Claymore and Dagger Pt.2

[heartofcourage]

“We’ll have to make sure that it doesn’t interrupt the coronation. There will be a lot of planning going into it.” Fiona said, glancing over at Sam as he continued to remain silent about the entire situation.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I never overlap with tribal events if I can 'elp it," Sam muttered. "It'll be alright."

 

[heartofcourage]

“You’ll be there then?” Fiona asked softly, reaching over to take Sam’s hand and squeezing it tightly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I wouldn't miss it," he promised softly. "It means too much to both of us. It is my tribe after all. An' now it'll be yers too."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona smiled as he said that and she couldn’t help herself as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. It was hard to get him to express much more than he was right now, but she knew he was trying. When he did tell her something like he just had, it meant the world to her.

 

[KieranSoares]

To his credit, Will avoided the urge to gag, but he did roll his eyes and earned a nudge from Owen. "You'll understand it one day, cub," he muttered.

 

[heartofcourage]

“You cannot tell me that you haven’t secretly kissed Lucy.” Fiona said, glancing toward Will as he rolled his eyes.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm pretty stupid, Fiona. But not that stupid," Will told her with a bored gaze, none of the blush or nerves of a guilty teen showing.

"You will be before long," Sam commented.

 

[heartofcourage]

“She’s a pretty girl. You could do a lot worse.” Fiona said as he insisted that he hadn’t kissed Lucy Ghis yet.

 

[KieranSoares]

"You all like to warn me and warn me, and now you're encouraging me?" Will asked incredulously.

"You can go after 'er, if y'keep it respectable an' don' do anythin' too stupid til yer older, an' you clear any bigger steps with Leon," Sam clarified.

 

[heartofcourage]

“I think you’re both very young and you still have a lot of life left to explore and learn from.” Fiona said as Sam gave his own advice. “But if you like her in the way that I think you do, I think you’re old enough to see what that friendship might turn into.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"We'll see," Will muttered in a non-committal tone learned from years of shadowing Fiona in their thieving days.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Brat.” Fiona commented with a grin as they finished up their meal and she worked with Owen to clear the table.

“So, things are going well with the tribe?” Fiona asked softly as they cleaned the dishes while Will showed Sam his new leather tack.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Very. I've had to have a talk with a few people who remember me from my younger days, and understandably, there are a few that may never forgive me but they're courteous at least. But all in all, it's been peaceful and most folks are happy to offer a helping hand as needed."

 

[heartofcourage]

“Ma would be proud of you.” Fiona do softly, giving him a smile as she placed away the dishes. “She loved everything to do with her tribe. She would have wanted you to reconnect with everything. Hopefully with a naming ceremony she can sleep a little easier. She loves tradition dearly.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"I did once too, but not in a healthy way. Hopefully this can be one of the ways I make amends, and show her that her mate didn't end up being such a lost cause."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You weren't a lost cause." Fiona said, turning to look at her father as he spoke about how much her ma must have been disappointed in him. "Fate decided that it wasn't going to be kind to either of you. I wish she were still here to see how everything turned out, but I also know that she had terrible demons of her own. She's at peace now and you are doing your best to prove that you aren't the same man that you used to be."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I wouldn't have changed if she were still alive, little kit. I left because she was gone. I was captured because I didn't care enough to save myself without her waiting for me at home... In a way, your mother saved me... I wouldn't have gone through all the things that made me a mate she'd have been proud of, if she hadn't passed... I suppose her giving up on me was her last effort to save me from myself."

 

[heartofcourage]

“Has there ever been anyone else that caught your eye? You were gone a long time. Surely there was someone else who brought you happiness along the way.” Fiona said softly, even though she knew that most foxes mated for life.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Your grandfather always used to say that there's more than one person for everyone, even us clingy foxes. I can't say I ever found a second love or mate... But I did find comfort once, for a little while... One doesn't have much time for love in a slave mine, but the odd gentle word and someone warm to curl up with in the cold and dark is practically priceless." His gaze grew Faraway as he thought of the woman he'd shared several months with.

 

[heartofcourage]

“If she’s still out there...” Fiona said softly, knowing that most foxes never made it out of the mines alive. “Da, we might have never seen it as a good thing when I was little, but being born a human is one of the greatest gifts you could have given me.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know that now. All the pride in the world isn't worth a lifetime of fear and pain. I only suffered a short while and I barely made it out, and it changed me on a base level that I can never recover... I can't imagine what it must do to those who are trapped for decades, and to those who try to have real families in those places against all odds rather than just being breeding fodder for their slavers... Some nights I'd wished even I was human, that Tatiana had been human. It would've saved us so much trouble in our lives." He looked back to Fiona. "If I'd had even an inkling of what it really meant for you to be human back then, I would've celebrated it rather than hated you. I would be the were with the child who wouldn't suffer our people's mantle. At least, not all of it." He knew the 'were-born' as Hunters called human children of the werefolk, were also hunted and hated further south, though there was a larger area of safety for them as few common folk could actually detect werefolk blood or tell the difference between common blue eyes and cub-blue.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona stepped forward and wrapped her father in a tight hug. Her face was nuzzled against his soft fur, letting out a soft sigh. “I love you, Da. That’s all that matters now.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Owen wrapped her up tightly and nuzzled against her cheek. "And I love you, Fiona," he murmured. Then quietly, he added, "... Ionnin. That was your mother's favorite name of all those we considered for you. It's unisex, she wanted a name that wouldn't confine her cub to an identity. It's the name of a hero from one of the oldest legends of werefoxes, a woman who defied an unfair judgement of the gods that nearly destroyed our people, and fought them until they saw reason... I think it's fitting for you. You have a habit of battling with stubborn people."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona stilled in his arms as he told her the story of how her ma had chosen the name. It made her tear up as she hugged him a little tighter.

“Grandpa used to tell me that story at bedtime.” Fiona said softly. “It was one of his favorites.”