War and Peace

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WW2 has finished, and the world is patching itself up. Killian has found himself a place to attempt and live while he comes to terms with losing Renee, and Renee, having survived the camps, has found herself a tiny apartment and a shitty job.

He was lunging the two geldings at the same time, working on keeping them both balanced and aware of him and each other. Soon finished, since he didn’t want to overload their baby brains, he brought them into the middle and gave them their carrot reward before spotting the girl. “Come here.” Waiting while she did, he rubbed the nose of the smaller gelding, keeping an eye on them. They’d need to be exposed to smaller people and not just him, so her being around was perfect timing. “Let them sniff you, then pat between their eyes. Just like you did with Rose.”

Blinking in surprise when he asked for her to come in, the little girl trotted forward rather shyly not knowing what it was he wanted. Holding still as the babies sniffed her, a smile attached itself to her lips, they were cute, slowly lifting a hand like she would with baby shadows the little girl rubbed one yearling between its eyes watching the other small creature in amazement. Looking at the other one as it inspected her curiously, the dark haired child petted it too using her spare hand, very happy around the horses her gaze flicked up to the man in the hat. "Schush me. What are they called? Are they boysh or girlsh? How old are they? They gonna get big like the red horshie?" she couldn't help the questions as they spilled out of her mouth one after the other. She was so curious about these animals that she'd fallen in love with so easily, when one began sniffing her face she shut her eyes and let it giggling once again

Leaning absently on the slightly older one, Julian watched the girl, studying her quietly as the questions spilled out of her. The horses settled him somewhat, so he was a little more open than he had been when showing her her room. “These ones are yearlings, they’re only a year old. Both boys, and I haven’t named them yet. They’ll get bigger than the red mare, she’s only small.” Shifting his grip on the crutch with an slightly irritated sigh, he took a firmer hold of both halters and began heading for the gate. “Stay next to me, they won’t trample you then.” He took them back to their paddock, flicking another glance at the girl once they were turned out. “All unpacked then?”

Soaking in the information she considered it all, surprised again when told that the red horse was considered small her green eyes were filled with awe. They really were big animals, although not afraid of them she was wary they were so much bigger than her it'd be best to be careful so she didn't get hurt. Doing as she was told and trotting at his side, she watched as the yearlings were turned back out into the paddock and raced off to their mates. Shaking her head at his question she fiddled with the hem of her shirt, what was the point of unpacking? It was likely in her mind that she'd be sent off again at the end of the month, so she dig her teeth into her lip and watched the horses quietly

The stockman gave her another studying look, but he didn’t push the matter. She’d eventually settle down, and hopefully not be so unsure around him eventually. Leaving her to her own devices, he continued the rest of the work he had for the day, aiming for an early night.

Rochelle was so close to being kicked out, Killian almost didn’t want to go on this hunt. It was going to be so amusing to watch Dani manipulate the irritating woman into leaving him and Renee and the kids alone at last. But he was almost done, and was heading back home when he got sidetracked by the feel of another shadow master. Curious, he followed the feel, finding himself at the farm that Mel had stayed at for a while.

The nightmare that always came back returned once more, she was in the dark concrete room and the walls were starting to close in. There was no way out, quickly growing sweaty and uneasy in her sleep the little girl thrashed around before her dragon slipped out from under the bed and woke her making a soft purring noise designed to comfort her. Sitting up suddenly, drenched in sweat and scared, she slipped out of bed and pushed her thick black hair out of her face. Able to see well in the dark she made her way over to the door standing on the suitcase and reaching up to fiddle with the knob terrified it'd be locked. However it wasn't and it swung open, scrambling out onto the porch and nearly falling off of it the girl stared up at the sky while breathing in the fresh air starting to settle down now she wans't confined. The strange dragon curled around her and rested its head in her lap, while the older shadows that had once been jets fussed, one slinking off and bringing her an apple to eat.

