Work Text:
Adrian is not a mother.
No one would ever look at her and think “that woman looks like a good mom”. She is big, rough, scarred, has a bad mouth and a short temper. It takes a conscious effort for her to be quiet and gentle, and she’s known for being quick to jump to violence. Not that she would ever turn her ire on a child, but it doesn’t paint a flattering image overall. No mother in their right mind would want to leave a baby with her—they would sooner consider leaving them with Leviathan—and Adrian wouldn’t even know what to do to take care of the stinky, wailing mess in the first place. When the buggers can walk and talk it’s a easier cause they can just tell you what they want, but she’ll readily admit she shouldn’t have any impressionable, small child with her for any extended period of time. The only reason Sal turned into at least a functioning member of society is because Adrian didn’t meet him until he was already 10 years old or so.
She won’t argue with anyone saying she’d be a shit mom, Adrian herself doesn’t want kids. The thought of getting pregnant fills her with such a visceral feeling of no and she’s never been happier that she doesn’t have to worry about any “accidents”. She’ll take getting stabbed in the gut again and wracked with fever five times over before entertaining the idea of giving birth.
So everyone is in agreement that Adrian shouldn’t be a taking care of children. Problem is; no one tells that to the damn kids themselves.
“I see you still have your new friend there with you.”
“Wonderful observation skills Thancred. I can see why yer a master o’ espionage.”
“What’s ess-po-nage?”
A pair of eyes and pointed ears peak around from behind Adrian’s coat. She can feel the kid’s tail tap-tap-tap against her calf with nervous energy he can’t quite hide.
“Espionage.” Adrian repeats, “Means he’s good at sneakin’ around, gettin’ into places he shouldn’t, an’ persuadin’ people t’ give up information that they don’t want t’ share.”
His face scrunches up, “… So you’re a liar?”
Thancred’s brows shoot up, “Well. Sometimes if we’re being brutally honest.”
“Ey, what are you gettin’ pissy fer?” She tugs on the kid’s ear to get him to stop glaring at the man.
The stern look drains away from the kid’s expression when he looks up at Adrian, “Can’t trust liars.”
Thancred looks away, hand rubbing over his mouth.
Adrian hums, “Usually yer right. But see, you can trust him. He learned t’ be real good at sneakin’ an’ lyin’ so he could use it against th’ people tryin’ t’ hurt us.”
“The soldiers in black armor?”
“Yea. He tricks an’ steals from them so he can help us fight. Works hard t’ keep th’ people here safe. He has some skills that we’re taught are bad, true, but he uses them t’ protect others. I trust him with my life.”
The kid looks deep in thought and Adrian waits, “So... like when you can’t hit someone but if someone attacks you, you gotta defend yourself.”
“Yea like that. Same works for if you see someone else being hurt. You step in t’ help them if they can’t defend themselves.”
“Like you did.” He happily points out.
“... Yea.” Adrian looks away from the kid’s wide-eyed gaze, holding too much admiration directed at her when she isn’t someone to look up to. She clears her throat and gives the kid a serious look, “Regardless. Thancred is a good guy. No glarin’ at him alright?”
“Ok.”
“If ye ever need somethin’ he’s good t’ ask.”
He tilts his head, too big ears flopping over, “But I would just ask you?” Said so earnestly, like the kid can’t fathom being in a situation where he couldn’t just bug her for something he needed. She blinks down at him. The kid stares quietly back. Thancred does an awful job of covering his laugh.
Adrian breaks the staring contest to glare at her fellow Scion, “I defend yer honor an’ ye laugh at me?”
“Apologies, just rather cute to see. It’s like watching a coeurl adopt a ducking.” Adrian sputters.
-----
They found him when passing by a village out in the Peaks that was being attacked by Garlean forces. They got there soon enough that there were only a few civilian casualties, but the village was small and the damage to the place was pretty extensive. After some deliberation they decided to escort the remaining people to Rhalgr’s Reach, where they would see about getting them settled at a different village. Well, the others were involved in those discussions. Adrian made herself useful helping to dig through rubble so people could find whatever belongings survived that they could bring with them.
And the entire time there was one kid that kept following her around. Hiding from Adrian doesn’t really work; her echo let’s her sense the people around her. So when the same small, aetheric “nudge” keeps prodding the edges of her awareness it’s hard to not notice. She catches sight of him as they finish digging around the fourth house. A red head miqo child peering at her from around some rubble. Glancing around, no one else nearby is paying attention to the kid. Which is odd given every other kid she’s noticed here is sticking to their parents like a barnacle, and the parents in turn are keeping a hand on their kids like someone is gonna show up any second to take them. Which, to be fair to them, could happen. Not that Adrian would let any Garlean soldier get anywhere close to those people.
