Folliwng Your Footsteps

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Closed to Orphans, All bunnying is approved! This takes place after Prudence.

“Ah, Mr. Ambrose, please come in.”

Jensen Ambrose, Sei Orlouge’s personal body guard, had seen many things in his life, experienced many tragedies, and was immortal. Ergo to say the man was fearless was more of an understatement, for he had experienced things no one could live through. Yet there was one woman in all Althanas the man had to admit made his spine slightly curve in cowardice, and that woman looked to him with a passive aggressive smile, an encouraging wave of her hand like she was leading him to the gallows, and a stare so full of barely contained rage it made William Arcus’ demonic form look like an out of control kitten.

The orphan keeper in Underwood, Mother Holly was the woman who gave the final blessing to allow the enigmatic immortal the opportunity to adopt the child Azza into his home with Stephanie Odara, his Fiancé. She knew that because he was a member of the Ixian Knights there would be times when Azza would need to stay with the caretaker, but she never once made it a secret how much she disapproved of such times. She had an air of authority about her, one that was born from years out in the field of combat, and the knight fully admitted he had a respect for the woman.

Mother Holly was to say the least, not pleased.

“Thank you, Holly,” Jensen said with a slight sigh, knowing full well the reason he was called in.
“How is Stephanie?” Holly asked, pulling out two small tumblers and an amber liquid from her desk. Her tone was poison made manifest as she ripped the cork out, pouring the contents into the tumblers. “Training hard, I take it?”

“Ah, yes,” Jensen said attempting to cut off the woman. It was to no avail.

“Indeed. Training so hard she couldn’t keep a close eye on little Azza,” Holly said downing the liquid in the first cup while tantalizingly stroking the other. “Do you know where she’s been, Mr. Ambrose?” Jensen sighed loudly, knowing exactly where the girl had been. His daughter was in the Citadel learning how to fight. Some man by the name Marcus had taught her the applied art of combat, and for whatever reasons only the Thayne’s knew, the monks of the facility encouraged this idiocy. When Jensen reached the halls of the battle rooms he was pulled aside by an Elf who had informed the immortal that his daughter was inside the building fighting earlier that day. And as if to add that proverbial cherry on top a runner from Ixian castle had reached him informing him that Madam Holly requested his presence, and immediately.

Jensen went to open his mouth before Holly spoke loudly. “The Citadel, Mr. Ambrose!” She slammed the empty tumbler onto the table and lifted the second one up to her fingers with a wide grin. Though she smiled, Jensen knew there was no warmth at all to it. “What do people do in the Citadel, Mr. Ambrose, I seem to have forgotten over the years.”

“Fight…” Jensen mumbled.

“Ah yes, fight!” Holly exclaimed slapping herself in the face. “And so that presents me with the obvious question,” Holly lowered the glass down to the table and gently pushed it so the drink slid to a halt just before Jensen’s hand. “What the hell was she doing in there?”

“I assure you, Holly, I didn’t know what she was up to. But when I arrived I had one of the monks inform me what she was up to. They all know not to let her in there again without permission.” Holly lifted her hand to his and held it for a moment, showing how serious the next words she was about to speak were.

“Jensen,” She whispered painfully. “She was learning how to fight…” Jensen lifted his hand and tapped Holly’s lightly. “I don’t want her to grow up in that lifestyle, Jensen! You know just as well as I do what war and battle is like! It’s no place for her!”

“And the coddling we had given her most likely pushed her curiosities. Now, pull yourself together, Holly, Azza is eavesdropping on us.” Jensen turned to the doorway with a stoic look, but even he couldn’t hide the small grin spreading on his lips as he saw the shadow of his not so little girl stir uncomfortably. Holly took in a deep breath and spoke sternly.

“Azza, come in here at once!” Like a well trained soldier Azza quickly obeyed, years of listening to that stern voice instilling her with a discipline to listen to her elders. Sheepishly she entered the room, eyes cast to her feet as her shifted awkwardly. “What have I told you about eavesdropping?”

“Not to,” Azza whispered her response.

“Well, I have things to do, Jensen. I relinquish my care of the girl back to you, but please Jensen heed what we talked about.”

“Yes Holly, these one way conversations always leave me heeding exactly what he talked about,” Jensen muttered lifting himself up and gently placing a hand on Azza’s shoulder. Holly gave him a warning glance, but decided not to go into an all out verbal jousting contest with Jensen. The immortal turned to his daughter and spoke in a rushed irritated tone, “Go say goodbye to your friends, grab your cloak, and let’s get a move on. You’re missing dinner tonight as it is. If you’re lucky Tobias may have saved you something.”

Azza turned to run and do as she was told, reaching for her cloak in the hallway as she entered the kids rooms where a chorus of whines and heartfelt goodbyes were called out. Jensen turned to Holly and gave her a nod as he headed for the doorway. He leaned against the side of the wall next to the creaking wooden door, waiting while Azza grabbed the last of her things. Holly gave her a hug and a kiss and whispered something to the girl’s ears. Azza then walked to her father and waited. Jensen just looked to her with a blank stare and the girl began to shuffle from foot to foot. At last she looked up to her father with a confused stare and Jensen gestured to the door.

“What, you need me to open doors for you?” Jensen said in a snide manner. “You already proved you know how to open all sorts of doors without me, so why this one is of any difference is beyond me.” Jensen ripped the door open and walked out a few steps before he stopped and waited. Small footsteps echoed behind him as Azza shut the door and skipped to stand directly next to her father.

Jensen sighed as they walked, neither one speaking as he walked next to her, occasionally glancing at her and seeing her shiver. He lifted his jacket off his shoulders and tossed it to her, watching her quickly put it on. It trailed in the dirt as she walked, but he didn’t mind. She stopped shivering as she gave a weak thank you and Jensen just nodded his head with a snort. The trip back was made in silence and the closer they got to the castle, the more the girl seemed to be getting self conscious.

It should be noted that Azza, while as every bit as normal looking as girl should be, did have some very, very distracting qualities. For starters the girl was not a real human, far from it, but what she was not even Jensen knew. She had a set of horns that grew from the side of her head and contoured to the front, and a pair of wings that pushed against the cloak in manner that made her looked almost hunchbacked. The girl was also getting a bit taller for her age, and though she was slender in form he could tell the girl was getting freakishly stronger. Azza had always been self conscious about her deformities and when she was in the castle she made painful efforts to hide herself.

Tonight though when she reached for her hood the immortal grabbed her wrist and wrenched it back to her side. “You wish to grow up so quickly then learn to deal with it like an adult,” Jensen chastised her. Azza looked back to him, a look of hurt on her face and he felt a twinge of guilt in his heart. Was he being to harsh on her? Was this really a crime that needed such severe consequences? One thought to Stephanie and he concluded that he was being rather lenient.

When they entered the walkways into the castle foyer several members of the Ixian Knights lifted their heads and looked to her, some in shock to see the horns, while others began to whisper softly to the companions. Yet before they could even get to the first floor of the dormitories in the family wing there was one little red head with foot impatiently tapping as several people stood with her. Jensen easily recognized the green haired Elf, Tobias, as well as the General of the Ixian Knights, Zerith. Jensen’s father Nathanial was also there, a look of pure disappointment on his face as Azza reached her hand out and grabbed Jensen’s, squeezing it like a frightened child. He couldn’t do it anymore, and his heart crumbled to literally feel the terror in his daughter’s body.

“Everything is going to be okay, Kiddo,” Jensen whispered to her. Azza nodded to herself, audibly gulping as Stephanie’s eyes zeroed in on her daughter. Without even a greeting she thumbed up the stairs with her left hand, voice glowering like a master punishing their dog.

“Get up stairs, and go to your room. Sit on your bed and wait until your father and I come to see you!” Azza nodded once swiftly running up the stairs as she shied away from her mother when she passed her, her grandfather giving her a weak wave in greeting.

Jensen watched her run up the stairs and then turned to his soon to be wife. “Ready to play good parent bad parent?” Stephanie sighed as all the hostility in her face melted like snow in the spring. She gripped Jensen tightly and held him tightly.

“I get to be good parent…” She whispered as her body trembled. Jensen rubbed her back softly as he looked to his friends and waved them away. Tobias nimbly stood up and rubbed Stephanie’s back before hugging her waist and disappearing with Jensen’s father and Zerith. “I’m so scared…” Stephanie admitted. “I don’t want her to be like us…I don’t want her to live our life…”

Jensen just held her all the tighter as he nuzzled his nose into her shoulder, softly kissing her cheek.

“I know,” He whispered weakly. “I don’t want her to either.”

[orphans]

By the time Azza reached her room and closed the door quietly, she was beginning to feel painful throbs in her lungs. Hot knives might as well have been plunged into her chest as she climbed up onto her bed. There was no joy or comfort tonight, and certainly no stories to ease her mind.

While most of the Ixian Knights already knew of Azza’s wings, few had ever seen her horns and though they knew that she was a sweet child with no ill intentions, whispers followed at her back. Even now, as she sat alone in her room, she could hear them in her mind.

Eyes of those she knew also pursued her in her head. Accusing stares, disapproval, and disappointment all mixed together and could be placed upon anyone’s face that she imaged. The few stuffed animals on her bed might as well condemn her for her actions as well. What started as a good day had gone sour very quickly.

None of this however, had cut her heart more deeply than the way Jensen had treated her. He of all people was the one she would always run to for protection, to feel safe. She had hoped- no… she had expected him to side with her. Not because she thought what she did was right, but she had thought Jensen would be proud of her learning to protect herself.

Proud of his little girl growing up strong.

All of that seemed to have backfired and the moment of Jensen wrenching her arm back down with the harsh words he had said, played over and over. It equaled a cobra’s venom in her body. It consumed her, causing her to shiver on her bed even with Jensen’s jacket still on her. It was a cold she wasn’t accustomed to and one she never wanted to feel again.

When the door to Azza’s room finally opened, she kept her eyes to the ground. That didn’t slow her parents down and soon Azza was staring at the boots of her adoptive mother and father. She knew she should look up, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Do you intend to stare at our feet forever?” There was no warmth in Jensen’s voice, just an unfamiliar and forced sound. Still, it had the effect he wanted, and Azza looked up timidly to both her parents. “What? Suddenly all quiet after you’ve had your fun?”

“Did you have any idea how worried everyone was?” Azza wanted to nod her head to Stephanie’s question, but her neck stiffened, too petrified to move. Tense silence found itself between the three. Neither of the parents had the heart to press on, but both knew they couldn’t just let the situation go as well. In the end, Stephanie spoke up first, “From now on Azza, you’ll be grounded for as long as I see fit.”

“And someone will be assigned to watch you at all times,” Jensen followed up after. Both waited for Azza to say something, but the girl just sat there, staring at both of them. Truth was, it would have been easier to yell and scream at her had she talked back. To really let loose, but mute responses with only fear in her eyes simply ate away at adults' resolve. With a heavy sigh, Jensen managed, “We aren’t leaving until you say something.”

A faint whisper was all that either of the adults could catch as Azza turned her eyes and head down. It grew ever so slowly until they could make out as soft, “I’m sorry…”

Without meaning to, Jensen raised his voice, nearly yelling, “IF YOU’RE SORRY, THEN-” but stopped as Stephanie’s hand clutched at his arm. They could both plainly see tears falling. A rarity for their daughter. “… If you’re sorry, then raise your head,” Jensen finished at last in a softer voice.

But Azza didn’t. She kept her head down and if anything, the girl seemed even smaller than before as her body tried to pull closer to still her chest from heaving more tears. At this, Stephanie looked to Jensen and shook her head and motioned for the door. Sighing once more with irritation saturated with uncertainty, Jensen walked for the door with Stephanie close behind. “We’ll let you off easy tonight and talk about it in the morning, Azza. Go to bed.”

There was pity in Stephanie’s voice and when the door closed again, Azza remained as she was. Sleep would have been an escape, but she knew that while in such a mood, she might have nightmares.

And if she did, there would be no one tonight to turn to. So Azza stayed awake, sobbing without a sound.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

When the door shut Stephanie and Jensen both let out a long sigh. Never had they ever had to be stern with their child, as Azza was nothing but the sweetest little angel. Yet now with her running out on her own learning to fight without telling her parents was just a strange occurrence and neither parent felt the will to continue to berate her for her crimes.