Cricket had bounded forward to explore, while his jackal was checking to see if Mel had been around recently. It didn’t seem like it, so the assassin wandered towards where his serval was. The long legged cat had found the girl and her dragon, and easily leapt up the stairs to sit near them with a soft chirp. There was something very familiar about her, and so the sharp golden eyes rested on the girl unwaveringly. She gave another chirp when her shadow master was close by, alerting him to the girl who was sitting here so small and scared.

Taking a bite out of the apple the little girl chewed and swallowed her mouthful sniffing as her nose was blocked from her crying, looking up as a strange looking cat showed up with its gold eyes focused on her. It made a chirping noise, scared still she edged away a little while the dragon lifted its head and growled a soft warning. However the shadows that had once been jets recognized the Serval, after all Jet had trained with Killian plenty of times, they whispered a greeting before twining themselves through the girls hair soothing her as best as they could. Taking another small bite of the apple and watching the large cat, the small childs green eyes stood out against her pale face, thankful that her dragon was there as its warm body kept her warm despite the sweat cooling on her skin.

Flicking her short tail, Cricket kept watching the small girl, keeping an eye on the dragon. The older shadows were greeted politely, and she soon stalked closer to sniff the child. Killian came forward after a few moments of studying her and crouched in front of the little thing. There was something so familiar about her and he wanted to know why there was a faint sense of kinship. “Are you alright, little one?” he asked gently, letting the shadows mingle together with hers. “What’s wrong?”

The dragon barred its teeth as the cat came closer, about to strike out at it as the creature was fiercely protective of its charge, however the older shadows moved to soothe it as well as the child. Sniffling sh watched as a man with short black hair and mismatched eyes strode forwards and crouched down infront of her so their eyes were on the same level. He asked if she was okay and what the matter was, the slight concern in his gaze something the child was unused to. "Dweamed again, of the conqueet room, shquishing in on me" she shivered and hugged her dragon the apple still clutched in one of her hands. the older shadows continued to brush through her hair while the younger ones bounced forward to cheerfully greet the strangers. There was something about him that was familiar, despite seeming rather indifferent, he felt safe "Sh-sh-shcairry" at least here shed been able to get outside and away from the room that suddenly felt so confining and trap like.

Frowning, he settled down beside her on the verandah, with the serval lying on her other side protectively. “You escaped there, sweetheart? That’s very brave of you.” Reaching out gently, he wiped her tears away. “Here is safe, you won’t be hurt here.” He still couldn’t work out why she was familiar, and he was hoping that his shadows talking to the older ones would help a bit. “Are your shadows all okay? They’re not hurt?”

Watching the stranger as he sat down and spoke, asking her if she'd escaped and that had been brave of her, shaking her head she went to explain only to hold still as he carefully wiped her tears away. Listening as he explained that this place was safe and she wouldn't be hurt here, she opened her mouth to reply again as he asked another few questions. "Mama Got me out, Sh-she shaid dat she didn't want grandma Ishe to make me jush like her" managing another bite of apple, she hiccuped softly and continued "Mama gave shome of her sh-shadowsh to me, dey're mine now she shaid, and shuposed to keep me sh-shafe, deyre okay" it was comforting to have someone else there, and apart from Mother and grandmother she'd never met another shadow master like herself but her shadows seemed to know him. The older shadows that had been jets continued to brush through the girls hair quietly filled the mans shadows in on what had happened, that jet had defied ice to save her daughter, that she'd given them to her daughter to keep her safe, a couple made a few sly comments that suggested who the girls father was.

Listening, he nodded, and brushed his hand gently over the girl’s head. “Your ma is Jet?” he queried, beginning to piece things together. “You’ll be safe here. He won’t hurt you, okay? No need to be afraid of him.” Watching the little shadows, he smiled slightly as his babies proceeded to try and play with hers, and Alkira finally wandered over, flicking her tail in greeting to Jet’s shadows. “Her shadows are very good, they’ll keep you safe. Do your shadows know anything?” It would be good for her to learn something, and help keep her shadows occupied if she was too scared to let the stock man know about them.