“Ey!” She calls out and the kid startles. All wide eyes and ears straight up in surprise before they disappear around the corner. Sighing, Adrian turns back toward where the villagers are grouped up and asks who the kid belongs to.
Except no one claims the kid.
She’s starting to think that one of the few casualties were this kids’ parents when someone tells her the kid is nobody’s. He’s been keeping to the edges of the village and isn’t too keen on accepting help. Some of the older residents say that they’ll leave some food and such out for him that he takes, or sometimes the kids can entice him to play, but he never stays around long. So he’s out by himself and there’s no way he can stay out here when the safety buffer of the village is gone, he won’t last a week.
So Adrian prowls through the remnants of the village while the last of the carts are being loaded. A flash of red fur disappears into the doorway of a house that’s half caved in. Adrian keeps her steps heavy, broadcasting her approach, but she doesn’t see the kid bolt from any of the many escape routes the place has.
Stopping in the doorway she calls out, “Kid, I’m comin’ in alright?” She doesn’t get a response but that means she doesn’t get a negative one either, so she steps in. The kid is standing by the corner, nearby a hole in the wall that’s wide enough where they could easily slip out, but small enough that Adrian couldn’t.
“Look. The people here are leavin’.” She doesn’t have time to try to get them to feel more comfortable and at ease or try and get him to trust her with soft words. This kid won’t trust her with a few sentences no matter what she says so instead she’s gonna get to the point, “And th’ soldiers that were here earlier that attacked them are probably gonna come back. Ye can’t stay here by yourself. We’re takin’ th’ others t’ our camp so we can find them a new place t’ live. So yer gonna come with us too.”
If the kid bolts, she could easily catch him. But she would rather not have to explain her carrying a screaming and thrashing kid against their will. But she’s also not leaving a kid in the middle of the desert.
“… Ok.”
Her eyebrows tick up, “That easy?”
The kid shrugs, “Yea.”
“Why?”
“You saved me. Wouldn’t go through the trouble if you just wanted to hurt me later.”
Adrian is not going to explain to the kid that adults definitely would and have done things like that to trick others into trusting them. But now that he says that Adrian does remember maybe seeing two soldiers cornering someone. Someone small who was crawling backwards on the ground to try and get away before Adrian drove her axe into the back of one of the garleans and bodily threw the other back toward the open road to take care of next.
He keeps talking, “If you did you would have stuck around after killing the guy and played up how you saved me and tried to get me to come with you or something. But you didn’t even come up to me until after you saw me following you.”
“Pretty smart reasoning fer a kid.”
The kid shrugs, “Helps that you aren’t trying to babytalk me right now.”
“You aren’t a baby are ya?” Adrian gestures behind her, “Have all yer stuff then?”
He looks off to the side, “Don’t keep my stuff here.”
“Makes sense.” Adrian steps back, leaving the doorway clear, “I’ll go with you t’ get it.”
“Aren’t you worried they’ll leave without you?”
“Even if they do, I know where t’ go. An’ I can protect th’ two of us just fine on my own if it comes down t’ it.”
“Ok.” And the kid slips out of the hole in the wall instead of the doorway. Adrian huffs and goes around the building to see the kid at least waited for her to walk around. Once the kid sees her, he starts heading out of the village. Keeping half an eye on the kid, Adrian has most of her focus on the surrounding area keeping watch for threats. It’s only a few minutes before they reach a sheer rock wall. Walking past evidence of a well-used fire pit dug out in the dirt, the kid crawls into an alcove and comes out with a worn pack.
“All good?”
“Yea.”
“C’mon then.”
They make it back before the group leaves. She picks up the kid and plops him down on the edge of one of the carts before calling for her own mount as the group heads out shortly after. Reaching Rhalgr’s with no issues, there are plenty of hands to help unload the carts and get the villagers settled so Adrian leaves them to it.
And the kid follows her.
She washes off the fresh blood, idly wondering why the kid decided to go with her when she had fresh blood splatter on her face and neck, and the kid is there waiting by the water trough when she looks up. Adrian stares down at him. He stares back, the tip of his tail idly ticking back and forth.
“Need somethin’?”
“No.”
“Alrigh’.”
