Private Tales Strained Beginnings

[Cassian]

His attention had been on the civilians when she'd made her lunge for his blade, and she'd moved quicker than he'd anticipated as he reached out and grabbed thin air in her wake. "Fuck.. Really?" Cassian didn't take in the name, he didn't remember it, perhaps if he had thought over it for a while he would have, but he didn't have the time to think about anything other than dealing with the situation at hand.

"Lex.." he went after her and reached to take her arm gently as he saw Kain deal with the girl. "You've dealt with enough, hang back lass, eh?.." he asked her, quietly enough so that only she would hear it and softly enough that it sounded more like a plea than a demand.

He wandered up to the girl, now in a stand off with Kain, and he moved to take Kain's place between her and the fallen beast. "Could you see what Lex needs fixin'?.." he turned his head to mutter into Kain's ear. Lexi had a habit of making sure everyone else was okay before having her own wounds tended to, and Kain and Cassian both took it upon themselves to at least attempt to ensure she wasn't killing herself.

"I'll take the blade back, lass. Hand it over." he reached out, palm up as he gestured for her to hand over the weapon. "It's been a really long day and we'd quite like to get off home." he huffed.

 

[Fraeya]

Fraeya moved surprisingly light and fast. Tended to happen when one had to survive around fae all their life. When she had to learn their speed and cunningness. She probably knew more of the former than latter. Fast reflexes too.

She was about to dodge around that chump with the sword...even though he was polite when her godsdmaned brother took his place. Her grip tightened on the dagger, looking over his shoulder at the piece of the beast she needed. The piece she promised the water fae.

Head shook vehemently in the negative at him.

He didn't understand. She didn't have time to explain. Better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Lowering her shoulder, she ran at him only to try dodging to his left at the last second. An elbow went up, ready to pop him sharply in the jaw or other place if he managed to get his hands on her. If not, it was a clear shot to the fallen's goat head to try and slice a tip of its horn off.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Being with Cassian came with its compromises. She might have demanded a soldiers cooperation when on the field but when the battle was done Lexi relented to his care and worrying. It was a difficult thing for them both but it was necessary. So when he asked she sighed and nodded, casting her eyes about for a bit of rubble to sit on. There was a particular mound of bricks that still resembled a low wall so she perched there and left him to deal with the crazy kid.

Kain, the traitor, was more than happy to oblige Cassian.

"Yeah, yeah I know," she muttered before he could say a word - his face told her exactly how she looked without needing to hear the snarky comments. He was blocking her view of Cassian, which was probably a good thing, as Kain set about tending to her wounds.

 

[Cassian]

He didn't understand. He couldn't help but think the girl was a little touched in the head, and he raised a hand in effort to placate her as she shook her head frantically at him. "It's alright.. I need that knife back, alright?" his brow creased as it rose, trying to be as friendly as he could be.

"Mh.." he grumbled as she ran at him, and he reached out to grab her as she dodged her way around to his left. The elbow however, he hadn't expected, and she caught him in the jaw. He let her fo reflexively, his head reeling as he cried out a frustrated "Ah! Shit!" as his hand rose to his bleeding lip.

"What the fuck, lass?! Crazy little sh--" he turned to see what she was up to, his tongue flicking over the trickle of blood from his lip as he glared at her, ready to catch and ground her now that he realised how quick she was.

 

[Fraeya]

She took the risk of turning her attention away from the others milling about doing their work and watching her warily. And of course attention away from her brother as she raised that knife over the tip of one of the goat's horns and...got it. Head lifted to find some of Lexi's squad circling her, cutting off her dodge to the left and back to the river.

"MOTHER of the goddess," Fraeya grumbled, locking eyes with the only other way. Through her brother again.

She warily shuffled forward, eyeing that look on his face mixed with blood.

Hells.

"You want you knife back? Then take it!" She threw it forward to bury itself into the dirt between their feet as she tried to sprint and dodge around him to that river. The goat's horn tip clutched tightly in one hand.

And the worst of it all?

The godsdamned water fae was cackling in the middle of the river.

Actually cackling.