Her lips quavered up into a brief smile as he brushed his hand over her head, associating that with that she was good, "Yeah" she agreed when he questioned who her mother was, she knew the name because Grandmother Ice had always called her that. Wrinkling her nose as she was reminded of her own name, the girl flicked her green eyes up at the mismatched mans eyes. She wasn't scared well she didn't think so, perhaps more wary, she knew better than to let her shadows out during the day around others no matter what this man said. Her own young shadows happily accepted the offer of play and interacted with the mans, shaking her head when he asked she replied "Not mush Mishtur, um Wash your name? I'm Karliah but the man in the hat callsh me Shquirsh" she took a few moments to properly pronounce her name and mangled the word squirt "hate karliah, dumb name, don't want it" she complained looking rather stubborn

He hummed a little, and called some of his older shadows towards him, leaving the babies to play. “I’m sure you’ll find a name that you like, little one. I’m Killian. Want to learn a few things for your shadows to practice? That way they won’t be so hard to keep quiet if you have to.” Watching her, he was somewhat amused as Cricket nuzzled close to the little girl, beginning to groom her gently as they talked. “Think of a pile of coins, and see if you can encourage the shadows to copy that image. Your mum’s shadows should be able to help if you need it.”

Listening carefully as he gave her his name, the little girl managed a smile "Killi" she repeated, the idea of learning things for her shadows to practice sounded like fun and so she enthusiastically nodded her head up and down. Glancing at the cat like creature when it nuzzled into her, she relaxed and let her legs hang over the edge of the veranda one hand holding onto the apple and with her spare hand very gently petting the animal. Giggling a little as its raspy rough tongue raked over her skin, listening as he explained what to do she furrowed her brows and concentrated. Doing her best to think of some coins, the older shadows that had once been jets obeyed rather easily quickly understanding what she wanted while the younger ones found it a bit more difficult to focus and become what she was thinking

Watching, he nodded in approval at Jet’s shadows. “Good, your mum’s shadows know how to do it.” Digging in a pocket, he brought out a handful of coins to show her so that she could visualise it better. “Here, maybe if you can see it, it helps? Can you copy these coins?” It would take her a while, he was fully aware of that. She was so young. “It’s okay to take a while, you’re still young, and your shadows are very much babies still.” Ruffling her hair gently, he got up. He had to get back to Renee, or she’d start to worry about him again. Plus he wasn’t exactly comfortable about leaving her alone with Rochelle still in the house. “Practice for me, and I’ll see if I can return, okay?”

He hadn’t really slept well that night, but he’d do his best to keep most of his grumpiness undirected at the girl. Giving her a glance when she turned up, he wordlessly made her some brekkie too, pushing it across the bench to her so that she could reach it. Mentally working out what he wanted to do, he gave a soft sigh. He needed to work with the red mare first, while he still had all of energy to work with. Moving past her when he was finished his food, he limped outside, taking a quiet detour to check on his donkey. He really needed to get a new one soon, the poor old thing was obviously having some pain now. Rubbing the old grey nose, he fed her some hay and finally headed on over to the red mare, unhooking her halter from the fence. He’d got into the habit of keeping them with the horses they belonged to, meaning that he didn’t need to walk as much to do the simple job of catching his horses.

Killian had made his way back home just before midnight, and had been very careful not to wake Renee or the children. Wondering where Dani was, he settled in his office for a bit, watching as the serval and jackal curled up together on his bed. It wasn’t often that the two females tolerated each other, but it seemed that they were tired enough right now to not care. Deciding that he wanted nothing more than to be with Renee, he got to his feet and silently wandered the halls of the big house, following his shadows to where he’d given her a room of her own and slipped inside. Brushing his fingers over her hair, he found himself settling more, feeling better with her around. One day, hopefully soon, they’d be okay again, and not have to sneak around to see each other. Rochelle would be driven off, and maybe they’d move house to where his dove felt far more comfortable living.

