The North (Closed)

[KieranSoares]

"I just want to finish this and go home..." Andre admitted softly, finding himself horribly homesick for Trondheim, the first home he'd had since leaving Greece. Taking a deep breath, he kissed Riley's cheek and slowly pulled away while pulling his shoulders back and trying to right his mind. "I'm gonna go check in with Rikke... then I think I'll go see Ma for a bit."

The camps grew quiet with the death of the Emperor, and a detachment of Imperial troops soon approached from another camp to protect young Arnulf and his mother, including members of Joachim's guard who'd been present for the moment he'd been overtaken by Hesperus and attacked Tanya. For the entire next day, it was unusually quiet as many thought on the recent tragedies and harm done to beloved leaders.

It was nearly sunset the next day that Sam finally returned to camp after being hidden in Dzana's care for almost twenty-four hours. Fiona had seen him a couple times, visiting with Schaller to find Sam not all there mentally, barely able to recognize his surroundings and visitors. When he did realize who he was talking to, he seemed pleasantly surprised, then soon lost his memory again. When he finally returned to camp, he seemed to be much more himself. When he came to find Fiona going over letters in their tent, he quietly entered and came to her side. Kneeling beside her, he kissed her cheek and laid his head in her lap, one arm loosely wrapped around her.

"Hi, love," he murmured softly, his voice deeper and gravelly as if he'd just woken from a nap. "How long was I gone? Feels like bloody months..."

 

[heartofcourage]

The last time that she had visited Sam and found him gone from the world, she knew she had to leave him to find his way back. It wouldn't do to sit and fret when there were still so many things to take care of. Their tent was one of the few still lit when he arrived, papers and letters spread around her desk. Glancing over when Sam entered, she gave him a small, but warm smile as he came to her side and greeted her with the familiar kiss to the cheek and a lucid hello.

"Just a day." She said as she instantly ran her fingers through his hair. "You didn't have to come all this way, love. I would have come back for you after I finished with my work."

She leaned in and kissed his cheek before she straightened back out and let out a sigh. "I have officially declared war on Edinburgh. Signed, sealed, and delivered by a rider this evening."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Gonna be the shortest war in a long, long time," Sam muttered, tilting his head to the side to look up at her. "Soma'll be at those gates in a week, an' he's decided he doesn't like sieges."

Sam soon shifted, lumbering across the tent like a great, tired bear to fetch a spare chair so he could sit beside his wife. Once he settled, he reached out to take her hand. While Riley was the most sensitive to emotion, Fiona could always feel Callers near her. But most of them had had some training as to how to wall themselves off. Sam's presence was starting to noticeably fade in, raw and unexpectedly fiery despite his subdued state. It wasn't unlike how Riley's presence had first burned bright and chaotic, even afraid for a long time til she got everything under control. Sam, however, was like a furnace. He was steady, contained, and much more intense than any open fire.

"I talked to Dzana about what I'll need to do to be ready to help you," Sam murmured after a long silence, his gaze falling to their intertwined hands. "While I'm finishing up the swords, maybe I can 'ave some of the other Elder Dragons help me build up tha' mental defense you all have. The kids too when they aren't too busy. Don't need that overgrown snake takin' me out of the fight by makin' me lose my mind when I can finally actually help."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'm afraid there will be nothing to wage war on. I have effectively declared war upon a dragon." She murmured as she looked at Sam, putting aside her papers and focusing in on her husband as he took her hand.

She considered his words for a moment, her fingers squeezing his before she shook her head. "He won't. He only attacks those that have doubt, the ones that he can slip beneath the armor and root out the insecurities that can make someone mad. You, my love, with this power, are not insecure."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam couldn't help a little melancholy grin. "You must be jokin', love. You of all people know how insecure I can be. The only thing I've ever been sure of is you." Sam let go of her hand to lift his own to her cheek. "But maybe that's all I need for this fight."

Leaning over, Sam drew Fiona into his lap to kiss her and simply hold her for a long moment. "I missed you," he muttered quietly, burying his face against her neck. "Not just this past day. Ever since we left Trondheim."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I've been right beside you, love." Fiona said softly, her brow furrowed with concern as he held her tightly and admitted that he had missed her since they had left Norway. "You do remember that, don't you, Sam?"

