The North (Closed)

[KieranSoares]

Sam readied for the day as well, giving her space as much as possible. When he was finished, he paused at the entrance of the tent. "I'm gonna walk the camp an' help Soma organize fer now, then I'll meet up with you before it's time t'meet with Dyne. Anythin' you need before I go, darlin'?" He knew she was morose and not happy with him, but he didn't let that stop him taking care of her.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona shook her head when he asked if she needed anything before he left. "A fucking break." She muttered as she felt incredibly overwhelmed and emotional.

 

[KieranSoares]

As Fiona sat alone with her thoughts for a long moment, the ache in her head seemed to shift. She felt another presence push in, trying to interrupt her connection to the other Caller. She could feel Soma's energy, stubbornly lifting a shield. Even if he couldn't offer his full focus to help, he could at least lift a bit of weight off Fiona's mind.

She could feel the stranger recoil in surprise at another presence, unable to lash out in response at the moment and growing curious but a bit frustrated. They clearly hadn't expected another Caller and were surprised to encounter another Blackstone.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Soma..." Fiona murmured softly as she felt the familiar connection of her son, reaching into the recesses of her mind and take on the weight of her troubles.

She was angry that he was distracting himself and angry that Sam most likely had said something to their son about it, but she was also grateful that the pain had lessened so that she could function. She finished her morning routine and then left the tent to find Schaller.

 

[KieranSoares]

Schaller was much closer to the camp than he'd usually be, sacrificing his preference of privacy to be in close reach as his partner struggled. When Fiona found him, he was curled tightly into a ball with a wing draped over his head, having slept in a bit after being up too late. As she approached, he began to stir slowly, uncoiling and yawning hugely while his wings stretched and refolded.

Glancing down at her, he lowered his head to her level. "Hello, my love."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You know I'm going to scold you." Fiona said as Schaller woke and greeted her. "I don't want you to sacrifice sleep and sanity for my sake, Schaller."

 

[KieranSoares]

"And you know I'll never listen, little Fox. So save your breath." He nuzzled gently against her arm. "How are you feeling? That Caller was rather... unkind in the night. I can't imagine when they sleep if they're constantly barraging you."

 

[heartofcourage]

"There's more than one, if I have it figured correctly." Fiona murmured as he nuzzled against her. "And I feel like shit, if I'm honest. I slept, but not well."

She leaned her forehead against his scales. "I don't want to face today, but I know I have to."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't want you to face today either, but we need you..." Schaller sighed, stilling as she pressed her forehead to his scales. "With any luck, we will either stop these Callers soon, or learn to defend against them."

 

[heartofcourage]

"If I don't turn Dyne to our side, I'm as good as dead." Fiona whispered, knowing how serious this entire situation was. "And I'm not sure that I can."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I won't let them take you from us," Schaller promised softly. "I promised you that twenty years ago, and I haven't broken it yet. I don't intend to anytime soon. I will see you to the proper end of your days decades from now, my little love." His massive form curled in around her, surrounding her in warmth and protection. Schaller could interrupt the other Caller's onslaught at least a small bit as well, and he did so as he held Fiona to his cheek with one hand.

 

[heartofcourage]

By the time everyone arrived in camp for the meeting, Fiona had gathered herself back into the same stoic person that they had all grown used to. She greeted Owen with a tight hug, father and daughter left alone as everyone else busied themselves with other things. Fiona looked up into his eyes as she took a step back, her hands resting lightly on his upper arms.

"This won't change anything." She said softly. "I promise, Da."

 

[KieranSoares]

Owen had come straight to Fiona the moment he'd unbuckled Orion's tack, holding her for a long moment as everyone else went off to work or rest. When Fiona looked up at him and promised nothing would change, Owen lifted his hands to cup her face gently. "No matter what, I love you. You're my little kit and you're my dearest kin. Never forget that." He leaned in to kiss her forehead and hugged her again.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona held him tightly, not willing to let him go for a long while. Bringing him there was risky and she couldn't help but feel her anxiety and nerves rise. She wouldn't be able to breathe easy until this entire affair was over.