What a prick.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

"LEXI N-"

Kain could have attempted to block her view all he liked but there was no mistaking the sounds of a fight going on. She pushed him aside with ease despite the mans bulk and her injuries in time to see the young girl deliver a nasty elbow to Cassian's stomach, pass her tired and bloodied soldiers and make off with a piece of the goats horn. There was a thousand nasty things such an artefact could be used for; raising the dead, removing seals on monsters best kept shut away, potions for blindness and boils... She couldn't bare thinking of it.

As Fraeya dodged another wild swing of a Raven's arm Lexi dove into her side taking them both to the ground. A plume of dust shot into the air and got into her throat, nose and eyes, but she didn't care. She was focusing on trying to pin the girl onto her back and getting her to release that piece of horn.

"You have no idea what this is capable of in the wrong hands, let go!"

 

[Cassian]

Everything was a bit of a blur. He'd been about to turn and lunge for the girl, when Lexi's body leapt out of nowhere much to his, and Kain's chagrin. His jaw clenched and he jogged over to the pair with a glance to Kain who followed suit.

"I've got her, lass.." he rumbled, licking at his bloody lip as he attempted to take over the hold on the girl whilst Kain tried to coax Lexi back to sit.

"Alright, kid. You're starting to cause us more trouble than the beast did - what the fuck is your problem?" he growled, unable to pull back the bite in his tone now that Lexi had decided to get herself involved again.

 

[Fraeya]

It was like getting barreled into by a juvenile dragon. Had to give her brother's girl some credit. She grunted as she hit the ground, head cracking back against the unforgiving earth. For a minute, stars lit up the edges of her vision.

She swing a fist wildly until her wrist was pinned to the ground.

Legs kicked wildly until those too were momentarily stilled by a weight more than she could move.

But it would take considerable strength, perhaps another, to pry her fingers open around that piece of horn she clutched like her life depended on it. Because a big part of her life - and the villager's lives, depending on it. Why the hell had she gotten involved?! Shoulda just let that goddamned kid get eaten by the water fae.

"And you have no idea what's in the river. What you can't see without...," voice trailed off. She was forbidden to say it outright. She felt the magic weight down on her tongue as she tried. "My problem," her voice rose. "My problem is that you're a goddamned good for nothing BROTHER!"

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Kain's arm slid around her waist as he all but lifted his Commander off the girl, muttering how Seconds in the Black Roses' didn't have to stop their leaders from beating up small children. Despite her strength Lexi was still a petite woman and so, once she reluctantly relented, it was easy enough to get her off of Fraeya. That didn't stop her from glaring in the girls direction though. She even had a well thought out retort to the girls whines about things in the river when she suddenly revealed why she looked so familiar.

She looked like him.

Her jaw almost fell open, as did Kain's from the sudden sharp intake of breath. Now she had said it though there was no mistaking the similarities between the two. Right down to the stubborn little frown.

 

[Cassian]

Cassian however had not noticed the similarities, and his face was still a contortion of irritable effort as he held her down and confusion as to what the fuck she was talking about. He glanced back toward the river - he hadn't seen anything there, only her causing trouble over nothing. Now she'd already burst his lip and only seemed to want to scream and shout and glare at him despite never having met him in her life.

Even as she said it he continued to stare down at her like she'd gone completely mad, but hearing Kain's intake of breath he looked up, seeing the expression on both his and Lexi's face. His expression paused as he looked between them, and back down at the girl.

The way she was scowling up at him. He didn't understand why. But now, now he saw the similarities, now he saw the angry face of his mother staring at him and everything fell into place.

Cassian paled with dizziness and nausea.

What?....Who? How? Where?.. The beginnings of so many questions danced on his tongue but never made it past his lips for fear of him throwing up if he opened his mouth. He stared at her for another brief moment before releasing his grip and pulling himself back along the dusty road to sit. If she ran, she ran, for now he his mind reeled and he squeezed at the tension on the back of his neck with a quiet mutter.

"Mh.. Fuck."

 

[Fraeya]

A sharp inhale through her nose as she continued to glare up at him. She saw the questions cross over his face. His shock.

This was a mistake.

A huge mistake.

She was as alone as she'd always been. Even if he and Lexi proved trustworthy, they'd never be able to help her. Miraculously, she still gripped that piece of horn. With a hollowness spreading from her chest and through her bones, she pushed off the dirt, scrambled to her feet and ran to the river.