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam smiled lightly and murmured, "I haven't forgotten. I meant having a moment's peace with you... Feels like we never get one. There's always something hovering over us. I'm lookin' forward t'the day we can 'ave lazy mornings again, wander off into the woods and the loch whenever we like..." Sam sighed softly. "The closer we get, the more I miss it."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Even in those moments there was something hanging over us." Fiona said softly, her fingers absently playing with Sam's tunic. "But I know the sentiment."

She curled into him, the only place in the world that she could let everything go. She didn't have to think that she had just declared war against Scotland on behalf of the Northern Riders. Soon, the others would join them, and Edinburgh would close ranks if there was anyone left to even so such. Hesperus might have destroyed anything that was left already.

"You've been asleep so long, and I know what it feels like. You want to do nothing more than sleep longer. Food sounds terrible. However, maybe I could convince you to come with me to put my new sword through its paces." She murmured, pulling back to stare into Sam's green eyes. "Your Da and Uncles have done a lovely job, but they can't compare to you."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam smiled lightly as she asked him to join her out in the field to train. They had been one another's sparring partners nearly every morning for twenty years in Norway, keeping sharp and ready for anything. It was almost a ritual part of their relationship and Sam had always followed it with getting the children up for breakfast and seeing them all off to wherever they needed to be. Riley to work, Soma and Fiona to Castle Trondheim, and Tati to lessons. Then he'd go off to the forge or whatever chores til lunch.

In that moment, Sam was more than happy for a sliver of normalcy, giving his wife a nod and a kiss before lifting her to her feet with even less effort than usual. He didn't look any different, but Fiona could tell he was stronger. If Dzana's warnings about her gift were true, Sam was going to be stronger, faster, and more formidable. But he seemed like his old self otherwise, going to the trunk he brought back and forth from the river forge and pulling out his own new blade. Fiona had always seen him use an axe, a one-handed arming sword, or a Claymore. The sword he withdrew was somewhere between his usual blade styles, a bastard sword with a deep blood channel and a thick hilt in the style of classic Scandinavian blades.

Turning back to his wife while he grabbed his gauntlets and his round shield, Sam offered a light smile. "It'll be a good chance to get to grips with mine too an' get myself back up to speed keepin' up with you. Lead on, love."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona had gathered her new sword and shield, turning to watch Sam move around their tent. It was clear that there was something different about him, but she was sure that no one else would probably notice. His mind was still guarded, but the way that he moved seemed more at ease and calm. Her caller side was interested as a curiosity to see what Dzana had to offer, but her fox was on high alert. There was something in her mate now that put her on edge and before the night was over, she was going to figure it all out.

"To the sparring grounds then." Fiona said as she buckled her sword belt on easily and slipped her arm into the shield to carry. "Hopefully your uncles and Da are long asleep."

 

[KieranSoares]

"They ought to be. Just you an' me, love," Sam murmured as he joined her side and they headed out to the edge of camp.

As they came to the flat, open area the soldiers practiced in, full of rings drawn into the dirt for sparring, Sam paused a moment to set his sheath aside. Stepping into one of the rings, he rolled his shoulders and turned toward his wife, sword resting on his shoulder. Normally they'd train with blunted weapons, but they needed to get to grips with the weight and nuances of their new blades. They were skilled enough to avoid hurting each other with sharpened blades.

When Fiona came to face him, Sam lowered his stance and took a deep breath. Internally, he knew he had to be careful. If what Dzana had said about her gift was true, he might be a little more dangerous than before.

"Alright, darlin'," Sam said with a small smile. "Show me what the old men 'ave been teachin' you."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona drew her sword and held it in her starting stance, sizing Sam up. She wouldn't know what he was capable of until they truly started, which filled her with a bit of trepidation at the unknown. It would be the biggest fight that she had faced that wasn't Boar Ghis or Durban Ghis with an axe in their hands.

When she struck, the clash was brutal, their swords singing in a dangerously beautiful way. She didn't stay still for long as the steel slid against steel and she backed away and to strike again. It was like attacking a wall. Sam didn't even seem to notice that she was putting any kind of force behind her attack at all.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam seemed to be testing himself, aware something was different but unsure how far it went. When he found himself parrying Fiona's blow with little effort, he was a bit stunned. Fiona was much smaller than him, certainly. But she was strong and her accuracy and wit made up for her petite size. She was proven one of the finest swords in the North.