"I suppose there are things I need to tell you before we leave." Fiona murmured softly. "So that you aren't entirely caught off guard."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm all ears," Owen assured her, following her back toward her tent where they'd be able to talk in private til they were ready to go. Schaller would wait nearby, and Sam would join them as soon as they headed out. Things across no-man's land were quiet, but each side still stared unblinking at the other, waiting for one to make the first move.

 

[heartofcourage]

Within the hour, Fiona, Sam, and Owen were off from camp, heading towards their destination. Fiona had chosen to leave behind all of her armor, showing Blair that this was not meant to be an ambush as she suspected. Hidden beneath her thick cloak, Sam wouldn't know that detail until they landed, and she was sure that she was in for a heated row, but Fiona knew what was needed in this moment. There needed to be weakness on her part, to show that all of this wasn't just for show.

As the dragons sat down on a rocky beach, Fiona slipped off Schaller's back and looked around the scenery. They weren't there just yet, but it gave Fiona time to line out Sam with what she needed from him.

"You'll stay back with the dragons." She said as she met his gaze. "I don't want to overwhelm them."

 

[KieranSoares]

As Sam pulled off his gloves to tuck them into his belt, he gave Fiona a concerned look. "If I'm back here, I'm out of reach, love..." His greatest concern was Fiona being within biting range of an enemy dragon. And while Sam had proven he was perhaps the most practiced dragon-slayer, that was useless at a distance.

Stepping in close, Sam murmured, "I want this t'work. I really do. But Royer's proven he fights dirty. I'm scared for you, Fiona."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I made a promise.” Fiona murmured back, pinning her cloak to show that she was unarmed and not protected by her armor. “You forget that the Blackstones were once arbiters. We can handle ourselves around unruly dragons.”

“Samuel, now more than ever I need you to put your faith in me and trust me.” She looked him dead in the eye when she said that, the distant sound of a dragon announcing an arrival telling the small group that Dyne would soon be there.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam's entire body tensed seeing her unarmed and unarmored and she could see his jaw tighten as both terror and anger flared up. He clenched his hands at his sides, holding her gaze for a long moment. "I trust you more'n anyone else in this world," he murmured. "But I don't trust you with your own life sometimes, love..."

As the red male dragon came swooping in and made a careful landing nearby, Sam briefly pulled Fiona in and kissed her cheek. "Don' make me raise Tati alone..." With that, he let her go and stepped back with Schaller and Dzana while Owen joined Fiona's side.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona turned to face the red dragon, the wind whipping around them as he sat down with a muffled thud.

“If things turn bad, you get out of here.” Fiona said softly to her father as they made their way towards the two figures dismounting.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Not without you," Owen protested quietly, his eyes trained on the young woman who dismounted. His step faltered as he saw the second figure, but they were too heavily wrapped up in a cloak and furs to be sure of their identity.

Blair's dragon took a few steps back but remained within reach, as Blair supported the other, taller figure. When Fiona and Owen drew close enough to see the stranger's face, Owen froze in place. Before them was a Wolf maybe ten years younger than Owen, of similar height, with wild timber wolf colors and patterning in her fur. Her amber eyes were full of worry but also seemingly anger. Fiona couldn't detect anything that would suggest she was a Caller, which meant that if Blair was Owen's daughter, she was a purely Blackstone Caller.

Owen and the Wolf stared at each other for a long moment. Owen's expression held nothing but shock and grief, and the Wolf's was equal parts relieved and angry. Blair looked between them, silently recognizing she had indeed found her father.

"Owen." The Wolf's voice wavered when she said his name, and tears threatened to burst forth. She clenched her jaw and stood firm.

"Nora..." Owen murmured, his shoulders beginning to droop with the weight of guilt and the knowledge that because Nora lived, he could've gone back for her and bought her freedom as well as their child's.