Arm whipped back as she chucked that horn out to the waters and for a moment, it looked like it froze in place, caught by an invisible hand. The air around that hand seemed to shimmer before dipping down into the water. She had scrapes along her skin. Muscles ached and barked in protest. And she was still gulping down oxygen like she couldn't get enough of it as she glanced over her shoulder one last time at him. At Lexi. At the one called Kain.

With a small shake of her head, she turned and trudged further up the river, away from them.

A fuking mistake.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Lexi and Kain dumbly watched her go almost out of sight before they seemed to both realise Cassian hadn't followed her.

"Go!" the Second released then practically pushed his commander towards her lover. Lexi stumbled and winced briefly as her ribs protested but the pain was forgotten under the storm of emotions she could see on Cass' face. Her bloodied hand came up to gently cup his cheek in an effort to soothe some of them as best she could. She knew his past with his family was a troubled, painful thorn that he insisted on dealing with alone most of the time.

"Cass, go after her," Lexi urged gently. "You'll regret it for years if you don't," she would go with him if he asked but... this might be something he needed to do alone initially.

 

[Cassian]

It didn't make any sense. If it was her, how the fuck did she find him?

His gaze was distant as he watched her run off, the look she gave him before shaking her head and turning away. He simply stared, the shock of the situation clearly registered on his face. Lexi's hand pulled his mind back to the dirt road he sat on and he looked at her. He could smell the metallic tang of blood on her hand as she spoke to him and he tried his best to focus on what she was saying.

"What for?.." he asked with a slight frown. "You heard her.." Good for nothing.. "You saw the way she looked at me.." his frown deepened. It was the same bitter and disappointed scowl that he'd endured from his father for most of his life. Did she track him down just to hate him? "She clearly realised she made some mistake, Lex. Let her go." He growled and clutched her hand, turning his head to press a firm kiss against her palm before holding it back against his cheek. She was his anchor, she'd given him everything, she'd made him feel like he was worth more than his family, his ex wife or his friends ever had. He wasn't about to open his arms to someone who wanted nothing more than to bring him back down and undo everything Lexi had helped him work through. He could already feel himself slip, and his grip on her hand tightened.

"I got all I need right here. I won't.. Force her to speak to me, not if she doesn't want to. Not for her just to hate me like he did.." he growled and swallowed an ache in his throat. His bleeding lip seemed to throb a little harder now that he realised his own sister had been the one to wound it.

 

[Fraeya]

When she'd gone far enough so that the tall grasses of the river mostly covered her, she sunk down onto her knees and curled into herself, fingers flexing into the cool earth, tugging at the wild flowers and daffodils. A choking sound left her throat, a sob deep down. Shoulders shook.

He'd never come after her. No one had. No one ever had. And from that look on his face, he'd known he had a sister. He'd known and he'd never tried...

Another sob broke through her throat as angry tears carved down her skin.

She was alone; she'd always be alone.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

"Cassian Hart do you know nothing of women?" Lexi's words were a rebuke but so wrapped up in love there was no hint of a sting. Well.... As little of a string as was possible for her. Sometimes it was hard to get the Commander out of her tone even when talking to him about matters so fragile as this. Not that she could blame him having seen for herself now the woman who had broken him and the father who had watched and laughed. Her teeth still ground together at the very thought of such a man. That he had ever been considered a Commander...

Pushing aside her own anger she tried to live by her next words herself and not tarnish the girl with the same brush.

"She's been as alone as you and when a woman storms off like that you better fucking follow her," she removed her hand from his face and gave him a non too gentle shove towards the river.

 

[Cassian]

Cassian flinched slightly as Lexi used his full name, her question casting a defensive look across his face at the reprimand. His lips parted to speak, but he bit back the words and locked them behind his teeth to swallow them like a bitter pill. She was right, and perhaps the girl was just as stubborn as he was. He groaned at the shove and rubbed at his chest as he walked backwards, watching Lexi with a huff.