Stephanie’s hand lowered to Jensen’s where she clutched it tightly, her eyes looking to his with tears brimming turning them into shining gems in the moonlight. With a soft tug Jensen pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly as he whispered those encouraging words that they were doing the right thing, and this needed to be done. It sounded fake even to him, but he supposed it was the best thing he could say given the circumstances. She let out a few sobs before toughing herself up and leading Jensen back to their room.

“I don’t like this at all,” Stephanie muttered. “She shouldn’t have left without telling us.” The red head turned to the small lamp, lifting up a coal that was still warm and hovering it over the heated metallic disk. With a soft word of power a small flame erupted upon the coal and she placed the flaming object into the lamp’s holder, where the candle caught flame and illuminated the small room. Jensen was already changing into his night attire as he found it rather hard for himself to find words to say.

“Maybe that was why she didn’t,” Jensen thought out loud. “She didn’t want us to worry, or didn’t want us to tell he no.”

“You know fully well we would have trained her to defend herself if she wanted,” Stephanie said with more venom than she intended to. Jensen gave her a coy look, before shaking his head in doubt as he rubbed the back of his head. “You think different?”

“Would you let Ta’gaz anywhere near her?” Jensen asked. Stephanie shook her head with a snort of mirth. The head trainer of the Ixian Knights was well known for his brutal, often destructive style of teaching. Azza would have been destroyed by his harsh lessons. “Would you let my father anywhere near her? Or Lilith, or Nakah, or-”

“I get it, I get it,” Stephanie said in defeat lifting her arms in defense. “No, I don’t think we would let any of the trainers even look at out daughter. But we could have trained her!”

“We know only how to kill,” Jensen said with sass. “And before you go opening that pretty little mouth, think about this. When the hell would we have the time?” Stephanie was about to pipe up before the thought dawned on her. Sourly she turned her back on the immortal. “Steph, you and I are always busy. We have barely enough time as it is to come home and have dinner with her. We have to request time off just to spend half a day with her because we both got our fingers in every damn pie in this castle.” Stephanie shivered and gulped audibly as she listened to Jensen’s words, and the knight let out a frustrated sigh.

“So the reason this happened is because we are bad parents,” She whispered the words so softly Jensen wasn’t sure she even spoke them. Yet the impact of those words shook him to his core as he realized that was exactly what he was saying. To be perfectly honest, Jensen and Stephanie had been pawning off Azza to Kyla and Anita Orlouge, to Mother Holly, to Tobias, even to her grandfather while they ran off protecting Radansath and the rest of the world.

“I…well…” Jensen sat upon the edge of their bed, patting the soft mattress gently. Stephanie sat next to him, her head instantly falling to his shoulder while her arms wrapped around his. “…Yeah…” Jensen finally admitted.

“So what do we do?” Stephanie asked. Jensen remained quite before turning to his lamp and standing up to blow it out.

“Let’s rest up for the morning, and I’ll talk to her before breakfast.” Jensen offered getting under the covers. Stephanie watched him begin to rest, and with a few more teary gulps she followed suit, moving into his arms and resting against Jensen as she held onto him like he was the edge of the world.

~*~*~

The inspiration never hit the immortal. Sleep hadn’t bothered to come either. All night he spent stroking Stephanie’s hair helping her keep asleep while he pondered what the hell he would do for Azza. When the morning came he got up and quickly dressed, heading out to the living room he shared with his roommates Zerith and Jasmin Dracosius, as well as Kyla and her son Akiv.

Zerith was sitting at the table as usual, looking over battle charts and checking the strength of the army and making notes here and there. As the general of the front lines he was solely responsible for making sure the military efficiency was up to par, and he micromanaged the task with zealous piety. Still, the man was a close friend of Jensen, and whenever the immortal had a question Zerith always gave him the time to talk.

Scraping the wooden chair across the floor so it made it a loud squeak, Zerith looking up with a half grin thinking the immortal was being rude on purpose, but seeing the bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep and the mirthless smirk on his face wised him up as he sat back.

“What’s on your mind,” Zerith asked without bothering to do pleasantries.

“Azza,” Jensen said weakly. “I was expecting to have some great idea what to do, what to say, but…”

“Ah, the right words haven’t magically appeared yet.” Zerith let out a light chuckle. “My obvious retort is, did you really expect it to work that way?” Jensen huffed in irritation as he leaned back in his chair, lifting his hand to Zerith’s plate of toast and grabbing a slice for himself. He took a bite, smelling and tasting the smooth butter before the crunching of the crisp bread. He brought his left leg up to the seat, resting his chin on his own knee as he sighed again.

“What do you do when your little one misbehaves?” Jensen asked, thinking to Siela. Zerith now let out an actual laugh.

“My one year old? Get her to nap, as she’s usually just cranky.”

“Hmm, merit to that idea,” Jensen teased thinking of picking up Azza and putting her into a crib. Sadly, she was even to old in his imagination to consider that action.

“You even learn why she was doing it? Chances are she has a good reason,” Jasmine’s voice sang from the kitchen foyer. Jensen looked behind himself to see the wife of Zerith smile to the immortal, gently lowering a plate of flap jacks and eggs before her husband, then with a light turn she placed a plate in front of Jensen. “Eat up, now.”

“Thanks,” Jensen mumbled as he began to eat at the flap jacks. “To answer your question,” Jensen thought about it. “No, actually. I suppose I never really stopped to think about what her reasons were. Good a place as any to start. Appreciate the tip, Jasmine.”

“It’s a mother thing,” Jasmine joked whimsically waving her hand like it was no big deal.

“I could use some of that,” Stephanie said in a defeated tone. Jasmine’s face turned pale white as she looked behind her to see the red head wearily wiping her eyes of sleep. “And you were supposed to wake me up when you were.” She said in a more stern tone. Jensen shrugged.

“You’re a fine mother, so shut up and thank me for sleeping in. I’ll send a runner to tell the trainers we won’t be showing up today.” Jensen stood up and grabbed Stephanie by the shoulders, kissing her cheek and letting her sit in his spot where she looked to his food and feebly poked at the eggs. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I got work to do. Talk to you all later.”

Jensen turned before any protests could be spoken, and marched right to his daughter’s room. With a light rap on the wood he heard his child stir before a sound that barely could pass for speech granted him permission to come in. He opened the door gently, turning so his he closed the door and looked to his daughter with a slight smile.

“Morning, Kiddo,” Jensen said to her. He could see the lines of tears on her face, and like him, she looked like she didn’t bother to sleep either. Some of her stuffed animals were on the floor, which was unusual for her, and he concluded maybe he was a bit harsh to her yesterday. “Hey, look at me,” Jensen said, but his voice held no hostility this time. He looked to his left and found a small stool and he shot his foot out, hooking the legs with toes and dragging it towards the bed where he sat in front of her, his hands gently gripping hers.

“I want to know why you went to so much trouble just to learn how to fight,” Jensen asked her. “And I want you to tell me why you didn’t want your mother or I to know.”

[orphans]

There was no reaction from the small girl at first except for a small sniffle. There was nothing that Azza could say to her father that would have made sense or sounded good. Lying was out of the question as well, as Azza just couldn’t bring herself to be that dishonest with her father.

“I wanted to learn how to use a sword because I hear voices in my head.” Something told her that would have been the wrong thing to say. “It feels natural to hold a sword…” was another choice that she tossed away. However, the lack of hostility from her father made it easier for her to calm her mind.

Wiping her eyes with the back of her arm before returning her hand to Jensen’s, Azza turned her eyes to her father and tried to mumble something, but only choked up. A quick cough cleared her throat. “I… I feel useless to everyone. I’m always being protected and I just wanted to not be a burden anymore.” Her moment of determination waned as she murmured the last part, casting her eyes down once more, “And… I wanted to surprise everyone…”

The words stabbed at Jensen. He wanted to protect her because she was his daughter and he had never thought of it as a burden. Still, he couldn’t deny the danger that they all faced in the life they all led and as much as he would have liked to, he couldn’t always be there to protect Azza. “When did you start thinking like this?”

It was a question she didn’t want to answer. She didn’t want Jensen to think she was blaming him, but there was no way around it. “Ever since you fought with Lady Remi in the Citadel and she had me hostage...”

The response stunned Jensen. The fight had happened a relatively long time ago, although what surprised him the most was how Cassandra Remi had managed to even influence such a private part of his life. Though it boiled his blood to think such thoughts, he knew in his heart that Remi wasn’t the one to blame.

Fact of the matter was, Azza was growing up and no one had noticed with their busy schedules. Both Jensen and Stephanie had missions to attend to, Zerith was swamped with organizing the forces, his wife Jasmine had her hands full with her own young one, and it always felt awkward asking Kyla, Anita or even Tobias to take care of Azza. So, the task usually fell upon her original caretaker, Mother Holly at the orphanage in Underwood.

Azza gave Jensen’s hands a small squeeze, bringing him out of his thoughts. The conversation hadn’t gotten easier overnight it seemed, and now it was beginning to spiral even more out of control. Every question only brought in new factors that confirmed a quiet unease in Jensen’s gut: he had failed as a parent.

“Tell you what, go get cleaned up and get some breakfast. I need to talk to you mother, alright?” Azza nodded to the suggestion and slid off the bed. She had almost reached the door when Jensen thought to encourage her. The words wouldn’t come out though and it would have sent mixed messages.

Then, Azza disappeared around the corner, leaving Jensen alone on the stool to mull things over. Stephanie and Jensen had never needed to punish Azza as parents and the task seemed even less appealing than before. Was it even the right thing to do at this point? “What would Sei do…?” Even that notion seemed like an escape from the situation.

No, as parents, he and Stephanie had to make the choice.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen observed Azza for the next week from afar. Whenever she was being watched the child had done whatever was asked of her. She was babysat by her grandfather, Aislinn Orlouge, Tobias, Sei himself, and Adolph once. For every second she was alone the immortal watched his daughter with a studious eye. Though she followed to the letter the stern orders given to her, when off on her she continued to train. Her hands flowed as if holding an invisible sword, her body twisting and contorting with an ease like she had been meant to do what she was doing. When she had no freedom of movement she was upon the ground, her arms lifting and lowering her own weight with perfect push-ups until she was called or collapsed. Yet even when she was to tired to move on, she pushed herself a little more each time.

He had to admit he was proud of his little girl.

Yet the thing that bothered him the most was her reason. The words she said were honest and true, for Azza was a terrible liar, but they weren’t the whole truth. A white lie, or worse, half the truth to the situation. Jensen observed her some more as she was in the chapel of the Chaplain’s division, locked away in a small office while Adolph tended to a troubled soldier. It was in there she was working her away around a training dummy that Jensen’s heart felt out and discovered what Azza was doing.

Long ago, almost a six months before he even met Azza, Jensen trained in the mountain’s of Corone with Ta’gaz Noshiba, the brutal trainer of the Ixian Knights. The man had fought Jensen, killing him several times. Each time Jensen awoke from his death, Ta’gaz would look to him and ask the same question,

“Why do you fight?”

Jensen never had an answer for the man, at least not for a month. The immortal trained with the man, learning new moves, improving old ones, and bettering himself. Each time he fought Ta’gaz he was a little closer to defeating the man, but always he would die, the answer out of his grasp. At last Jensen found the answer, and learned why he fought. Looking at his daughter reminded the knight of all this, and with a heavy heart he observed Azza as she trained feeling the tug of his warrior soul pulling towards her.

Azza fought to find out who she was.

Jensen smiled a sad smile as he realized the little girl he adopted nearly two years ago was almost a carbon copy of her father. She wanted to protect herself, and yes, she wanted to protect those she loved, but more so he could tell in her training, her dedication, her passion that she was just as confused as he, and only in the conflict of battle could she find the clarity to find out more about herself.

He leapt down from the tree onto the battlements of Ixian castle, swinging down a long draped flag that rested against the wall until he came to a roll upon the floor lifting up into a spirited walk as he approached the Chapel. He easily breezed through the heavy red iron doors, the Chaplain’s allowing the immortal towards the office where his daughter was kept.

He thought about his plan more and more and realized that, like it or not, Azza was growing up. She was growing up so fast that Jensen wasn’t sure how to keep up. But as he watched her fight he found out something so profound that he had no choice but to act upon his instincts. There was only one way for her to prove to the immortal whether Azza still needed him as a parent or not.

He opened the door, slipping inside where he found Azza turning quickly with red lines of embarrassment on her face. Clutched in her hands behind her back was a training sword, which she awkwardly tried to hide from her father. Jensen gave her a stern look, a warrior’s look that one gave to an equal. He appraised his daughter for the first time and found within her frail looking frame a strength, but also a crippling weakness.