Checking the blades briefly and pleased to see neither showed a scratch, Sam stalked forward with his shield ready. When he got a chance to deflect a blow, he reeled back and made a strike trained on Fiona's left side. He knew she could block it, but he wanted to test his own newfound might.

The blow struck the shield, but as Sam's blade sang off the scaled surface, it also sent a chunk of scale flying. The shield had withstood dragon fire almost flawlessly, but dragon steel had overcome it. The sword was doing exactly what it was made to do: cleave dragon hide. But the amount of force Sam had put into it with only a half effort had been enough to do what, before, he'd needed all his might for.

When Sam had slain and wounded dragons in the past, it took everything he had to cause them real damage, and his normal steel swords were ruined by the hide. Now, he stood staring agape at the damaged scale shield and his still-flawless sword.

"Whoa, whoa, stop," Sam said quickly, backing off with wide eyes. He knew how hard and tough the shield was and while it was easily repaired, he was disturbed at how easily he'd sliced a scale off. "Are you okay, love?" He asked immediately their swords were down. He was worried he might've hurt her shield arm. The blow had glanced off and not delivered too much force to Fiona's arm, but it did send a small shock up through her arm and shoulder.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Love, I'm fine." She murmured as Sam seemed spooked at the damage he had done to her shield.

Fiona quickly pulled her shield arm free, showing him that he had caused no damage out of the ordinary. "Your uncles have been doing the same all week. It's fine. I'm tough."

"You, on the other hand, have gained much more strength than you previously had." Fiona murmured. "My fox is very weary and suspicious, just so you know."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm no' used to not knowin' my own strength," Sam murmured, partly to himself as he looked down at his lavender-tinted blade. "I've always been measured an' careful because I knew I was strong... but this is different."

Looking over to Fiona and her comment about her fox side, Sam's brows furrowed in concern. "Suspicious... Of everything, or about what's happened t'me?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"She knows something is different and she's just...cautious." Fiona murmured as she pulled the shield back on and checked to make sure that he hadn't cracked all the way through. "She's not scared of you, Sam. She just knows that you went through something, and she doesn't know what."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam's eyes lowered to the ground and he murmured, "I did. I don't know how to describe it. But Dzana said I was... sort of bein' taken apart an' put back together. It's all still me, but... some things have been broken an' put back together in a different way. I feel steady, a little lighter, maybe, but normal. It's just that the definition of 'normal' has changed."

Sam looked across at Fiona, struggling to explain the unexplainable. "There's a lot fading in. It's so slow tha' I barely notice it. But... I feel everything around me." Sam looked down to think a moment, trying to find an example. "Not just you. It's like... I can feel something else. Something bigger, and it's everywhere." Finally, he set his shield and sword aside and knelt to touch a patch of clover with little flowers starting too bloom. "But it's made up of lots of little things... I think... I think it's the land."

Sam, like Fiona, had many interesting nicknames that would live on in history. Among them was one he inherited from Brogan and Tamblin before him: the Bear of Inverness. It was not indicative of the family crest. It was instead the source of the crest's design. Ghis men, good and bad, had always been giants. Most were great hunters and completely at home in the woods and wilds. Sam was always a father and husband first, but he'd always been an outdoorsman. One of the few policy-related topics he had been aggressively involved in by choice in Norway was the issue of conservation. Unlike most rulers of the time, Kayla was wise to the damage of deforestation and unclean water, and Sam was always the first to volunteer to help her deal with threats to Norwegian rivers and forests. It was perhaps, then, no surprise that his personal, passive talent was not Riley's ability to feel emotions and thoughts, nor Fiona's ability to call and sense dragons. His was a connection to the natural world.

It was a meeting of opposites as Sam considered the little clover patch. He was a fearsome giant stronger than he should've been, meeting with something so small and defenseless. But something new had begun. Sam had always been respectful of trees and the animals he hunted. But he was suddenly more aware of them, sympathetic with them. It wasn't clear how far the connection went, but it was strong, as if Mother Nature had found her son.