And the kid keeps following her. They got back to the camp mid-afternoon and the sun went down a few hours ago and the kid is still dogging her steps. He’s quiet and stays far enough back to be out of the way, but close enough that she can’t completely ignore him. She isn’t doing anything exciting, just some busy work around camp or sometimes nothing at all. But if that’s how he wants to spend his time then it makes no difference to her. Some people seem to think otherwise though, as multiple others try and—what they think is subtlety—get him to leave Adrian be. They ask if he wants to be shown where the others in the village are staying or if he wants something to eat or maybe if he wants to go play a game of some kind. Some reason or another that involves him being anywhere else. Each time he looks over at Adrian, who gives no outward indication that she cares one way or another, and he shakes his head and stays where he is.
Thus, she has a tiny shadow. The others let up on trying to get the kid to leave. She guesses it’s because she hasn’t snapped at the kid yet. Not that she plans to. Bloodthirsty she may be, but she isn’t that kind of bitch. It may also have to do with the fact that every time they ask the kid shuffles closer to Adrian and looks at the other adults with growing distrust in his eyes at their repeated insistence.
-----
She doesn’t learn the kid’s name until the second day he’s here.
She’s sitting in the shade cast by the giant Rhalgr statue—she wonders if the name or statue came first—sharpening her axe. And of course, the kid is crouched nearby. She’s never seen a kid so content to be still for so long. He’s gotten talkative though, asking questions or telling stories with a bit of prompting, so Adrian isn’t particularly worried about something being wrong. It’s the most social interaction she’s had for a while. These past months she’s ignored most everyone around, speaking only when she really has to. Now she has this little miqo chattering in her ear most the day. It’s different, but not bad.
She finishes sharpening her axe, intending to move onto her greatsword. The kid finished telling her all about a big lizard he found with a bright orange belly and spines all over that ran up the canyon wall and disappeared before he could catch it and has been quiet for a bit. Looking up from the weapon in her lap, she sees the kid watching the waterfall.
“Ey.” The kid’s attention snaps over to her, always so easy for her to get his focus, “Ye got a blade or anythin’ on ya?” She’d be surprised if he didn’t. And sure enough the kid doesn’t hesitate to drag his bag closer and pulls a dagger out from one of the side pockets.
She holds a hand out, “Give it ‘ere fer a sec.” Now he does hesitate, “I’m not takin’ in from ya. Promise t’ give it back.” Kid should be able to feel safe however he wants.
He passes it over and Adrian checks the edge. It’s been kept clean but looking pretty dull. It’s possible that this knife has saved the kid’s life at some point. Regardless, it’s seen plenty use and a sharp blade is infinitely better than a dull one. Turning to her own bag she finds smaller whetstone and gestures for the kid to come closer.
“Gonna teach ya how t’ take care o’ yer blade.” She shows him how to keep the knife steady and how to hold the whetstone to not get cut. What angle to drag the stone across, how much pressure to push down with, and when to know that the edge is properly sharp. With a few tries and corrections the kid eventually settles into a proper rhythm.
Adrian tells him so when she looks up from her own work, “Good job.” The kid beams up at her, the corner of her mouth ticks up in response.
“Ah, there you are Dearheart!” Now it’s Adrian’s turn for someone to so easily claim her complete focus, looking over when she already knows well whose approaching. Haurchefant must have returned not too long ago from his own escort mission. She fully intends to call back when something grabs at her belt. Forcing her gaze away from her husband, that she hasn’t seen in four days, she glances down at the kid whose moved closer and staring warily at Haurchefant. Having purposely moved so Adrian is between them. Which absolutely confounds her that someone can look at Haurche’s smiling face and be distrustful. A voice in her head sounding suspiciously like Thancred’s is calling her a sap.
When Haurche gets closer he pauses mid step, she assumes that’s when he notices the kid, “I see the rumors circulating about camp are true.”
“Rumors?”
“That you have found a little shadow.” He can pick up on the kid’s nerves and stops a few feet away. Which, great on him for being sympathetic, but Adrian wants him closer , “They failed to mention that he is rather adorable.”
Kid shuffles closer looking more suspicious. Adrian drops a hand between his ears, mussing up his hair, “Ease up, it’s fine” and stands taking a step toward Haurche. But the kid stays put so she can’t move closer without physically dragging the kid. He’s become so damn wary of everyone, “Kid this is Haurchefant, he’s my husband so I’d appreciate ye not glarin’ at him either. Haurche this is…”
...
Adrian doesn’t know the kid’s name.
...
“C’vett.” The kid—C’vett—says dutifully.
“… C’vett.”
Haurchefant raises an eyebrow, “You did not acquaint yourself with each other?” He sounds amused rather than reproachful.
“It didn’t come up!”
“Of course.”
“I know you’re Adrian.”