“Azza I know you’ve been training,” Jensen said at last. Azza looked to him, before she looked to her feet.

“Yes Father, I have,” She admitted with a sigh lowering the weapon to her side as she lowered her hands. Jensen crossed the gap between the two as he lifted up training sword, eyeing it before he easily swatted it out of her hands.

“If your mother saw you doing this, what do you think she would do?” Azza remained silent. Jensen walked around her in a circle like a shark circling prey. Azza flinched as he leaned into her, his breath upon the side of her face. “Well?”

“She’d be upset.”

“And what do you think of that?” Jensen asked her as he crossed to stand in front of her. “And look at me when you speak,” Jensen added. Though his tone was stern he never yelled, keeping it very official as he dealt with his daughter. Azza stirred uncomfortably as she looked to the weapon at the side of the room, then to her father.

“I’m sorr-” The knight interrupted her.

“The correct answer is ‘Who gives a fuck,’” Jensen said with a slight smile. Azza looked to him with confusion, before at last she blinked and slouched her shoulders, raising an eyebrow in shock. “I have watched you Azza, and I know you wish to be a warrior, to fight and protect the things you love, and to define who you are,” The immortal spoke as he paced her again. “But know this,” Jensen said stopping next to her. “Fighting is an extension of your will. You fight to test your will against another, perhaps several. Each time you draw a weapon you must be assured that you draw it to win. You must be confident that your will is stronger than anyone else’s,” Jensen stopped behind Azza’s left ear and leaned in closely.

“That includes your mother’s,” Jensen whispered as he shifted to the right ear. “And mine…” Azza shivered as he stepped before her with his back to her. He took a deep breath, and turned back to his daughter. “Azza, I love you, I love you more than I ever thought I could. But I know that I can’t coddle you forever. If you…if you…Kiddo if you know within your heart of hearts that this is what you want, than I support it.” Jensen said to her. Azza’s eyes widened as he spoke, tears brimming her eyelids. Jensen rose a hand to restrain her,

“But because I love you I won’t let you go. If you truly wish to do this, then…I want you to do me a favor and prove it to me.”

There was a silence in the room. A tension as both stared at each other from across the carpeted room. Azza slowly lowered her hands to her side as she curled her fingers in confusion.

“I don’t know what you want me to do, or what you’re asking of me, father,” Azza said as she sniffled. Jensen let off a fatherly smile, the same one he always favored his daughter with when she was sad or lost. Azza’s posture slowly relaxed as Jensen cocked his head to the side and spoke confidently.

“Come on, Kiddo, don’t act dumb,” Jensen chuckled. “If this means enough to you to do, then I want you to prove it. Here,” Jensen shuffled a hand in his pocket and pulled out a pouch filled with the last of his personal income. He tossed the gold to her, hearing the jingling of the coins as she caught it with both hands cradling the small bundle. “Take my money, and go buy yourself whatever sword you feel comfortable with. Take Adolph with you, he’s a very, very knowledgeable man when it comes to weapons of war. Listen to everything he says and be respectful to him. Then once you choose your weapon, I want you to come to the old playground underground in Sei’s tombs.”

“But…why?” Azza asked as she clutched the weapons.

“Because if this means as much as you claim it to be, then I want to fight you. I want to see your purpose and convictions, and show me that you understand what it means to lift a weapon against another. As a warrior, I have to know if your will is stronger than mine. And as a father I need to know if you still need me, or are ready to move on. When I step out this door, Azza, I want to make it clear that until you call me daddy again, I will won’t treat you like a daughter, but like a warrior. No more Kiddo’s, no more comforting you, nothing until you call me daddy again.”

Jensen watched Azza as he spoke, seeing the pain in her eyes as the conflict within her soul began. The innocence that she clung to was warring with the newly forming spirit of her conviction to fight. Jensen turned and headed for the door. Before he opened it, he stopped and turned to her.

“And don’t ever forget, that I love you kiddo,” Jensen said as he opened the door, and left leaving her behind.

[orphans]

Azza wanted to chase her father. She was willing to stop all this foolishness, of training with the sword and body, just so that she could continue to be his little girl. Try as she might, she couldn’t move herself. Instead, she stared at the pouch of coins in one hand and then looked to the practice sword on the stone floor of the office.

However, as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t deny the fact her blood raced at the idea of fighting her father. Even just crossing swords in practice another person, as she had done with Marcus in The Citadel a few weeks prior, was enough to send her adrenaline skyrocketing. A feeling a pure exhilaration she had never felt and even now, her fingers twitched to feel the rough texture of a sword’s grip.

One, she both craved and hated with a building apprehension.

While the fighting was exciting and familiar to Azza, and every movement and swing was as natural as her breath, there was uncertainty in her mind if this was the path she wanted once more. Her retuning memories only showed this path as one of pain and constant struggle to prove herself to someone, anyone. A goal she felt she never reached.

Thumbing one of the coins through the fabric of the pouch, Azza shook her head free of the thoughts. If she was to focus on proving to her father what she was capable of, there needed to be no hesitance in her action. Yet, even as she took the first step towards the open door, she could feel a hand of ice tracing down her spine. Just how far would she have to go to prove to Jensen that this was what she wanted when she wasn’t so sure anymore?

Taking one last look about the carved stone of the chapel Azza smile slowly, knowing that no matter what happened that this was her home now. That was one thing Azza was certain to never change. It couldn’t change…


Adolph was an easy man to find, as his stature made him easily spotted by a near-empty gate. He was loading a small wagon with bare essentials of water and rations. When he looked up and saw Azza, he made no motion of acknowledgement and continued to ready their transportation until she neared. The single horse that pulled it snorted now and then and occasionally stamped its feet in impatience, seemingly eager to stretch its legs during the trip.

While it was true that the man was a good friend to her father, she never had the chance to really talk to him. Simply put, Azza and Adolph lived in opposite spectrums of the world where his was conflict, and Azza’s was of peace. It might have even struck Adolph as humorous that Azza’s quiet world was about to collide with his; Azza, a former flower girl, wishing to learn the finer details of war seemingly because the girl was surrounded by weapons instead of placid fields.

“Sir Adolph? Would it be alright if I came along? Jensen told me that you would be able to help me choose a proper sword for me to use.” When Adolph didn’t respond immediately, Azza looked down to her foot that swiveled about on the ground in small circles out of nervousness. When she turned her head back up, she saw him staring at her.

“I’m afraid not. Jensen has told me about the situation, but both as friend and fellow knight to both your mother and father, I cannot do what one asks, and ignore the other.”

“Oh… I see.” It was a reply that Azza had not expected and all she could do was watch the mountain of a main climb up into the seat of the wagon. When he offered his hand though, Azza was taken aback once more and looked to him, perplexed. “But, I thought you just said-”

“I did. I’m not going to help you choose a weapon, but there is no harm in me giving you a ride and chaperoning you. I did promise your mother to watch over you and keep you safe whenever you were with me, and if I just happen to give you my opinion on how best to deploy certain kinds of weapons, it satisfies both parties.” He cracked a stern smile to the girl as she took his hand and hopped on.

“Thank you Adolph.”

The chaplain gave a nod of his head before flicking the reins to the horse. An undignified snort rose from the animal as it began at a slow walk that quickly turned into a quick trot. For a long time the two said nothing as the horse plodded on. It wasn’t until the pair rounded a bend and Radasanth came into view, did Adolph finally break the silence. “There are a few things I need to replace in the armory. We’ll be stopping at a small weapon shop, but don’t be fooled by its size. The selection there is better than most of the stores on the main artery into the city.”

“It’s not too expensive, is it?” Despite the weight of the coin pouch that Jensen had given her, Azza had never relished the idea of spending much money. She was, after all, only used to buying candy and groceries.

A chuckle rose deep from Adolph’s chest as he gave a shrug. “That’ll depend on what you want. You’ll have enough time to decide and look once we’re inside.”


Passing through the gates of Radasanth was a quick affair as the guards knew the face of both Adolph and Azza well, as both had visited the city numerous times for different reasons; Azza with “Old Jacobs,” the sundries merchant from Underwood and Adolph for the Citadel and whatever orders needed to be carried out.

The main street was busy as usual during midday, full of people from every walk of life while the air was scented with the many aromas of various kitchens mingling together. The advertisements that the infinite traders shouted out were nearly palpable; some very much so as the occasional apprentice to the trader would press a flier into the hands of any unsuspecting pedestrian.

Slowly, but surely, Adolph steered the wagon onto the street he was searching for while Azza looked about, lost in her own thoughts. While much less hectic than the main market street, a fair amount of shoppers and travelers still populated the street. After another minute or so in the wagon the two stopped in front of a small stone building. The wooden sign that hung above the door spelled, The Crimson Arms, in neat golden letters; a simple construction, but effective.

As the two hopped off the wagon, a human woman sporting wolf ears and a tail exited from the store and greeted the two. Adolph, was immediately taken back as he stared at the unfamiliar person before him. In response, the woman gave a soft snicker and offered quickly, “My name is Sakuya, hired help for Sir Osmond for the time being. I’ll be loading your wagon with the order.”

Regaining his composure, Adolph gave a polite nod. “Thank you then, Miss Sakuya. That’ll give us more time to pick something for you then, Azza.”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Thank you Miss Sakuya.” Azza mimicked Adolph’s nod, but then continued to stare at the woman’s features. There was an air of familiarity about her that Azza couldn’t quite place. Sakuya merely smiled to the small girl before moving off around the building, presumably to start loading the wagon.

“Azza, you coming?” Adolph’s voice brought Azza back from her wonderings, prompting her to follow quickly after the man into the much cooler air of the shop. The outer shell was deceptive of how spacious the interior of the shop really was. While still dwarfed in comparison to the larger arms dealers, Adolph’s word about selection was indeed true. Every available corner was home to a different weapon than the one beside it while a few even draped across the dark wood ceiling. There was, however, a linger scent of eggs that was soon explained by the emergence of a thin man carrying a plate of breakfast foods.

“Adolph! It is always a marvelous pleasure to see you here!” Azza’s instant assumption was to refer to the man as “Sir Osmond,” and was rewarded as Adolph clasped one of the man’s free hands in his own.

“Osmond, a pleasure as always. I trust you got my list?”

“I did indeed! Nothing out of the ordinary this time, hmm? Pity,” Setting down his plate on the counter, Osmond quickly settled his piercing eyes upon Azza’s curious form. “Or is there something extraordinary today?” Instantly, his lips fractured into a knowing smile.

“Good… good morning, Sir Osmond,” Azza stammered out, which only brought a laugh from the man.

“And well mannered. Adolph, is she yours?”

“What?” Adolph quickly looked up from a war maul he had been inspecting. “No, she’s the daughter of a friend, here to pick something out.”

“Oh ho…?” Osmond’s inquisitive gaze grazed the girl, making her squirm in discomfort before moving towards the far end of the store, seemingly to check the weapons there. “Hmm… I believe I was just disliked. Pity…” With a sigh and long horsed frown, he returned to the counter to finish his breakfast. “Take your time you two; I’ll be here all day.”

When Adolph decided that Azza had enough time to mill about and explore, he approached the girl and watched her feel the edge to a short sword of Salvarian make. “Do you know much about weapons, Azza?”

“No, not really.” Azza shook her head as she replied. Her mouth opened again, about to say something, then decided against it as she shook her head again. “No…”

This made Adolph’s posture stiffen. He was no fool, and knew the girl was hiding something. Nevertheless, he presented politely, “Would you like for me to explain the weapons and those who commonly uses them?”

Azza tilted her face up to the mountain of a man, and smiled hesitantly. “That… would be appreciated.” Yet, even as she said so, she knew in her heart what she would choose. Instead, she just wanted to feel the comfort of having someone else confirm her thoughts out loud.

“Very well, I’ll start with what you’re holding then. The short sword: primarily for close quarters and stabbing and slashing.” Picking up one of the blades as well, he leveled it to check the quality. “The users of this are primarily swift and cunning, preferring to lure their opponents somewhere advantageous for them. Goes well with a shield too.”

Azza said nothing as she continued looking at the one in her hands. She was neither cunning nor swift, this she knew. She was clumsy and hesitant in her purpose, for even now, she continued to doubt her reasons despite being steeled in the fact of acquiring a weapon. Setting the weapon down, Azza moved towards broadswords and picked one up.