"Fine." he pointed to Kain. "But only if you let him heal you in the meantime." he frowned before turning and jogging off in the direction the girl, his sister, had gone. It occurred to him that he didn't even know her name to call out. Her father hadn't given her one, at least not that he'd been aware of. He searched over the reeds, shoving them out of the way as he followed the path where they'd been trampled.

He paused as he heard the sobbing and he dragged a hand down his face before wandering toward the sound calmly, trying not to frighten her. He peered over the wall of tall grass she'd settled herself in and he crouched, a bloodied hand drawing a curtain in the blades between them.

"What's your name?.." he asked quietly.

 

[Fraeya]

She jerked back on instinct and blinked furiously. A palm dragged across her face, trying to wipe the evidence of her weakness away. Her frustration and pain. She couldn't remember the last time she cried. It did no good around the fae.

She remained seated in the grass and eventually, drew her knees to her chest, one arm circling tightly around them. The other still pushing and rubbing the moisture away from her face. She could only stare at him for a long time. His weary and tired face. The similarities she'd only begun to notice before.

"Why," she gulped, biting down on her emotions, "are you here?" A sniffle. She couldn't bare to tell him her name. Not yet.

 

[Cassian]

Cassian rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck as she wiped at her tears, his brow creasing with a frown as she stared at him. Her question caused his jaw to tighten, and his mouth opened to answer and then closed again as he huffed and opted for the truth.

"Honestly? Because Lexi told me to go after you." he answered her, dropping his hand from his neck and resting his arms atop his crouched knees. "You din't seem to want to speak to me, lass. I'm not.. sure what it is you want from me, but you seem to have decided on hatin' me even though we ain't ever met. I'm used to people hatin' on me lass, it aint the type of thing I usually go lookin' for." he frowned

"So why are you here?.."

 

[Fraeya]

"Well," she sniffed, eyes narrowing mildly. "You were pinning me to the ground and calling me crazy." Hazels held his gaze for a moment before she looked away. Just knowing she had a brother - family, alive. It was fracturing her. Making her feel as though she was grieving what she'd already lost and...angry, confused.

Was it possible to grieve something you'd already lost once?

Eyes finally lifted, hesitating on the split lip she'd caused. "A few weeks ago I didn't even know I had any family, family still alive." She wouldn't be able to tell him about the fae. She was bound by magic not to. But she could tell him the other parts. Hopefully.

"Apparently I was in his will," she wouldn't call him dad. He'd never been a father to her. "Found out he died. Went to what was left of his house looking for something to help me with," she looked as if she wanted to say more but felt the magic press heavily upon her tongue.

Head shook once.

"Anyway. A servant told me the story of you." Eyes drifted over Cassian's shoulder, as if she could see the other woman beyond the tall grasses. "And her...Lexi, right? The story wasn't good." She paused. She figured he could fill in the rest. That witnesses saw them kill their dad. "Wanted to meet you two for myself. See who you really were. If you were my brother, what kind of person you were."

 

[Cassian]

Cassian's brow quirked and his head shook. "Sorry, lass. Y'don't get to make me feel guilty for pinnin' you when I'm the one with the bloody lip." he laughed under his breath, trying to ease the atmosphere a little. He studied her face as she spoke, the familiar idiosyncrasies, the frown that ran in the family, their mother's hazel eyes. His chest tightened and he swept a hand over his face.

"That's one side of the story. His side." he answered in a gruff voice and let a deep sigh tumble from his lips. His brow was knit with anger for a moment, had it not been for the time he'd spent with Lexi and the peace of mind he'd found, he'd likely have lashed out, told her to fuck off, pushed her away and told her the stories were true just to spare himself any pain. He was better than that now, or so he tried to believe, but it was still a bitter pill to swallow to know that even with their father gone, he'd still managed to fill his sister's mind with his bile from beyond the grave.

"Well, you came all this way. Have you already decided what kind of person I am, or are you gonna stay a little longer an' give me a chance to show you?.." he asked, an outstretched hand offered to her as he stood. His other hand dripped with the blood from the wound in his shoulder and back, still stinging with the memory of those claws raking through his flesh.

"Fresh start?..." he offered quietly.

 

[Fraeya]

No, she hadn't decided. Not yet. Even though she felt like she already knew. She'd grown up with a different sort of family. Ones with pointed ears and cruelty-lined faces. Forever plotting perhaps to entertain their nearly immortal lives. And she was scared that if she got to know him, him and Lexi, she'd risk even more to lose.

