Juno promised, and Yul nodded in agreement.

"No one deserves to feel alone or unwelcome during winter. Especially not with how hard this winter is shaping up to be," Yul added quietly.