Adolph followed and did the same, watching the girl’s movements closely before continuing his explanation. “Broadswords are much sturdier in construction and are weighted more towards the ‘point’. It allows a novice wielder greater power in each strike with less formal training; characteristic of those eager to fulfill their goals in any way possible.

Azza only nodded her head with a soft sound of agreement as she replaced the weapon in its hold. Her dreams had always been simple and she was in no hurry to see them realized. Fact of the matter was, the more Azza heard of the weapons, the more it confirmed her reasoning that a warriors path was no longer hers. Even so, she was determined to prove to her father her independence.

A collection of Fallien rapiers were next in line. Picking one up, Azza bent it to test the flexibility, though the reason of why, she couldn’t remember. It impressed Osmond though, as he hid a smile behind his napkin while watching the two.

“Rapiers are a weapon of precision and timing with a cold elegance.” Lifting one up as well, the weapon seemed ill fitted to Adolph’s size. “Those of a singular purpose favor this weapon and have much in common with those who wield a short sword, but a bit more elegant in their fighting style.”

Staring at the blade in her grasp, Azza tested the fit of the hilt and then performed a small flourish, coupled with a lunge at an imaginary target. While it felt comfortable, it lacked the spirit. A quiet sigh passed from her lips before she replaced that weapon as well.

A crescendo of claps erupted from both Sir Osmond and the newly returned Sakuya, both having observed the small feat that Azza pulled. “Bravo! Such a maneuver in a tiny shop as this!” Osmond then emphasized his point by spreading both his arms out like a pair of wings. His antics teased a smile onto Azza’s lips, but she turned away to focus on the next set of weapons to hide her embarrassment.

Several well made katanas awaited the pair inspecting weapons. Azza lifted one and cast her eyes along the single blade as Adolph offered a bit of enlightenment. “Most katanas are imported from Akashima and from what I understand; one can only obtain the best from the masters in the weapon’s homeland.”

“I resent that statement…” An undignified mumble passed from Osmond, eliciting a flurry of giggles from Sakuya.

Azza made a small awkward grin at the two as Adolph gave a cough, then continued. “Most users of a katana are graceful, patient and dedicated to achieving what they seek. Taka is a good example of this.”

Those were all good qualities that Azza hoped to obtain, however, her heart whispered a silent unease. This blade wasn’t for her, just as all the others had not reached out to her in either purpose or form. Despite that fact, she was well aware that no matter what she chose, she was casting aside the small girl who always ran free in the forest and fields.

She was choosing a life of violence no matter what she chose.

At long last, Azza allowed the katana to rest upon its hold once more before turning to Adolph. “What about your weapon? Why do you use it?”

A gloomy smile painted itself onto Adolph’s features. “Determination and an insurmountable spirit. While a war maul may look clumsy, one must strike with absolute certainty, as it as a weapon unforgiving of mistakes, both to enemy and user alike.”

The answer satisfied the small girl as she continued to look about the shop. Even though there was other common tools of war, such as daggers, bows, crossbows, spears, and pole arms, to the more exotic chakrams, tonfas, sais, scimitars and zanmadaos (large two-handers for killing cavalry), Azza’s eyes found nothing to her tastes. The multitude of choices had only helped in befuddling her spirit

“Osmond, may I?” Sakuya suddenly asked.

“Mmm? Of course. You seem to have a strange insight to these things.”

Curiosity found its way to Adolph’s lips as he watched the woman approach them, stepping aside to allow the woman more room in the cramped store. Azza, on the other hand, made a motion of retreat before stopping herself when she realized what she was doing. Even so, a creeping feeling twirled itself about the back of the small girl’s neck, giving a sensation of recall in relation to this woman.

Sakuya made no notice to Azza’s behavior and detached a plain, but sturdy and finely crafted long sword from a place overhead that both Azza and Adolph missed. Unsheathing it, she offered it to Azza, who then took it gingerly in her hands. “Long swords are a simple, but effective weapon, employing both balance and sturdiness. This one in particular, is a hand and a half, allowing you to use two hands for more power if you wish.” Azza did so to acquaint herself with the weapon as Sakuya continued, “Long swords are also the sort of weapon that grows with its wielder, able to adapt to circumstances as they appear. Whether you lean towards grace or strength, the long sword will accompany you whichever way you choose.”

“As well as hesitance or resolve…” was the mumbled response of Azza.

A mischievous smirk played across Sakuya’s face as she leaned down to whisper, “Those as well.”

Surprise sparked into Azza’s eyes as she looked to the woman. Adolph’s brow only creased in confusion, not having caught what either said. In the end, he shrugged and approached the counter first. In a low voice, he jerked a thumb to Sakuya, “Osmond, I thought you always refused to hire help.”

Osmond’s hands palmed the air in defeat. “What can I say? She has a way with words and sales have been up with her arrival here. She’s some traveler from Akashima just looking to make some coin while sight-seeing.”

After another moment, Sakuya returned to the counter, making small talk with Adolph and Osmond while Azza stood by herself, testing the long sword with small swings. It was as Sakuya said: balanced and sturdy. Nearly the same reasoning Marcus had given her back in the Citadel. The line that sold it though, was a weapon that would grow with its master.

Azza knew she wasn’t a spectacular swordswoman and though she was quick, lacked grace. Shrewdness wasn’t on her side either, but she was adaptive to her surroundings, so it was comforting to know that the long sword was a balance between all her worlds. A promise to move forward while safeguarding the past.

Regardless, the chilling afterthought of the sword’s true purpose still sank deep into the pit of Azza’s stomach as Marcus’s words resounded in her head. A sword was meant to kill. To draw the blade was to shed her innocence and paint the soil with the blood of others. A soft breath passed from the girl before sheathing the weapon with a dull clink.

It would do.

It had to.

Jensen was waiting for her to prove herself; that she was no longer helpless. That… she no longer needed him to protect her from the world. Her heart raced in tandem to her feelings when she approached the counter, facing each of the adults before her once, prior to setting her selection onto the counter. “I’ve chosen.”

Osmond shot Sakuya a pouting frown with a raised eye while the woman grinned back sagely. “So the witch gracing my store is right again. Very well, that one is one hundred and seventy five coins.” Azza nodded her head and then placed the pouch of coins onto the counter. Osmond blast Sakuya with another dirty look before counting out the coins. “So I was wrong again…” Sakuya just snickered.

Even Adolph felt a small tug on the corner of his lips, but he held himself and waited for Azza by the door. When Osmond returned the pouch and handed the sword and sheath over, Azza made her way to the door. Pausing, she turned and waved before hopping onto the wagon.

Adolph did the same after taking stock of the wagon and what was loaded in. Everything was satisfactory and all that remained was the return trip for him and for Azza to meet her father. While he wasn’t entirely supportive of the idea, Adolph knew Jensen well and trusted the man. Azza was, after all, Jensen’s daughter and not his own.


By the time the two returned, the sun was beginning to slip from its perch. Azza bid farewell to Adolph, leaving the man to unload the wagon with the help of a few nearby soldiers as she made her way underground in Sei’s tomb, towards where her father was waiting.

The underground passages were still used daily by the soldiers and Cassandra Remi, however, most of the families had moved above to the castle proper. As such, the laughter of children no longer echoed within the caverns from the abandoned playground and the area felt desolate. Nonetheless, Azza found her bearings easily, having amused herself within the confines of the cave for more hours than she cared to recount.

And every step that drew her closer to the meeting spot with her father echoed a new doubt along the empty corridors. Her mind was made up and ready to move forward to learn and seek more about her origins, if possible. Her body was ready to run free and explore the world and experience all that it had to offer, both horrendous and magnificent.

But her heart was drenched in doubt. This was her family and they protected her. Her father and mother were good to her and never once had they wronged her. Never once had they ignored her needs. Yet, because of her selfish wants, her tiny world was being shaken once more. Would it be worth it? Was this truly the path she wanted? In the end, all of the thoughts were useless and only served to distract her. With a quick shake, she cleared her head and stepped into the clearing.

And there, waiting patiently on a slide much too small for him, was Jensen: Azza’s adoptive father.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

The underground fortress of Sei’s tombs had once been a cornerstone of the Ixian Knights, who’s numbers were only small when they first started out. Many annexes and abrupt tunnel endings made the place seem more like a labyrinth, but for those well versed in the traveled passageways they found several shortcuts to paces all over Corone and a few hidden treasures nobody would ever had guessed existed.

One such treasure was the old children’s playground. There was a large hole in the ceiling of the cavern where sunlight passed through harmlessly illuminating the grass that had grown to about shin height from the lack of care once the army moved into the castle. The vaulted cave had been the perfect choice for the daycare of the Ixian Knights when they once inhabited the tombs, the place where Azza spent most of her carefree days when she first was placed in the care of her parents, and was usually a place she liked to go when Stephanie and Jensen made time to go out on a picnic with her.

The symbolism of the room had a more sinister appeal to the immortal, however. While on one hand the room represented those carefree days when Azza only had to worry about how much time she had to play, it was also the catalyst in what warped her fragile psyche. In this playground was the spot where Cassandra Remi's dubious accomplice had kidnapped his adopted child. It was this event that she told him about that frightened her enough to grow up, and it felt twistedly perfect a place to show him she had.

Jensen watched as his little girl stepped into the setting light of the sun, noticing the new addition of the long sword to her personal body. The weapon made him slightly, only briefly frown. Part of him wished she wanted to use throwing daggers like her parents did. But not everybody was meant to be obnoxious in the battle arena he supposed. Letting out a loud yawn, stretching his hands up to the heavens lazily and reaching his right fingers to the back of his head he smiled to his little girl, a small ‘pffbt‘ sound escaping his lips as he let out a sigh..

"Jesse kid, you take forever to shop," Jensen murmured to Azza. He was careful not to blurt the word 'kiddo' as he usually did when talking to her. "You're as bad as your mother. She could shop for a pair of boots and be in the store until the next year." Azza let out a small grin as Jensen slowly waltzed to stand four strides away from her.

His daughter kept track of his movements with a subtly that impressed the knight. Though her head tilted ever so slightly he could see in her eyes that she was not even registering that she was tracking his every step. Her fingers ever so slowly crawled to her blade, but some conscious part of her kept the girl from actually letting her skin touch the cool steel grip. These things all birthed a nagging thought in the knight’s mind, as she seemed to be half ready to go automatically, half reluctant to even be in the room in the first place. Only one way to find out, he supposed.

The immortal dusted his hands to his side, bringing up a bit of wind in the process so his jacket fluttered behind him revealing several weapons from his throwing knives to his iron glaives. He let the jacket settle again cloaking all his weapons and grinned out of the side of his mouth as he watched her gulp loudly. He pulled out a pair of leather gloves from his back pocket, and slowly put them on, exaggerating every motion as he did so. When at last he was ready he looked to his little girl and gave her a heart warming smile.

"You ready to do this?" Jensen asked her, watching her head slowly nod up and down. "You sure you know what this means? Like I said, once I start I won't stop until you say the word 'Daddy.' Once we begin you better have the force of will to prove to me that you can take care of yourself. That you're a big girl. Are you sure you're ready?"

There was a long silence, as if in the space between them their spirits raged. Jensen's fatherly instinct to protect her, and Azza's desires to be free. She looked to her father with intimidation and resolution all in hers eyes. She knew what it meant, what it meant to lift her hand up and draw her sword.

Slowly, ever so softly the metal scraped against the sheath, echoing within the room intensifying the tension as she slowly drew up her breath. Jensen looked to her, an encouraging smile as he mouthed the words 'I love you.' There was a moments pause to let everything set in both warrior's mind.

With a sudden flourish of speed Jensen rushed forwards, his agility and speed far superior to his daughter's already impressive growth, a wild laughter on his lips as for the first time ever she saw Jensen when he did battle. His eyes were alight with a gripping madness as spit flew from the sides of his mouth, cruel, maddening chuckling passing his lips as easily as one breathed. His body was like the wind with how he moved, swift actions that made Azza's eyes dart left and right. Her fear reeked in his nostrils as he let out another ear piercing squeal of mirth, fist pulled back and ready to strike.

He held his hand inches before her eye, his lips letting out a sublime, whine like giggle as he softly pulled his fist back. She looked to him, a bit frightened and with her hesitation he let his hand fly forwards and slap Azza across her cheek. He put a lot of force behind his insulting attack, and even with his leather gloves he sti felt a stinging sensation in his palm.

"Wake up sleepy head!" Jensen laughed to his daughter as he flipped backwards to a starting position four paces away from her. "The nightmares just beginning!"