“How do you know that?”
“Hearing people call you that.”
Adrian throws her hands up, “This is why I shouldn’t be babysittin’!”
“He looks content enough to me.” Haurchefant says unconcerned that he came back to camp to find Adrian in charge of a small child’s health and well-being.
C’vett himself tightens his hold on Adrian like she’s going to shove him off. Which she was going to do, gently , because she wanted to properly greet her husband, “Kid—C’vett—let go a sec.” He decidedly doesn’t do that, and rather defiantly glares up at her. Adrian shrugs, “Well I’m gonna give my husband a proper greetin’ weather ye let go or not. Yer choice.”
True to her word she moves and C’vett gets dragged along for two steps before he finally decides to let go and Adrian wastes no time curling a hand behind Haurche’s neck to tug him forward into a proper kiss. Having him close again something in Adrian relaxes, the comfort at knowing that he’s back.
“Missed you dear.”
Adrian hums, content to lean against each other for a while and enjoy a bit of quiet peace. Until she feels Haurche huff a quiet laugh against her throat.
“What?” She murmurs.
“I think someone is getting impatient.”
“... Is that meant t’ be a euphemism?” She grins, “Not much privacy here at camp though.”
He outright laughs now, “Now, now dear. I do not think that’s proper conversation in front of your young charge.”
A pause. Adrian leans back and turns. C’vett is standing a few feet away glaring at the water, completely still except for his tail lashing back and forth. She now realizes how inconvenient it can really be to have a kid shadowing your steps all day.
-----
It’s the fourth day when they find a more permanent solution to the displaced villagers. Word back from Ala Ghiri says they have space for them to stay.
Adrian does not learn about this until after the fact. She was sent out to disrupt a large shipment of magitek reapers on the third day and was away from Rhalgr’s Reach for another two. She finds out the villagers, and C’vett, are well on their way by the time she returns. They were rushed to leave soon after they got word so that they would be able to travel along with a group of resistance members heading back to the Fringes with supplies and offer protection. After she hears she seeks out Thancred.
“You sure he left?” It may sound like she’s hoping that the kid is magically still here. But Thancred knows what she’s asking. They can recognize kids like them.
“Took a lot of persuading but he went with them.” Thancred confirms, “Seemed a bit too calm and behaved when they were leaving. Pulled a scout aside and told him to keep a close eye on the kid and make sure he got to the village and stayed.”
“Good.” She’s relieved. And that’s all she is, “Thanks.”
“Of course.”
And she thinks that the last she’ll ever hear about any of them.
Then they receive word that caravan was attacked.
Not by garleans, but by bandits. Not enough that this country has to deal with an invading, occupying force but their own people are turned against them too. Adrian doesn’t outwardly react when she hears the news. She waits while the leaders discuss what happened; “the carts seemed to be the bandits’ target. But when they realized they didn’t have the manpower to hold off the resistance and make off with the goods they grabbed hostages instead.” She waits to hear specifics; “Four were taken. Three adults, one kid.” “The rest of the civilians made it to Ala Ghiri.” She waits; “They want to trade the hostages for our supplies. Want the carts left at the canyon west of town.”
Adrian doesn’t need much by way of preparing. And while everyone is deep in discussions of possible plans, she quietly slips away. Her and Sleipnir can make it to Ala Ghiri in no time. Ask a few questions, see exactly who was taken. After that it won’t be too difficult to find where the bandits are hiding out. The desert is vast, but rather empty. A group of people camped out in them will be very noticeable to her Echo.
The moment she’s told C’vett is one of the hostages she heads out of the village on foot. The sun is setting, and he may have a dark coat but trying to sneak around with a massive, armored horse is rather difficult. The trade is supposed to happen tomorrow at the canyon, but Adrian heads north. No places to hide a group of men plus hostages west so they must be further north, holed up in one of the many smaller, abandoned villages dotting the desert.
Her instinct proved true and she finds them not too far out from Ala Ghiri. To their credit they don't have any fires going as to not broadcast where they are. Not that it stopped her from finding them, but the lack of bright light makes it that much easier for her to prowl around the edges of their encampment. Watching, taking note of their numbers, marking her prey. Because now she’s hunting. The inner beast she has kept calm is pacing in the cage of her ribs. It demands a hunt, demands to be sated. But she needs to be patient for a little longer.
None of the hostages are outside. They’re holed up in one of the buildings, so she needs to find out which one and if they’re all together or not. She counts six men outside, half assed patrols, mostly just idling around or talking with each other. Whoever their boss is won’t be outside doing night watch, they’ll be inside somewhere too. There are three buildings she can’t immediately see into.