"I sound crazy, don't I?" Sam murmured with a little bitter smile. "I feel crazy. I don't understand anything that's happening. These memories keep flashing up... I don't know if what's happening in front of me is really happening... Saw my reflection in the river an' my eyes kept flickering black. Dzana said it'd be unpredictable for a day once I woke up, but tha' I'd feel this 'gift' fade in tha' was unique to me an' I'd know it when I saw it."

Resting his arms on his knee and looking up to Fiona, she found that his expression was not the deeply melancholy Sam usually felt when he was overwhelmed. Instead, he seemed peaceful if a little concerned. "I'm okay, though. It's not as... upsetting, I guess, as I thought it'd be. I'm just a little... scared, I think. I'm worried that things are changing tha' I don't realize. I'm still me, but... like I said, something's different."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You...feel the land. I feel the sky. I am connected to every dragon around in the same way that you feel every little tree and plant." Fiona murmured, knowing exactly what he was going through in a bit different way. "It's not crazy, Sam."

Fiona let out a small sigh as she placed her weapons aside and went to her husband's side, gently touching his cheek. "Of course you're different. Not many people ever go through what you just went through. I was there with you through the worst of it and you didn't know who I was. Dzana knew how upsetting it was for me and protected me as much as she could. It has been an...interesting day to say the very least."

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam looked up at Fiona as she touched his cheek and spoke of their similar connections, and he rose to face her. Cupping her face in his hands, he was once again the measured, gentle bear she loved. "I... didn't know who you were for a while. But I remember being glad to see you. Even if my mind was far away, and even if it makes me sound like a sap... some part of me remembered still. I didn't feel like you were a stranger. I felt safe." Sam kissed her before resting his forehead against hers in a familiar, comforting gesture. He let silence stand for a long moment, drawing her into his arms and simply holding her like it was all he needed in the world.

After a long moment, he drew back and met her gaze. He was still grappling with being hyper-aware of another Caller, able to feel Fiona's presence in a way previously unknown to him. But if he was honest with himself, it was comforting. It would be different with other Callers, but something soothed Sam about being able to feel Fiona near. His own presence was still a low-burning fire, but calm and steady despite his recent mental turmoil.

"Alright... I'm always too precious with you even when we're sparring," Sam said with a deep breath, talking more to himself than her. "I've never hurt you in a match save some bruises, and I'm not going to hurt you now. You're too good of a fighter an' I've been doin' this since I was a boy." Sam let her go and picked up his blade and shield again. He offered a little smile as he went. "Need t'make sure the old men didn't go too easy on you, after all. We both know you're their favorite."

 

[heartofcourage]

"You've always been soft with me because you wanted to give me the world." Fiona murmured as he picked up his blade. "Same with the rest of your family. They wanted to wipe away every bad thing that ever happened to me in my life and fill it with every comfort I could ever imagine."

She moved to her weapons and lifted them back into place, turning to look at him as she considered that. "When I hung in the courtyard of Edinburgh Castle, I didn't want warmth or food. I wanted this family. It was really that simple. I wanted to spar with Boar and Durban again. I wanted to sit quietly with your Da by a campfire and sharpen my sword. I wanted to sign a declaration of war in the sted of my son and save him the anguish of signing his own name to the decree. I wanted to hug my daughters. That's what I wanted."

"This time, however, it isn't about giving me the world. Instead, I'm giving the world to everyone else. If I fall...so does everything else. That's what I've come to realize in these last few days. I have no doubt that Riley could step in and finish off Hesperus. He's mortal, after all. However, nothing would be the same. It wouldn't. You wouldn't be the same. They..." She pointed off to the dragons resting beyond in the fields with her sword. "Wouldn't be the same."

 

[KieranSoares]

"They wouldn't. And I know it's more than just because we love you. There's so much more riding on this than just losing you. Which is why no matter what, I'm going to make sure you're ready. And regardless of what happens in that fight or who falls... I'm going to make sure everything you've worked so hard for is safe."

It was the closest Sam had ever come to willingly accepting there might be a day she'd fall and he'd have to go on. But with his recent promise to put their children first, he knew she needed security in knowing her beloved dragons would be cared for with the same dedication she had given.