[orphans]

As the sound of the slap reverberated off the cavernous walls, the entire world stood still to Azza as she watched Jensen spring back to take up another position. Even his words drifted lazily to her ears as her eyes followed the movements of the lunatic before her. A single thought solidified her and shed any resistance she had to the fight.

This wasn’t her father.

This wasn’t the man that would read to her and hold her.

This wasn’t the Jensen she knew.

This was a madman who was toying with her life the same way as the merciless witch, Cassandra Remi. He was the same sort of person that frightened her, William Arcus. This was a person that she had no qualms about hurting, and no matter how much her heart had wished to be human, Azza’s Dovicarian mind worked furiously to formulate a plan of attack.

The lighting wouldn’t be an issue for now, but with the sun setting soon it would become increasingly hard to see as the torches about the walls were no longer lit as there was no longer a reason to. Would the man before her gain an advantage from this, or be as hindered as her?

Shifting her right rear foot to be perpendicular to her front, she could feel the tiny hands of tall grass brushing against the fabric over her knee while it only reached Jensen’s shin. In the end, it would hamper her movement more than him, since she was smaller. But, if he tried to kick at her form if she dropped down, he could become tangled in the wild growth. Her eyes darted about quickly and noted that some areas were even more overgrown.

Still, the largest problem was his fighting style. It was something she had never encountered in her past life and while she knew of his fighting prowess from watching him train once or twice, she didn’t know how to counter it. All she knew was how to handle the long sword in her hands and fight a similar opponent.

Jensen’s speed was unreal as well. There was no trouble in following his movements with her eyes, but her body could barely respond to him. Unused to combat, a lingering sluggishness continued to plague her. However, she was determined to retaliate this time and raised her sword to a roof guard.

Words would be a waste now. In its place, Azza narrowed her eyes and shifted her back foot, ensuring a solid foundation. All the while the sting from her cheek reminded her that nightmares were something she could awaken from. This? She wasn't so sure and she wasn't eager to find out.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen watched as Azza slipped into a defensive stance, her eyes slowly filling more and more with confidence after he slapped her. Still, he was disappointed. Maybe it was just the way she was trained, or maybe it was just her style, but her unwillingness to go on the offensive boarded on the line of cowardice.

There was nothing Jensen despised more than a coward.

With a bellow of laughter heralding his charge he was back on the attack, his limbs moving like an extension of his will. He thrashed at her with a violent roundhouse, her longsword catching the heel and parrying the blow. When his foot touched ground he turned inwards and kicked her right in the stomach. She doubled over in pain, her tiny feet backpedaling as her skirt shifted the grass around them. Her sword rose up in one hand to a defensive position, and Jensen let out a fit of maniacal giggles as he ran right at her.

Her sword darted outwards in a clumsy swing to keep him away, but even with her supernatural like speed she was slower than her father. The immortal easily rolled through the grass, feeling the green blades along his exposed skin as he came up in a shoulder tackle. Azza let out a grunt of pain as she bounced to the grass, her feet spinning upwards as she rolled to a stop at the bottom of the tiny hill.

"Seriously?" Jensen chided with a wheezing laugh. "You must have damn right sucked at king of the hill! Come on then, let's play a new game!"

Jensen launched himself at the prone warrior, Azza's fingers reaching down and gripping the hilt of her blade. When she pulled herself to her knees he eyes widened as Jensen's feet were incoming in a drop kick. Her chest felt them impact her and down she went again, her body tumbling awkwardly. Jensen kicked up to his feet, looking at her as he shook his head, still chuckling darkly.

"Seems you're decent at smear the queer," He mumbled off handedly. He watched as Azza clutched her chest, labored breaths escaping her lips as her eyes tightened in pain. The fatherly part of his mind began to take over and he watched in a stupor at the downed form of his daughter.

A rush of guilt rushed over him as he realized he had struck his daughter not once, but several times. The only remorse he even had of the incident was nothing more than his bastardly, maddened laughter. Here was his little girl, in pain, and he was the reason for it. His idea crumbled before his eyes as he wanted to rush over and end this madness, scooping her up in his arms and hold her tightly and tell her everything was okay. The bad man was gone.

Yet he did not move. Azza had already started standing up again, using the longsword as a crutch as she woozily stood her ground. Jensen watched her as she let out a gasp of breath, before standing tall again. Slowly she lowered her hands into a defensive stance and he felt his warrior soul tugging at him. Azza was trying to prove she had grown up, and he just proved he was standing in her way.

Still, he would not insult her by fighting without his all.

His laughter echoed in the cavernous halls as he went on the attack. Azza eyed him cautiously, and when he was within four paces she had managed to do something that caught him off guard. She switched her stance to an aggressive one, her sword arm pulling the weapon in and then outwards in a diagonal slash. Jensen let the wind guide him as he dodged to the left, but Azza turned with him, digging the weapon in the dirt and bringing up tiny gravel as she shifted to meet him.

He brought his hands out to swipe her, but the blade bent upwards quickly to force his fingers back. He took a step back and prepared to lunge at her, but she had matched his step and moved in on him, her weapon coming upwards in a flourish.

Jensen was forced to flip backwards in order to avoid her, but when he came back up her body was charging his, weapon never more than an arms length from her torso. She had learned to tighten her stance, not to extend her reach to far. The perfect counter to Jensen's style was to not allow him the opportunity to strike, and constantly keep him moving backwards.

He was proud of Azza.

However, she may have had a solid strategy, but Jensen prided himself on being unpredictable in his attack. He lured Azza closer and closer, letting her blade reach in deeper and deeper, until she made the wrong move.

[orphans]

Every moment that passed the adrenaline of the small girl kicked up, fueling her attacks. Blood pounded in her ears, drowning out all sounds and yet at the same time, she was eerily aware of each step she took and each movement of her blade. Azza shifted forward in time as all of her strokes were executed quickly but tight to her body, instinctively to keep a barrier of slashes around herself.

While there was pain shooting through her body, the rush of gaining ground on her opponent blinded her to other threats. She wanted – no – she needed to prove that she was ready for this and the fact that she’d been dead had this been a real fight, didn’t even cross her mind.

Just when she thought an opportunity presented itself and she lashed out, her father easily saw through her ruse and ducked under her swing, closed the distance between them and nullified her advantage of reach. In the brief instant, Azza’s eyes widened both in surprise and pain as Jensen’s fist collided into her stomach before bouncing back again. “That all?”

The disappointment that dripped from Jensen’s voice poisoned the girl’s ears, spurring her to still her breathing to ignore the pain. Clutching the sword, she raised herself once again and eyed the man before her.

Attacking seemed to work at first, but failed because of her predictability. Defending simply didn’t work as his speed just overwhelmed her. But… what if she was to become just as unpredictable?

A small grin tugged at the side of Azza’s lips as she quickly dug her sword into her ground and flicked it up, throwing dirt and other debris at Jensen. In the same motion, she leaped up impossibly high for a normal human, much less a child, and slashed her sword down towards her opponent.

While it may not even land, she hoped it would drive Jensen closer to the playground where it would be harder for him to maneuver with the various obstructions: dilapidated seesaws, stationary riding animals, slides and swings to name a few. And sand. Lots of sand.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen laughed as he pushed his daughter towards the edge of the playground, jacket whipping behind him as he danced around. His hands darted side to side to keep the long sword away, his feet lifting up in strange angled flip kicks. Azza kept her composure, her lips passing small gasps of exertion, but still she kept up her stoic defense.

At last the two crossed the final distance of the knee high grass, approaching the wooden box that contained the pit of sand where the kids had once played. There was a set of monkey bars, six swings, and a large construct that had three slides of varying size. Each one spaced out to allow long passages of ground between each, and Jensen looked to a slide he had once rolled down with Azza when she was a bit smaller. That was the third week after he adopted her the knight fondly thought with a goofy smile.

Blood crossed the air in a glittering arc as the immortal felt one of his shoulders burn like the forges of a smithy. His trip down memory lane was cut short drastically as he whipped his face back to focus, eyes filled with curiosity as he seethed with pain in a shallow curse.

They both stared, neither making a peep as Jensen looked to the wound. Azza looked as well, both caught off guard as true blood was shed by the little girl. Jensen looked to the wound, then to his daughter, back to the wound, back to the sword where the faintest line trickled down the cold steel. With a smug smile he looked up to his girl's eyes and saw the hidden question in their reflection. Is this over now, daddy? Can we stop? Jensen shook his head side to side.

"You cut me," He said bluntly. Azza said nothing as she looked to him like she wanted to cry. "Well?" He said to her in a stern manner. She looked to him again, searching his intent. When she saw he was still intent on fighting she steeled her courage and narrowed her eyes in challenge.

She whispered something under her breath. Jensen leaned in and listened, but quickly she was silent as her sword lifted warily. Jensen lifted a hand to his ear, cupping it so he could hear her better. She fidgeted with her feet and Jensen gave her a dark look.

"Tell me," Jensen hissed with a maddening grin. "I wanna know what you think about cutting up your Daddy." Azza looked to him, then with a defiant snort she lifted her sword up to the ready.

"I said you hit me first!" She cried out, pushing the blade out. Jensen ducked under the blade and moved in on her exposed body, fist coming upwards in a fierce uppercut. Her body squirmed to avoid the strike, the leather grazing her chin as she pirrouted to the side and brought one foot out. Jensen's left leg tripped over her foot and he tumbled forwards awkwardly, hands flying out to stabilize his flailing form. He grabbed hold of Azza's wrist and turned in his fall, wrenching her off her feet as he collapsed in a painful grunt. His ribs felt bruised as wind passed out his lips, hip vibrating as he collided with the dirt.

One hand dug deep into the sand as he turned his weary face and looked to Azza who squeaked in alarm, her sword stabbing the sand to try and brace her. She landed like a porpoise in flight, feet lifting up as she hit chest first into the sand. Both scrambled to their feet, the immortal cackling again as he vaulted forwards, rolling his body on Azza's back and coming up to face her.

"You're so damn clever!" Jensen praised her. Azza quickly lifted her sword up, particles of sand drifting in the blades wake as she prepared herself again. Jensen clapped twice as he dug his back heel in the sand, letting the weight cover his foot. "I got no great speed here! It's like running through molasses. Now that is some fast thinking. But you see, you got one flaw," Jensen teased.

Azza looked to him warily as she tightened her grip on the blade, her feet moving to a defensive stance. When she shifted her front foot Jensen kicked his back leg out, all the sand he accumulated on it lifting up and outwards in a spray that showered his little girl.

In the wake of his attack the giggling immortal charged forward again determined to end the fight and prove his little girl still needed him to protect him from monsters like himself.

[orphans]

Had Azza been a normal little girl that needed protection from monsters like Jensen, she would have given up before the battle had begun. Except Azza was a Dovicarus, and little Dovicarus grew up to be monsters in the eyes of others. She had heard the whispers in the halls. Of how she possessed the horns of a demon and the wings of some other odd creature.

So as pain blasted through her skull from her crumpled wings, Azza’s eyes steeled in determination. Whether Jensen had intended it or not, he had caused her more pain in the brief roll along her back than all of his punches combined and triggered much darker memories for the girl.

Each breaths of air she took became painful and saturated with the smell of decay, every beat of her heart pounded in her ear and filled it with screams of forgotten voices, and all of her vision clouded with a crimson mist that painted Jensen as one of the many she killed in another life. Most importantly the pain forced the girl to lash out with her blade more aggressively even as the sand flew into her face and stung her cheeks and eyes. It did little to blind her, as the blooded tint already obscured her sight. Instinct was in full control now and it told her kill and maim.

When Jensen had expected his little Azza to rub her eyes or at least be stalled, he found himself forced to dodge back and to the side as the blade arced past in a low horizontal stroke. Except it left Azza open and in the time it took to ready her sword once more, Jensen closed the distance despite being hampered and crushed his fist into his daughter’s gut. She crumpled against his knuckles and coughed up some blood that colored the sand while more quickly filled her mouth.

But it was something that the instincts of the small Dovicarus had counted on. Forcing her head up immediately after Jensen’s strike she let out a spray of blood through her lips at the eyes of her father and in the shifting sands, it was just enough to disorient and make him stumble.

The sword then pulled down into a plow guard during the brief moment of reprieve before Azza drove the sword forward in one fluid motion and felt it connect.

Then punch through to the other side of her father.

And as far as she could tell through her obscured eyes, she had struck his right shoulder.