Rubbing her eyes she ate her breakfast uncomplainingly and hurried out after him, keen to see what else there was around here. Emboldened by what Killian had told her the night before she trotted happily near him watching and staying back as he visited the donkey first and then the red mare. Sitting down by the fence she took out the handful of coins she'd kept with her and set them on her lap focusing, trying to get her baby shadows to focus and listen to her. Rose was off grazing, however when she spotted the stockman the red mare lifted her head and wandered closer stopping when she was a few meters away and watching them. Much better than when she'd first gotten there, she'd been a pain to catch as she had only ever been caught for work or to be hurt, now that she was settling in and realizing that the work he wanted her to do was easy and sometimes fun she'd walk close and then stop allowing him into her space.

Renee had been fast asleep in the comfortable bed, waking slightly as his fingers brushed over her hair she half turned and watched him a moment before recognizing him and smiling sleepily at him. Moving back she pulled back the covers silently inviting him to join her for snuggles, once he had she willingly snuggled close slipping her arms around him and nuzzling into him with a gentle sigh. "Where did you go?" she asked quietly feeling as safe as ever in his hold. She'd appreciated Dani warding Rochelle off and had soon figured out that the youngster liked fudge and so had been making more of that recently to thank her, not taking her or the kids for granted she'd been doing plenty with the two children often taking them out for walks or teaching them how to draw. She was quickly coming to love them as her own, v shyly kissing his cheek, blue eyes watched him affectionately awaiting his response

Letting himself into the mare’s paddock, Julian pushed the girl out of his mind, knowing that he had to concentrate on the feisty mare with everything and not have a wandering mind. Offering her a bit of carrot to coax her closer, he rubbed his hand down her neck and slipped the halter over her head gently. “More work today, ginger,” he murmured, combing his fingers through her thick mane. “See if you can remember anything from yesterday, hm?” He was sore, and cold with the wind blowing, but he pushed that away too. He had no time to sit around and complain, not when he had his horses and farm to look after. Still, he gave in a little bit and leaned on her, closing his eyes for a few moments. He was just so tired of fighting sometimes. Shaking it away after a bit, he continued on with what he had planned, grooming and tacking the mare in his usual routine before leading her back to the mounting block again to let her sniff it.

Glad that he hadn’t really woken her, and extra glad that he could snuggle with her, Killian didn’t need telling twice, and slipped under the covers while the shadows locked the door. Wrapping his arms around his love securely, he nuzzled his nose into her hair. “Short hunt,” he murmured, closing his eyes contentedly. “Went to check on Melly, but she’s wandering again. Found another shadow master though.” Giving a quiet yawn, he settled in closer to her. “Rochelle didn’t give you too hard of a time? Or is she finally gone for good?” He had so many plans and ideas for what they could do once the annoying woman was gone, but he’d have to talk them over with Renee, and probably Dani, as well.

Watching him her ears perked forward a little more at the carrot, stepping a few steps closer she daintily took it from his hand and crunched it contentedly while he slipped the halter on. Snorting softly as he ran his fingers through her thick mane, an ear and an eye glanced back to watch him as he leaned into her for a few moments closing his eyes. She remained still and just closed both eyes letting herself relax her tail occasionally swishing to swat at a fly, she was settling in well now that she was getting to know him. She'd quickly figured that some how being with her helped him a little and had grown all the more tolerant with him because of it, wandering along next to him openly relaxed while her ears lazily swiveled around listening to the noises of the world. Half by falling asleep when she was groomed it wasn't until he started doing up the girth that her eyes opened, turning her head to watch him, she blew out her belly for a few moments before deciding it would be more fun to be ridden and letting him do it up the rest of the way. Inspecting the mounting block the cheeky mare was unable to help but chew on it for a few moments, often having cheeky playful moments now she trusted the man not to hurt her. Positioning herself next ot it, her head dropped to grab some grass and stuffed her face while she could.