But when did she ever back down from something? Let fear stop her?

Never.

So, she slowly unwound her arms from around her bent knees and took that outstretched hand. Popped to her feet and quickly released his hand when she was up. "I can stay a little longer," she said cautiously. Searching his face for trickery. For the things she was used to looking for in the fae. All for survival.

"As long as they won't beat my arse," a tip of her chin toward Lexi and the others as they walked through the grasses and back away from the river. She'd never seen anything like it. A unit that covered each other. They seemed to actually care. Not just because of invisible bonds, curses, royal bloodlines, or plotting.

It was strange.

"Who...who are they?"

 

[Cassian]

His brow knit briefly as he wondered where else she had to be, having assumed she'd travelled a long way to find him, but he noticed her searching his face and he tried to offer a small smile of reassurance as he stepped back to give her space.

He couldn't help but laugh at her worries and his head shook.. "They won'.. Though I can't promise much if you throw another elbow at me." he grinned, a hand clasping his jaw to move it from side to side. "That's some arm you got.." he commented with a breathy chuckle and turned to walk with her.

Cassian had a lot of questions, but he'd let her ask hers first for fear of frightening her off again. "They.. We, are templars called White Ravens. Lexi is our commander." he explained. "Mostly we clear up messes like today, when monsters like that are meddled with, when they're set loose on towns an' villages, or mages fuck up and summon creatures that ought not to be here. Monster hunters, of sorts. They're good people, they put their lives on the line almost every day to help people." he told her and rubbed at the back of his head.

"When Lexi found me a year ago, I was.. A mess." he laughed awkwardly under his breath, the thought a sickening one to conjure. "She dragged me out of the gutter, literally. If it weren't for her I ent sure I'd be here at all." he smiled down at her, and looked ahead to where Kain was fussing over the commander.

"Lexi, Kain." he gestured to one and then the other, introducing them to the girl.. "This is.." he frowned, realising she hadn't answered him when he'd asked, and his brow rose to her expectantly.

 

[Fraeya]

"Only a year? You two seem...like you've known each other a lot longer," a careful observation. A small, sheepish look as he wiggled his jaw. She'd been taught to fight at a very young age. Not only as training but as self-preservation.

Monster hunters?

If only they knew about the other types of monsters. The ones that used those invisible ley lines to travel quickly across the world. They weren't all monsters. But most were.

Lips pursed and her gaze swept surreptitiously around, as if she was worried of being watched.

"Fraeya," she admitted quietly. Names were always something of value to the fae. True names. Not that she had one like the others, names that could hold power over them. And not all fae were governed by those rules. Still, her giving her name was no small matter even if it didn't matter to most.

And she couldn't quite shake the wariness in her eyes. Toward Kain. Toward all the monster hunters.

 

[Lexi Quinzell]

Kain, henceforth to be known as Kain The Bastard, used the second Lexi was distracted by the introduction of Fraeya to twist her dislocated shoulder back into place.

"SON OF A- urrggh," under her breath she continued a string of curses in languages that clearly Kain understood for he backed away after throwing Fraeya a welcoming grin. The Commander clutched at her injured arm until her knuckles turned white and her eyes screwed tightly shut against the pain. Slowly it dulled and she was able to unclench her jaw and let out a long, slow breath.

"Nice to meet you," eventually Lexi opened her eyes; one a hazel brown and the other a milky white and attempted a weak smile. She glanced between the pair as if trying to workout if everything was... well. "Sorry for the... tackling... and such," she rubbed the back of her neck. Not the best first impressions.

 

[Cassian]

"Fraeya." Cassian repeated, letting out a deep breath now that she was here and not trying to run off, now that they could speak, now that he had accepted that she was in fact his sister. "They're good people. You don't need to be afraid of them." Cassian assured her quietly, noting her obvious wariness.

Kain was already looking him over, his gaze assessing his wounds. "I'm fine." Cassian muttered in warning before the man started his fussing.

"Are you alright?" he asked Lexi, his calloused hand cupping her face and tilting her eyes to meet his.