Silently, she prayed that it was enough for her strength was waning.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Time was said to slow when something amazing happened, like a giant falling before a mere boy with a sling, or a first kiss with a true lover. The intensity of the nerves and the blood flowing followed by the awkward silence all made the charade that much more believable. It was in these moments true greatness or terrible loss could be fathomed, moments that would later be described to last an eternity.

Some say, when death nears, one could gain visions of their life in this elongated strip of time. Clarity of their faults, joyous reminders of the good times, tear jerking happiness and heart breaking sorrow could be viewed like a slideshow. All these emotions and more could flow in the span of a mere few seconds.

The reality was that time seemed to move much, much faster.

The blade Azza thrust forward was incoming at a speed Jensen had not expected from his daughter. Though he was caught off guard he knew how to deflect the attack easily enough, being as agile as he was had helped him escape sticky situations like this. He stuck one foot to the side...

...and stumbled. The sand had created a small mountain around his feet, all the grains pushed up when he was on the attack. He let out a surprised yelp, his laughter turning into a whining gasp of mirth as he attempted to twist his body to the side and let her blade just graze his chest. It would hurt, a lot, but he would still be in the fight.

This would be the second time Jensen flat out ignored his daughter's changes.

The wound stung at first, like being pinched by a Fallien desert scorpion. The ripping of his muscles caused him to let out a shocked gasp, both hands lifting to the sword as if he could stop what was going to happen. His ribs shook as the chest tightened, like magma was being poured right into his lungs. He let out a roar of shock as at last the blade punctured the last bit of skin from his back.

The blade had not hit his shoulder, it passed clean through his right lung and cut near his heart.

His lips at last did cry out in pain, blood flew outwards and sprayed his daughter's white hair, staining it crimson. The immortal's eyes were as wide as the dwindling sun, and as it set so did his eyes softly close. Jensen looked to his little girl, but as he dropped to his knees he could not find the words to say. It was never supposed to go this far, she did not need to kill him, but it was his own fault. He pushed her to do this. He pushed his daughter away!

There was no flash of memories, unless one considered the red haze of shed blood able to count for such things. No, for the immortal time did not slow. It went far to fast as bloodied fingers tried to reach out to his little girl. She was still blinded by the sand and the blood in her eyes, and she missed his feeble attempts to reach her. Instead her instincts told her to pull the sword out, and she did with a wet noise that echoed in the playground.

Jensen fell to his side, looking past his daughter and sighing one last breath as awkward silence fell between them, time softly slowing down as the world turned a faded white, and one last memory of Jensen holding Azza crossed his mind.

"Love you," He wheezed in a whisper. "Kiddo..."

He smiled to himself, a prideful smile of a parent who watched their child surpass him and peacefully let death's embrace grip him.

[orphans]

She should have pulled the sword back immediately to protect herself. Azza should have done many things at this time, but she didn’t. It was all because of the recognized feeling of silence that followed after each death. One sensation that shook her body and loosened the hold of her sword as she watched through blurred eyes as her father fell. For the grown Dovicarus – no – for the small child, horror gripped her heart. What did she do?

What had she done?!

She had not the healing prowess of the Ai’Brone to correct her mistake. She was no weaver of spells that could reverse the flow of time. She couldn’t even be able to stop the flow of blood seeping from her father’s wound as trembling hands pressed to Jensen and shook him once.

Then again.

“Father?” The single word echoed strangely in the quiet cavern and served as the only response. Tears accompanied her realization and washed away the haze of red, sand, and the blood from her father. The clearing of vision did little to ease Azza’s heart and instead, stung her as she took in the full extent of what she did.

“Father,” followed with another shake of his body. Nothing. “Father!” as if more force her in wavering voice would awaken him.

Tears rained from Azza’s eyes as she continued to shake Jensen’s body until finally a whisper drifted from her, “Daddy.” Pride and a need to prove her abilities and resolve had held her back, but it was pointless now. It had all been pointless. “Daddy, come on stop playing around.” Words meant to comfort her heart.

There would be no one to save her from her faults this time. Jensen had always been the one to safeguard her; accepted her, despite all her strangeness, without question.

And so, Azza did the only thing she could do. She screamed, her voice echoing with anger at herself and regret of her actions. She screamed at her selfish wants that had taken away the person who had never looked at her with accusing eyes. Finally, she screamed at what she knew herself to be: a killer, one with a fragile heart and unsuited to the journey before her.

Her echoes would carry throughout the tomb and would never reach anywhere. The large hole in the ceiling to the outside world looked so very small now and despite that fact, it was as if the very heavens looked down through that window at her, accusing her. Eventually, the final thread of light disappeared from above, leaving Azza alone.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

All around her the wind continued to blow, the sand of the playground lifting up and scattering everywhere as Azza continued to cry. In her sorrow, her eyes shut as she let all her pent up emotions go into his chest, she missed the eldritch pulsing that convulsed from his stomach upwards. It was green in color, a light green like witch light that was unnatural and otherworldly. It pulsed again, and this time it ran along the torso, and when it hit the wound it crawled like living lightening into the wound. Each pulse of the green serpentine like energy continued to repair the damage that was done. Flesh was re-sewn, bones unbroken, lungs un-punctured. When the last bit of the Breath of the Undying was finished fixing the wound, the energy pulsed over to the heart, and with one mighty surge blood flowed once more, air was taken in a deep inhale as lungs refilled, and Jensen’s body arched upwards as his fingers curled. His mouth gaped open as he took in a powerful breath, and Azza’s face lifted as she looked upon her rising father once more.

Jensen’s eyes watered a bit, but shortly he let out a coughing fit as he turned to his side. When he was finished he looked forward to see a bloody skirt, and followed it up to the most beautiful pair of maroon eyes he had ever seen. Azza’s face was contorted in confusion, her eyes in disbelief. She looked at Jensen, unsure what she was seeing, and with a small grin, a heart warming curl of his lips, he slowly moved his hand in the sand to hers and gripped her fingers.

“I’ll always be with you, Kiddo,” He whispered to her softly.

“Daddy!” Azza cried as her spell of confusion was lifted, her body vaulting in Jensen’s as she squeezed him tightly. The immortal laughed as his daughter rolled him onto his back, holding her for all she was worth as he nuzzled just under her horns and whispered his love for his darling little girl. He pushed her back gently, much to her displeasure as he held her at arms length to look at her whole body.

“You have grown up so much,” He said at last. “And I’m so very, very proud of you, Kiddo.” Azza looked down a bit, her cheeks flushing red and Jensen lifted a hand to her chin to prop it back up. “Never hold your head down, cause no matter what you’ll always be my beautiful little girl.” He stroked her cheek gently for a moment, her head nuzzling into his hand as she smiled sweetly. With a pat on her cheek he lifted himself up, and Azza was sure to help him as they both stood looking to the other.

“Well,” Jensen said at last letting out a deep breath while pursing his lips to make a horse noise. His left hand reached to the back of his head where he rubbed his hair gently, feeling a tingling sensation as blood rushed all over his body again. “That didn’t go to plan.”

Azza merely looked to him and he shrugged. “I never wanted this to happen,” He explained gesturing to his wound. “I just…I’m so sorry, Azza! I never wanted to hurt you like I did. I just- I just didn’t want to lose you! You are more to me than my daughter, you’re all that is good in me! If I lost you I would be devastated. But I realized today that no matter what I want, it’s not gonna matter. It’s your life, and if you want to grow up, I’ll support you in whatever you want to be. “ Jensen smiled to her, and Azza looked back to her weapon, before she cocked her head and looked back to his wound.

She fidgeted, and he could tell she wanted to ask him something, but Jensen had figured what she wanted to say.

“I’m immortal,” He said bluntly. “I can’t die. Not permanently, and even some deaths I can come right back from. I’ve been like this for a long, long time. Your mother and I thought it better if we you never knew until you were a bit older. But now I see you’re already to hear everything.” Azza looked to him, before nodding once as she turned back to her sword.

“You proved to me your will is stronger than mine. As promised I won’t get in your way of learning to fight or train. But I will at least ask you spend a few months training with Adolph. Though he may not look it, the man is skilled with longswords. He can teach a few tricks.” Jensen favored her with a smile as she searched to see if it was true, and Jensen nodded to her. If the path of the warrior was what she wanted, Jensen would help her in anyway he could to get her ready for it.

Azza went over to her blade and looked to it. She was prepared to bend over and grab it before Jensen coughed loudly, catching her attention as she turned and looked to him with concern. When she saw he was faking it she passed him a coy smile.

“You got one last thing to do, Kiddo,” Jensen said softly. “And I’ll be behind you the entire time, but you got to stand up to one more test.” Azza looked to him with wide eyes of suspicion. Had seemingly killing her father been enough as is? What more hell would she have to go through? He grinned, this time in that same damning way he did when they fought, but he shrugged his shoulders and spoke with a soft chuckle.

“The easy part is over with, now you have to convince Stephanie you want to be a warrior.”

[orphans]

“No.”

“But…”

“Absolutely not!”

“But…”

“My decision is final, Azza Ambrose!” So far, the conversation had gone spectacularly well, considering Azza was expecting her mother to turn into a dragon or hurl fire or something similar. Having learned her father was an immortal, she was willing to give much more credit to her imagination. However, the impasse with her mother left Azza fidgeting about under Stephanie’s glare while Stephanie was red faced from raising her voice at her child as she stood in the doorway to the family area of the Ixian Castle.

“And you, Jensen, how could you think this was a good idea?!”

“Well I...”

“NO!” Stephanie made a movement towards Jensen, but he just maneuvered Azza by her shoulders and placed his daughter in front of him. He hadn’t been joking about being behind his daughter the entire time. The role of who protected who had changed in this small instance, Jensen knowing full well that Stephanie wouldn’t hit Azza. That meant Azza was the best shield against his fiancée. Frustrated, Stephanie just gave an incomprehensible scream.

“Is that a yes?” Jensen’s quick question only earned them both the door being slammed in their faces. For a while, Azza and Jensen looked to one another at a loss. Stephanie might as well been an enraged dragon as both father and daughter had an obvious lack of a battle plan. “So…” Jensen began, “I’m hungry. How about you kiddo?”

“... I could nibble on something to pass time.”

Ten minutes later found the two sitting at one of the many long benches in the mess hall. It had been a while since Azza took a meal with everyone else as she usually ate in the family room these days. It was a nice change and it reminded her of how things used to be when she first arrived and she had missed the din of others talking and the clink of silverware.

“So, you still need to figure out a plan to convince Stephanie,” Jensen managed between a mouthful of toast.

Azza frowned as she fiddled with a jar of marmalade. “It’s hard to convince mom if she just yells…”

Jensen snorted as he pointed the half eaten toast at his daughter, “She’ll get over it eventually and then you’ll be able to talk to her. But you need to figure out what to say to her when she’s calmed down.”

The lid popped off the jar and Azza took a small knife to spread the jam on her pieces of toast. It was past dinner time when the two had arrived and a ‘late night breakfast’ was taking place now. “Can’t I just give her flowers?”

“Maybe if you were younger and didn’t know better. You’re growing up now Azza so talking is the way to go,” Jensen finished as he jammed the last bit of bread into his mouth.

“What do you do dad? All I hear is squeaking bed springs when you tell me you want to convince mom about something.”

“Uh…” There was no fast escape route here and Azza’s genuine question and curious eyes held him in his seat. “That’s what adults do. You’re not old enough for that yet.”

“Oh…” Disappointed, Azza went back to thinking and none of what she thought of seemed appealing.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen observed his little girl as she collapsed into her arms, resting her head in the comfort they gave. He did not envy her position, but he knew it was going to be a difficult task. Stephanie was very vocal about not letting Azza near combat, and the few times she was Stephanie had cried herself to sleep because she felt like a terrible mother.

It was that moment he realized why Stephanie was so adamant about saying no. To let Azza near the life she wanted would prove to Stephanie she failed as a mother. Everything she did, every precaution she made would have been for nothing. He looked back to Azza and lifted his hand out scratching behind her ear as his other hand ran for her toast. Like a cat pouncing her hand moved out and slapped his away, her digits deftly snatching the food she dragged into her lair where she nibbled it.

"Still got fight I see," Jensen murmured as he rested his hand on her head. They sat in silence, for what else could they really talk about? The day they had was long, longer than any other he could recall. With a sigh he patted Azza on the head, stood tall, and waited for her to slowly swivel her feet around as they stood looking at each other.