"It'll be nice to visit the haven again someday," Sam added quietly. "Nothing but wilderness and dragons for hundreds of miles."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I hope that there will be more havens." Fiona said softly as she raised her sword again to signal to Sam that she was ready for him. "Now, shut up and show me what you've got."

 

[KieranSoares]

Taking a deep breath and adjusting his shield, Sam focused in. Striding across the short distance, he lunged toward her right side while keeping himself covered with his shield, following that up with a series of broad slashes to test Fiona's range of motion and challenge her grip on her blade. Between her new gloves and the specially-shaped handle, Sam wanted to make sure they'd given Fiona every advantage possible in the face of her weakened hands. More than that, he wanted to see how hard she'd worked and how much improved her grip was after working with Durban.

Each time Sam struck out at her, Fiona could feel he wasn't exerting too much effort. As much as he was testing her, he was relearning his own capabilities. Each time he hit a little harder, til his blade took another piece of scale off Fiona's shield. He didn't stop this time, reminding himself that he had plenty of materials and time left to fix the shield if needed. Everything in this moment was an experiment, including the capabilities of their blades. Sam's own shield, on the other hand, was taking an immense beating from Fiona's sword, chips of wood and paint flying off as if someone was hacking at it with a lumber axe.

 

[heartofcourage]

Her shield was taking a beating as Sam gave her the challenge that she wanted. He hacked off scale easily and she defended as she knew from years of experience. Still, the shield slowed her down. Shields always slowed her down, even in combat. She hardly used one and wouldn't this time if she weren't facing down a dragon that would burn her alive if she weren't protected. It was a totally new way of combat that the Ghis all swore by and had been battle tested for centuries.

As they had some distance between them, Fiona was soon shedding the shield, casting it aside and pulling free her new axe. It had been awarded to her by the brothers, but Boar had taken it upon himself to teach her a thing or two. Unincumbered, she moved quickly as she always did. The clash was absolutely brutal as she took on Sam's new blade with her own, the sharpened head of her axe providing extra support as she stared up at her husband. She didn't need fancy handles or pommels on weapons. The old guard of Inverness had built her back up in record time doing what they did best: breaking someone down and putting them back together.

As Sam slid backwards in defense, Fiona pulled the axe free and slashed with brutal strength to cover more ground, the Invernessian axe singing through the air cleanly before her blade whistled behind it like a crystal-clear bell. She knew the moment that there were others watching them as well, taking in their every move as if to see what she was capable of, yet she never paused. This was the first test of her strength and she wasn't about to stop.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam's own shield was dropped a moment after her own. Knowing that with one blade wasn't fast enough to fend off a dual-wielder and knowing he hadn't brought anything but what was already on him. Sam drew his dragonsteel knife. It had replaced a blade he'd used for close to a decade, and the new one was a little longer with a more gradual curve to the end. As they circled one another with a new, challenging twist added from their additional blades, Sam flipped his grip on the knife knowing he'd need the extra stopping power against the axe.

The strikes of the dragonsteel blades sang while the axe clashed with its own duller sound til Sam suddenly cursed and stepped back. Fiona had scored the first hit against his hip. Each expert fighters, they could slow strikes and avoid hurting one another, or they'd use the flat of their blades to avoid anything serious. "Well done, love," Sam encouraged, but motioned to her axe. "Keep that blade up to defend too. It's too low." It was the same sort of encouragement and advice he'd given her for twenty years as she learned dozens of weapons and martial arts. Sam was always supportive, but always demanding better til she was one of the best fighters across the board in their clan of warrior kings and queens and highlanders.

Sam, in his element as a trainer, launched back in with a bit more ferocity. If Fiona had improved more than expected, he was going to push her. And to challenge her further, he adopted Kell's agile fighting style with the change in weapons, versus Sam's own more strength-reliant style. He was a little quicker than Fiona remembered. Not unnaturally so, but as if he was just a little younger or more spry.

At one point Sam managed to hook her axe with his knife. Deciding to test his own strength, he gave a powerful tug and forced her in close. His dragonsteel blade slid between them, resting against her side. In a real battle, she'd have been run through. While Sam had always been strong enough to move Fiona around and use it against her in a match, the pure ease he moved her with this time hinted further at his increased strength.

"Still good, but I broke your stance too easily. Widen it against stronger foes," Sam instructed before clashing with her again.