"Yes, cub, that's him..." Nora murmured to her daughter, and Blair let out a quiet sigh, not sure how to grapple with the confirmation.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona lowered her head as it was all confirmed. There was such an air of sadness in the moment, when there shouldn’t have been any. Owen had no reason to feel guilt, she thought to herself. All that mattered now was that he had found a part of himself that had been missing for so long.

“Nora.” Fiona said softly, forcing herself to lift her head while she extended her hand towards the other woman. “I’m Fiona.”

As Fiona gently shook the wolf’s hand, she carefully glanced over towards Blair. This would complicate things greatly.

“The three of you have things to talk about, I’m sure.” Fiona took a step back, inclining her head respectfully towards the other two women. “I’ll give you some privacy.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"I think I'll let them speak together alone first," Blair muttered, letting go of her mother and joining Fiona's side at a respectful distance. As the two pairs parted, Blair looked back at her mother with obvious worry.

Once they were a short distance away, Blair took a deep breath and shook her head. "Let me be direct with you, FIona... If the king knew about this, I would be thrown in jail or worse, my mother too. Under no circumstances should I be even speaking to you outside of trying to capture or kill you." Blair placed her hands on her hips and sighed heavily. "I don't know what will come of this... but I do know that my Ma has dreamed of this day my whole life, and then when she learned Owen was free all this time, she felt betrayed. I can't exactly blame her for that, but I also know there's little Owen could've done to find her, much less free her."

Holding Fiona's gaze for a long moment, she added softly, "And now I have a sister I'm supposed to kill..."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Royer is a coward." Fiona murmured as she and Blair paused in the distance. "He might have other Callers that can break through my barriers, but he knows that Blackstone blood is pure. Why else would he be so scared to let us meet? He never wanted you to know the truth."

Fiona looked over her shoulder at Owen and Nora as they talked, her gaze only stolen as Blair mentioned that she was supposed to kill Fiona. "If that is your intention, do it now. My husband is too far away to stop you."

They stared at one another for a long moment, and she knew that Blair wouldn't reach for her weapons. "Do you know what saddens me the most? You'll only know the father that I dreamed of every day when I was a child. You'll only ever know the kind, softhearted man who would do anything for his family. You'll never know the beast that he was. Owen Blackstone is not a saint and he was once filled with hatred for anything that was human...including his own daughter. You will never know that."

"There is nothing that this Empire doesn't know about me. I'm sure that you've heard all of the nasty details. How I killed their emperor. How I was once a thief, a murderer, and a whore. How I probably even killed my own grandfather and my own mother. How death follows me like a dark shroud. How I live up to the legacy of Margaret Blackstone. If you don't come to our side today, they will continue to poison you with those stories. I know that you believe them. You have no reason not to. I only just hope that perhaps coming to the North is a better prospect than staying with them."

 

[KieranSoares]

Blair listened quietly as Fiona spoke, crossing her arms and lowering her head slightly. "I don't know what to believe about you..." she admitted quietly. "Because I know either side of this war will exaggerate. You're a legend to the North, and a horror story to most of the Empire outside of Hendrik's direct influence. But I know people are just people... no one is a saint, and few people are truly evil."

Fiona could see Blair's eyes stray to the hilt of her sword, but she showed no interest in drawing it. "If I leave here and you're not dead in my wake, Royer will hunt me down. And worse, he'll send Hunters after my mother. He bought her freedom a long time ago, and while he's never said it aloud, it's been clear that if I ever turned traitor, he'd sell her back in an instant. I never had a reason to turn on him... he freed us, sheltered us, fed us... He gave me every opportunity and advantage he could muster, and he protected my mother from anyone who meant her harm. Obviously it was because he needed me to help him steal Scotland from the Empire and defend it afterward... but I owe the man quite literally everything. If I betrayed him now, I'd betray my entire country and everything I hold dear."

Blair met Fiona's eyes again, and she could see the immense struggle. "I have to choose what's best for my mother... That's the bottom line. If she wants me to defend my country from the North, I have to. If she wants me to make peace with you and Owen, I... Well, Royer will just have to find someone else to send after you, won't he?"