Her face, despite how fast they cleaned themselves, was still dirty with blotches of spilt blood. Her white hair was more grey with all the dirt, and one long strand was died red. He ran his thumb along his tongue, lifted it to her nose, and wiped the grime from her eyes. She smiled, her wide gorgeous maroon eyes looking to him lovingly. Then with quick speed she dan her thumb along her tongue and lifted it up wiping his cheek clean.

They chuckled as Jensen turned, grabbing her and walking behind her as he held her tightly. "Guess we still look like we got into a fight, huh?"

"And smell." Azza added with a small whiff of her nose. Jensen did likewise and disturbingly pushed himself away from Azza.

"Jomil's feces Azza," Jensen pretended to be choking. "You reek of shit!"

"Well you smell too!" She huffed pointing an accusing finger. Jensen held his nose shut as he shook his head childishly. Azza giggled as they ran up the stairs and towards their home. When they opened the door they found Stephanie on the couch, looking to the door with tear stained eyes. The joviality Jensen and Azza had vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Wash up and get to bed, kiddo," Jensen whispered as he kissed her on the top of her head. "Love you." Azza nodded and ran forwards a couple of steps, before she slowed looking to her mother.

"Um," She whispered as she shifted from foot to foot. "Mom?" Stephanie kept her gaze upon Jensen, her eyes narrowed into slits of hate. Any indication she was paying attention was a sliver at best. Her lips moved in a dark curl, snarling to her daughter.

"I don't want to hear it," She barked. Azza jumped as did Jensen. The immortal gave her a nervous glance, seeing the anger emanating from his soon to be wife. Azza stood silent for a moment, then turned muttering words that made Stephanie's eyes widen in terror.

"Just saying I love you."

Jensen watched Azza disappear into the hallway and soon as they heard her door shut Jensen turned his face into a scowl as Stephanie stood upright with tears in her eyes and rage etched into every feature of her face.

"This is your fault!" She cried.

"My fault? Sorry I'm not in the business of stopping my children from growing up," Jensen countered stepping forwards. Stephanie rose to the challenge as she got into his face.

"You fucking fought her!" Stephanie shrieked. "You took your fists and hit my baby! Is that how you let people go? Beating them within an inch of her life? Not everyone is an immortal jackass, Jensen!"

Jensen looked at Stephanie with a guilty expression, not exactly prepared with a comeback for that. Her chest rose and fell with each breath and he could tell she was more than just upset. Jensen lifted his hands and she swatted them away.

"Don't touch me!" She chastised him. "We were supposed to find a solution together, take this on as a team, and instead you run off and do it yourself!" Stephanie turned and walked away as she looked to the hallway. "And what's worse is she loves you for it! Because you let her do whatever she wants! I have to be the parent to her and to you!"

"That's not true," Jensen at last managed. "I had to see it for myself that this was important to her, that she was ready for the real world of fighting! I learned she did know exactly what she was getting into, and she's good at it to boot!"

"Her being good at fighting doesn't justify your ass-hattery!" Stephanie bellowed. "I forbade her to fight, and you push her into one! You forced her down this path cause she idolizes you! She loves you so much she's willing to stain her hands red just to be with you!" Stephanie sniffled as she wrapped her hands around her arms. "She's a sweet, innocent girl and you're corrupting my baby!"

Jensen remained rather calm after that remark, his own tears forming as he looked to his soon to be wife. With a sigh he lifted one hand to the back of his head and rubbed it. He rubbed it the same way he always does when he was uncertain or nervous. With another sigh he lowered his head to his chest before smiling.

"Growing up kiddo," Jensen said over Stephanie's shoulder looking into the maroon eyes of his littlest treasure. "Is learning to fight your own battles," he looked to Stephanie softly as he pleaded to her to listen. "And learning when to let go of the things you love..."

Stephanie turned as she looked to see Azza standing at. The entryway to their family hallway. Her eyes filled with tears again as she shook her head refusing to let the precious thing that tied together the Ambrose family go. If Azza had never entered their lives, Jensen never would have fallen in love with Stephanie, never would have cleaned his act, and would have continued to live his life alone with an empty heart.

Azza to Stephanie was the glue that kept Jensen and her together, and she was terrified to let her go. More terrified than even being a terrible mother. To see Azza go made her think that Jensen would change, but she could not voice these concerns. She hid her fear in the guise of a horrible parent, content to hide her anxiety in the blanket of insecurity.

"Why do you want to do this?" Stephanie sobbed, her tears streaming down her face. Each word was a strain as she took in a deep breath and cried looking to her little angel. "Why do you want to leave us..." She whispered painfully.

[orphans]

Each tear that fell from Stephanie was stronger than any of Jensen’s punches and it tore up Azza to watch her mother fall apart before her. However, it was her mother’s questions that drove a dagger through her heart and it caused an unfathomable twinge of pain. Questions she had no answer to and won’t for a very long time.

And something deep inside her heart understood her mother’s fears, but to the young Dovicarus, emotions were a complex thing and it made her hesitate to give an answer. What could she say?

Azza’s purpose wavered and she moved a step forward towards her parents.

Would they believe the lucid events that plague her dreams every night? Of the shouts and screams of men and women alike upon the battlefield? Above all, would they believe the very grip of a sword felt as though it belonged in her palm? To Azza, the weapon wasn’t just an extension of her body as with most warriors, it was her.

Was that a life she wanted again? To hear the roar of the battlefield? To watch as the light faded from the eyes of her foes? To feel the thrill of victory rushing through her veins once more?

Azza stopped herself as she tried to take another step, tears misting the windows to her soul and obscuring what lay beneath. Reasons embedded in her heart forbade her from moving and spread themselves like vines to grip her mind, suggesting it was really her own decision. The very strings of fate that pulled and tugged on the small girl were manipulated in a way so none could see the orchestrator.

But, this was her life and she wanted to find her reason here in Althanas. Ever since the day her horns began to bud, Azza knew she was different from those around her. She had searched in the vast libraries of the Ixian Castle for other creatures like herself and found nothing.

And so she fought her back her mind and followed her heart.

Azza’s eyes moved to Jensen and lingered there. Her guardian and shield; he was everything that she admired despite his faults. She had learned to look beneath the layers of grime and walls of her father that were crumbling slowly with each passing day. Of her parents, Jensen had been the one to touch the very fabric of her tattered being in an effort to restore her.

And the terrified look in Stephanie’s eyes – her mother’s eyes – seeded her mind with doubt.

Azza took a step forward.

Then another.

She continued to move until she was by her parents and refused the strings of fate that sought to bind her will by embracing her parents. “I like being an Ambrose, I don’t want to leave. I want to stay forever," was what Azza managed to finally mutter. "But," she began, "I want to grow up as well, mom. I want to help protect you and dad too. I don't want to be useless..."

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Stephanie’s jaw dropped as she heard those words, her eyes watering so heavily they became little faucets of her own. Her fingers gripped her clothing tightly as she leaned down and rested her face in Azza’s hair. She sobbed as she felt one reassuring hand rub up and down her back, her heart beating with mixed emotions. At last she pulled herself away and bent her knee to be level with Azza’s eyes.

“You were never useless, darling.” Stephanie lifted a hand to Azza’s tears and gently wiped them away. “You are the most important thing in this family. You are what brought us together sweet heart! You are what makes us a family! I don’t want to lose that!”

“I agree, Kiddo,” Jensen whispered as he lifted a hand to his daughter’s hair. “You mean so much to your mother and I. It’s why we make the sacrifices to protect you, because the things you do are so valuable. Just smiling, just running around, just being who you are gives us both so much joy.”

Jensen smiled to Stephanie, lowering his head as he nuzzled the side of her face. Stephanie smiled sweetly as she moved her fingers slowly to mix with his, holding them tightly as if letting go would end the world. Jensen and Stephanie both instinctively rose their free hands to grab one of Azza’s each.

“We love you,” Stephanie whispered with the most brightest of smiles.

“And nothing can change that,” Jensen added with a grin of his own genuine mirth. Azza looked to them both, before smiling as she hugged them tightly in a large hug. Jensen chuckled as he leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head, before moving upwards to kiss Stephanie on the cheek. They held each other as a family for a long moment, before at last Azza pulled back. Her face looked like their was a million tings she wanted to say, so many words and so many thoughts yearning to explode outwards, but three simple words eclipsed them all.

“I love you.”

Jensen lifted a hand to her cheek and stroked her with his thumb, before pushing her away playfully. “Go get cleaned up.” Azza nodded once and turned to run down the hall as she disappeared around the corner. Jensen looked to his soon to be wife, and they smiled holding each other tightly before kissing passionately. Then with a sudden break Stephanie’s hand teasingly slapped Jensen in the arm.

“You are still an asshole!” She chided. “You did her first fight, first nightmare, first burp, first everything! You always get Azza’s firsts! It’s really not fair you know!” Stephanie chuckled. Jensen opened his mouth to say something, but instead closed it and kissed her, before he softly began to leave gentle moist sweet nothing up to her ear. His hands moved tenderly along her side and with the darkest of intentions Jensen whispered in her ear.

“I know one thing you can do with her first…” Stephanie listened to his idea, pushed him away and gave him a cross look. One eyebrow raise, followed by a shrug of why the hell not, and Stephanie looked to see Azza with her towel heading towards the showers.

“Sweetie, get cleaned up and then get dressed. We’re going out tonight!” She said with mischievous intent. Azza gave her an awkward glance, her thoughts none the more comforting as Jensen let out a maniacal laugh rushing towards the Dracosius wing of the family district.

~*~*~*~*~

Much later into the evening

Music pulsed throughout the wooden walls, the magical orbs before the band amplifying the noise as Ta’gaz, the Ixian Knight’s most brutal trainer carried over a large tray of tankards filled with foaming ale and other smaller crystal glasses filled with clear sweet smelling liquids. At the largest table in the facility was a grouping of rather odd people.

At the head of the table was (a drunken) Azza, her face flushed red, a silly smile plastered on her face as several empty glasses were before like a graveyard. Jensen stood behind her, bellowing with laughter, slapping Zerith on the back as he chugged the entire jug of ale in one draught with a roar of defiance. The man he roared to was none other than Jensen’s father, the Oracle of Wind Nathanial. Stephanie sat next to Azza, her arm wrapped around her most precious treasure as she drunkenly talked about all sorts of female things, Jasmine giggling as she corrected Stephanie on a few misinterpretations or flat out censoring the rather dirtier things.

When the drinks hit the table a slender female made a move to grab the first but was beat out by a green haired wonder who shuffled them all around quickly with a blur of motion, lifting up the final drink saluting the Oracle of Water she showed up with a wink. When the glass passed over to Azza her eyes widened, her fingers shakily lifting over to grab it.

“Hey, hey, hun?” Stephanie muttered to Jensen. With more flamboyance than necessary, Jensen turned to her pushing Zerith forwards so his drink spilled all over Azza’s grandfather. The man looked to Zerith with a pissed off look, but the halberdier simply shrugged and asked if he was going to be a man and drink that.

“Yes my sexy goddess of the ass, how may I serve thee?”

“I wanted to tell Azza that Liquor before Beer and you are in the clear, but is it Beer before Liquor, never been sicker first?”

“Uh…hmm…I think it’s if you puke before beer, you’re a queer, and if you quiver from liquor, you’re….a queer.” Jensen shrugged to the red head.

“My fair maiden, it’s Beer before Liquor, you are never sicker, but Liquor before Beer and you are in the clear.” A voice melodically spoke from a table next to theirs. They all turned to see a wanderer with a fine bottle of Scotch before him, the amber liquid swirling in his hand as he let off a slight grin. Their was the right amount of smug, arrogance, good charm, and beguiling nature to make Stephanie smile to him, Jensen narrow his eyes as he pondered where the hell he came from, and Azza nod her head.

“Thank you…” Stephanie held her words to allude the question of his name. The man nodded his head as he flashed his perfectly white teeth.

“Sheex, Sheex Deltin.” Jensen cocked an eyebrow to the man, recalled something about princesses, and shook his head before nodding to the man thanking him for his input. Like agood sport he merely saluted them before scanning the scene for what Jensen affectionately referred to as tail.

“I think we did it backwards…what’s a queer dad?” Azza asked as she looked to the graveyard of cups, looking to see what she drank first. When she found the glass she eyed it, drank the remnants that she missed, and tossed it back.

“Zerith,” Jensen mumbled.