Smiling all over her face when he joined her and wrapped his arms around her, a content sigh slipped out of the woman, nodding as he explained he went to check melissa but found that she'd left and another shadow master was there curiosity bubbled in her mind. "No, she's starting to spend more and more time away, although i noticed she has new jewellery that can't be bought by her because Dani froze her credit cards. Dani thought a lover on the side" which would give him perfect grounds for a divorce and with Rochelles mothering skills on record they theoretically should give them to their father. She loved her Killian so much it was like drinking a hot drink on a cold day, the warmth spreading out to every part of her. It was a miracle she'd found him again, and every day she thanked what angels or stars were watching over her for this happiness to return to her again. Safe and warm, the blue eyed female yawned, sleep starting to tug at her again

Amused at her cheeky nature, he tugged gently on the reins when she dropped her head to graze, reminding her that while she was working, she wasn’t going to be eating. It was one of the few rules he really had when he was riding. “Ah ah, ginger. You know better.” When she was standing, he rubbed her neck and mounted, as always feeling so much better on a horse. Settling in the comfortable saddle, he nudged her forwards and picked up the reins in his hand, concentrating on her while he still had the energy to do so. “Same sort of thing as yesterday,” he murmured, guiding her around the farm and taking the opportunity to check on the nearby fences as well. She was going so well, he was tempted to give her the afternoon off to laze about and do what she wanted.

Kissing her head absently, Killian ran his fingers through her hair, more than comfortable with her even though they really shouldn’t be. But the door was locked, and he hadn’t made it clear to Rochelle when he’d be back home, so they would hopefully not be discovered. “Hmmm curious,” he murmured, yawning a little. “If I find out, I’ll file for a divorce. The kids will want to stay with me, little Renee is becoming quite frightened of her.” He didn’t like it, but there really wasn’t much he could do. He had to hunt, or his family would be in danger. “Dani’s a good kid, I’m glad I got her out.” Nuzzling into Renee’s black hair, he gave a content sigh. “I love you, my dove.”

Flicking her tail and pulling a face the mare lifted her head back up and grumbled internally to herself watching as he mounted. Still getting used to the extra weight and that it was different balance wise with someone on her, rose stood still for a few moments adjusting and ignoring the nudges until she was ready to move forward. Slowly and a little wobbily she moved forwards, letting him guide her around while she focused on figuring out her balance, the more she walked with him on her back the better she became at figuring out the best way to do it and the most comfortable options. However she kept constant tabs on what he was doing, picking up how he changed his weight and figuring out what it meant, partly keeping an eye on the little girl as she wasn't quite sure what it was going to do Rose opted to keep away from her. Playing with the bit out of habit more than anything else she wandered along, when it came to things that worried her, she'd march right up to them and inspect them before continuing on, rather nosey and liking to stick her nose where it dosent belong.

Half asleep and listening, Renee was quickly starting to drop off to sleep, waking up when he sighed contentedly and murmured that he loved her, warmth spread through her again. Lifting her head up so she could gently kiss his cheek her blue eyes met his mismatched ones "I love you too, Killian" her affection and adoration for the man was so clear in her gaze when she replied to his soft admission.

Deciding that he wasn’t going to bother pulling her up with not obeying his nudges since she was still learning, Julian left the reins rather slack, allowing the mare to wander. He was also using the time to get used to her movements. She was quite forward moving, which he liked, and he was going to encourage that as best he could. Although he was focused on the mare, he was keeping half an eye on the girl to make sure that she was still going okay, and wasn’t getting into trouble. Eventually deciding that the lesson was over for the mare, he guided her back to the mounting block and tugged back gently on the reins. Once she was stopped, he slid off her, leaning on her for a moment to get his balance before rubbing her neck gently. “Good girl. You’re coming along quite nicely now I think.” Doing the normal untacking and hose off routine, he turned her loose in the paddock with some extra hay. “Get the afternoon off today for being good.”

Watching her tenderly, the assassin kissed her nose, hugging her tightly to himself. He wanted to slip the wedding rings on so badly, but it was still too risky with Rochelle around. “Sleep now, my love,” he murmured, brishing his fingers through her hair. “I’ll stay a little before I head back to my office for work.” He loved her so much, she settled him and made the world feel right again. He’d been sending his shadows out tentatively to see if they could find a smaller palce for them to live once Rochelle was gone, but he hadn’t broached that topic yet with her either. It could wait until the annoying woman was finally gone for good.