“Oh!” Azza said over inflecting the words. “I see.” Azza drank her beer in peace as she let the foam make a funny beard on her face. Tobias lifted one hand deftly out to swipe it off and lick her finger. Then, for reasons that made Jensen rather uncomfortable, she winked to Stephanie before going towards Ta’gaz and grabbing him, dragging the confused brute of a man towards the dance floor.

“I still do not believe I am condoning this,” Ailsinn pipped up as she lifted a fruity drink to her lips and gently sipped it. Behind her a pair of massive arms held her like a lover would, and her one good arm caressed the hand as Adolph placed his head on her shoulder.

“In moderation, drinking is viable. That being said, this is not in moderation.” Adolph preached. “It is customary in the Knights of Apocalypse to celebrate the coming of age by drinking. I remember when my father opened the bottle of brandy and…”

“Dad, do I have to train with him?” Azza asked, thinking she was whispering. “He’s kind of boring and yells a lot.” To this Aislinn lifted her hand to stifle her giggles as Jasmine let out a whoop of laughter, holding Stephanie as the red head fell into her lap. Jensen roared with laughter as he turned to see his father and Lelith, the Oracle of Wind moving in a rather close display of affection; a first considering the Oracle of Wind was as emotionless as a brick. Tobias and Ta’Gaz twirled on the floor, moving in a heavy tandem to the beat of the music as they beamed. Zerith moved behind his wife, nudging her gently before she nodded and slowly lifted herself up. They moved to the dance floor and in a manner only those who were in love could match they danced together.

Stephanie crawled her head back to the table, before looking to Azza and lifting a hand to her hair, stroking the youngest Ambrose’s hair with affection. Aislinn elbowed Adolph, motioned to the dance floor, and with a stoic nod the man lifted his hand to hers and she took it so the family could be alone. Jensen sat in the chair next to Azza, and the little girl’s eyes were wide as a copper coin.

“So,” Stephanie slurred her S. “How’s your first time getting drunk?”

“I have no idea what happened five minutes ago…” Was the girl’s response.

“Shit, drink more. It’ll help you remember.” Jensen giggled as he knocked over a can of ale. With a sigh he lifted up a napkin, and attempted to clean up the mess. In the process, he knocked over the pitcher. Swearing he attempted to clean up more, and knocked over Stephanie’s drink into her lap. Annoyed she lifted her head, pouted, and then looked to Azza.

“You’re so pretty,” Stephanie stroked her face. “You know we love you, right?”

“Yup!” Azza said happily, before a hic-cup passed her lips. “Is it always this much fun? I wonder why nobody does it more often…”

“Oh, tonight you’ll learn regret sweetie, but we’ll get to that later.” Stephanie smiled as she thought about how bad a hangover they were all going to have. They all looked out to the dance floor, seeing the different people moving to the beat of the band. Each person on that floor had in one way or another helped the Ambrose family out, and it was nice to see the joviality in their faces. Jensen looked to his little girl before smiling and leaning to her cheek and kissing it.

“Thanks Kiddo,” Jensen whispered to her. “If you never entered my life, I’d never have this,” he gestured to the people on the floor. “And I’d never have her.” He placed his hand on Stephanie’s hand. Stephanie nodded as she smiled to Azza. When it looked like the girl was about to cry Stephanie lifted her up to stand.

“Come on, let’s do the last thing. You ready for this?” She looked to Jensen, who nodded with a grin. They looked around the tavern at the people in it. A few elves in the corner which Jensen began to darkly chuckle towards. “Remember sweetie, that you should drink in moderation, and never, ever let your father get drunk around Elves….”

“How come?” Azza asked innocently. As if the irony of god himself came to the fore, Jensen let out a high pitch laughed followed by a thrown tankard that hit an elf in the face as he screamed.

“HAH! TWO POINTS YOU FILTHY LEAF LICKER!”

[orphans]

New experiences were always wonderful when shared with those you cared about. However, as Azza awoke with a groggy whimper, she wasn’t so sure she wanted a repeat of last night. In fact, after the first two drinks her memory had become extremely hazy. It was a strange sensation as the young Dovicarus had a perfect memory of events that had happened since her eighth birthday. Of course, after the next dozen or so cups of spirits and beer, everything became a black screen.

Figuring not to give too much thought to what happened, the young girl gave a hearty yawn and fluffed her wings. Well, she tried to at least. The gentle beat and ruffle of her wings struck something behind her and made it mumble something incoherent into them. Looking down, Azza saw a pair of arms looped loosely about her in a comforting hold. A slight turn of her head revealed Jensen snoring against her back.

Azza’s mind sparked in realization that she wasn’t in her own bed. A comfortable sigh from across herself snatched the girl’s eyes to focus upon her mother. Relief was just beginning to wash over Azza until there was something, peculiar. A tangle of leafy green hair was mixed with her mother’s fiery red and she too had a pair of arms around her.

Confusion began to set in at this point as Azza raised her head to look about the room. It was definitely her parent’s room, but the crowd continued to expand as she mentally checked off those who were strewn about.

Her eyes drifted to the foot of the bed to spot the small furred shape of Felicity curled up in a ball of contentment. The reason? Azza hadn’t a clue. When Azza thought the room couldn’t become more packed, she spotted Aislinn and Adolph together on one side of the floor and her grandfather with Lilith, the Oracle of Water, on the other.

A frown found itself and danced on Azza’s lips as she gazed about her surroundings once more just to confirm where she was. Satisfied, but still perplexed, she tried to wiggle loose from Jensen’s hold. It did little to no good as her father just wrapped his arms more about her waist. Fluttering her wings quickly, she smacked him a few times lightly in the face. Immediately, he sneezed and brought a hand reflexively back to wipe his nose.

During that brief instant, Azza wormed free and hopped off the bed. Drifting down to the ground lightly, she heard Stephanie give a groan as she awoke with sleep still clinging to her eyes. “Azza?” There was obvious effort in Stephanie’s voice as she slid easily out of Tobias’s hold. Slipping by the sleeping Felicity, she stumbled a few steps only to be caught by Azza. “You’ve really grown huh?”

Azza passed a smile over and nodded her head. Looking over to the sleeping mass of bodies, she made her was to the living room with her mother. “Wish I was a little taller still.”

The two sat down upon a rather squishy sofa, both sinking deep into the cushions. Not knowing what to say, Stephanie was content to ruffle Azza’s hair lightly before combing it carefully with her fingers. Satisfied with how her daughter’s hair looked, Stephanie finally managed, “Azza, you know that we’re proud of you, right?”

The teenager nodded with a bright smile. “I know.”

More silence followed as Stephanie’s head pounded both with thoughts of what to say and a hangover mighty enough to strike down a bull. “Azza?” The curious maroon eyes looked to her. “I know that I’ve been selfish, in wanting to keep you here forever. I still want to, but I know I have to let you go eventually.”

For a moment, Azza said nothing as her eyes wavered. Slowly, they steeled themselves as she nodded once more, “I’m sorry… I promise I won’t do anything bad though.”

A small laugh tickled itself out of Stephanie as she brought Azza close for a hug. “It doesn’t matter to me what you do Azza. You’ll always be our little girl.” Pulling back, Stephanie kept her hands on Azza’s shoulders and looked to her seriously. “Instead, promise me one thing?”

There was a bit of hesitance as Azza’s eyes looked off to the side for a moment before returning to her mother. “Alright…”

“If you start travelling, visit us whenever you can? If you can’t, at least write to us once awhile?”

That was something she could do. With a brilliant smile, Azza hugged onto her mother again and whispered quickly, “I will.”

A loud, obnoxious yawn accompanied by sounds of flailing bed sheets announced the awakening of Jensen. To that, a crescendo of groans and protests followed as Azza’s father poked and nudged those in the room awake and declared that it was “food time.”

As everyone filed out together in a group of “good morning” and “oh my head,” Azza couldn’t help but snicker to herself as she was pulled up by Stephanie to join the crowd. Times were good for the moment and Azza was more than content. Growing up was hard on everyone, but she couldn’t help but feel excited for the future.

Requested Spoils:
Unnamed Long Sword - an above-average steel long sword with scabbard. The long sword is 3 and a half feet in total length. Blade length is approximately 2 feet and three quarters. The hilt is three quarters of a foot. The inside of the scabbard is lined with soft fur coated with mineral oil to prevent rust and to allow for a faster draw. The weapon is carried on a shoulder belt.

[Sagequeen]

Providing full rubric and light commentary, as requested.

Plot Construction ~ 23/30

Story ~ 8/10 - Well done. I had no questions on the structural parts of this story; the beginning, rising action, climax and ending were all very clear. It was also very clear that the antagonists of the story were the psyches of the characters, with Jenson leaning toward the more traditional role in the end. Each character had a conflict, and the conflicts, for the most part, made sense within the context of the story. Each was addressed and as resolved as it could be. And hey – nice tension-breaker at the end there with the party.

Strategy ~ 8/10 - I feel as though I learned your characters, and they tested themselves to the very limits of who they are, and this unquestionably drove the story forward. The only problem I had was that Azza's memories and current feelings toward her father could have been played upon more to help the reader understand why she was so driven to take up the sword when it is such a stark contrast to who she is. There's no problem with leaving a little mystery, certainly, but there was slightly too much mystery to explain the main driving force, Azza and her choice.

Setting ~ 7/10 - You guys really shined in the battle phase of this. Very well done. However, many times, your characters were actors on a blank stage; the setting could have been anywhere -- it was somewhat vague, or not described. The advice I have is to describe your setting through the actions of your characters - as you did in the battle phase.

Characterisation ~ 24/30

Continuity ~ 7/10 - You let the story-world shine. I felt as though I was IN Althanas; the culture of it pervaded, specifically the player-driven culture of the Ixian Knights. It would have been nice to see more of this spring from better defined settings.

Interaction ~ 8/10 - I really felt the connection between your characters. EI, you do well using your surroundings, though sometimes the exact descriptions of what took place could be shortened a smidge for the purpose of story flow.

Also, use your characters to describe the setting in the way they interact with it. A good example is Azza doing her flourish in the tiny sword shop (it is more fun to read as it was than to say 'the sword shop was small'), and the way you guys worked the playground battlefield. Those were prime examples of excellent interaction.

Character ~ 9/10 - I'm left with no question of who your characters are. I really have no qualms here; you guys did very well. The only real issue is that Azza's motives could have been clarified a bit. But playing each character against him- and herself was wonderful – though at times the weight of the introspection was a little heavy.

Writing Style ~ 21/30

Creativity ~ 8/10 - This is an absolutely beautiful and poignant piece of writing:
Time was said to slow when something amazing happened, like a giant falling before a mere boy with a sling, or a first kiss with a true lover. The intensity of the nerves and the blood flowing followed by the awkward silence all made the charade that much more believable. It was in these moments true greatness or terrible loss could be fathomed, moments that would later be described to last an eternity.

Some say, when death nears, one could gain visions of their life in this elongated strip of time. Clarity of their faults, joyous reminders of the good times, tear jerking happiness and heart breaking sorrow could be viewed like a slideshow. All these emotions and more could flow in the span of a mere few seconds.

The reality was that time seemed to move much, much faster. Well done. Very well done.

Orphans, your knowledge of weapons is profound, and I enjoyed learning from you – and doing so in the context of a great story.

Mechanics ~ 6/10 - Commas are your friend! Use them, as a rule of thumb, to separate what would be complete sentences, and when you'd naturally pause when talking. Also, be careful with it's and its, as well as other possessive vs. plural cases. If you use an 's, you should be able to either show possession (unless its, well... its in the possessive sense) or replace 'it's' with 'it is.'

Clarity ~ 7/10 - There were few issues here, only a few small parts that I had to go back and read. Specifically the coins given to Azza by Jenson. Also, some things were repeated from one post to another... the action was rewinded, which was confusing. I think it could have been better explained that Azza was not aware of her father's immortality as well.

Wildcard: 9/10

Loved the story. At times I felt it dragged, due to the weight of the introspection, but with that said, introspection is necessary in a story like this.

Total ~ 77/100

Enigmatic Immortal earns 1540 EXP and 160 gold.

Orphans earns 1078 EXP and 160 gold.

Spoils

Orphans gets an Unnamed Long Sword – an above-average steel long sword with scabbard. The long sword is 3 and a half feet in total length. Blade length is approximately 2 feet and three quarters. The hilt is three quarters of a foot. The inside of the scabbard is lined with soft fur coated with mineral oil to prevent rust and to allow for a faster draw. The weapon is carried on a shoulder belt.

[Atzar]

EXP/GP added!