In the first there are three more bandits asleep. It only takes about a minute to slip in and cut their throats. Less trouble for later.
The next building has someone outside standing watch. Best bet for the kidnapped villagers to be inside so she waits. Someone walks by, a quiet acknowledgement to the guy standing watch but soon enough they leave and the man is all alone. Not seeing anyone else nearby she leans her axe against the side of the building and slowly stalks forward. Lashing out quick; one hand completely covering the lower half of his face, and her other arm around his neck Adrian drags him back around the building. He only gets to struggle for a moment before a quick snap has him still and quiet. Dropping the man unceremoniously, Adrian picks up her axe again and heads inside.
The villagers are inside. The woman closest to the door makes a startled noise and Adrian shushes her, “I’m helpin’ ya. Stay quiet.” The three inside nod and obediently keep silent, she thinks they must recognize her.
Wait. Three? “Where’s th’ kid?”
“He snuck out.” A midlander man whispers, “We tried to keep him here but he slipped out though the broken roof.” Pointing up, there is a caved in corner of the roof that looks just big enough for a C’vett to wiggle through.
Adrian breathes out slow, “Stay ‘ere. Barricade th’ door if ye can do it quietly. I’m goin’ t’ take care o’ th’ ones still outside. Only open th’ door if you hear me callin’.” She waits for their nod and heads back outside.
Allowing herself a moment to throw her awareness out, Adrian tries to find that small aetheric nudge but nothing stands out. Either the kid managed to get some distance or he’s too close to something larger. The voices of the bandits pull her focus, and her lip pulls back unbidden to bare her teeth in response. She’s waited long enough. The garlean soldiers already know her as a ruthless beast, what’s teaching a few more bastards the same fear? Smaller it may be it is still a battlefield of sorts, regardless if the enemy realizes it yet. Letting instinct guide her hand she hunts.
The first is the one unlucky enough to be away from the group, they fall with the only sound being that of her axe caving in their ribcage. The crack echoes like a gunshot in the quiet night. The bandits nearby murmur, nervous, as two more come near to investigate. The second comes around the corner and gets greeted with a boot to their chest and sent flying into the wall of the opposite building. The third shouts and is nearly cleaved in half with an axe swing to their gut. The second is attempting to get back on their feet, head ringing as they try to get their legs back under them, but Adrian stops their struggle soon enough.
The rest come to the conclusion that staying together is safer. It’s not, but it spares them a few extra moments. The ring of drawn steel echoes through the dark, Adrian responds by letting her axe drag across the stone as she approaches. The grating sound drawing closer visibly wracks up the bandits’ unease. One of them shouts something, the words inconsequential, she only takes note of the tremor in their voice.
Someone finally decides to light a torch, so they get the privilege of seeing her before she kills them. One by one she cuts them down. The wounds they manage do nothing to slow her down. Nothing but the little scratches of weak, flailing prey in their death throes. In only a few minutes there are six fresh corpses feeding blood into the sand. When all goes quiet again Adrian stalks toward the last intact building. It’s the biggest by far, looks more like a communal hall than a house. And she can sense someone still inside. Pushing the doors open she hears an angry shout from deeper within and something that sounds like a struggle. There is another voice that calls out, higher pitched, in pain, someone younger. Seeing no one in immediate view Adrian rushes toward the only other open doorway further in the building
A highlander man is holding C’vett up by the back of his shirt. The kid has his fangs bared, clawing at the man’s hand. C’vett doesn’t have his dagger but there is a line of red against the man’s jaw sluggishly bleeding.
“Fuckin’ brat, you’re more trouble than you’re worth!” The man sneers. C’vett hisses and tries to kick him in the face, “Need to teach you how to behave.”
He draws his blade, and all Adrian sees is another dead man. The beast in her chest claws at her ribs demanding release as aether roils around her axe with the Abyss always answering her call. Both demand blood with each beat of her heart. One step into the room is enough to draw C’vett’s attention. His eyes go wide. And then he grins, a vicious little thing.
“I knew it!” He declares proudly, “I told you so! I told you! Now you’re dead!”
“What the hells are you screaming about?!”
“Get your fucking hands off the kid.”
The air vibrates with her growl. The highlander flinches hard, freezing like caught prey. C’vett keeps twisting to get free but the man’s hand shakes with how hard his muscles suddenly lock as panic takes over. She can feel her rage building with each second she waits, seeing the piece of shit that dared put his hands on the kid. Wanting to tear the pathetic bastard apart so badly that her aether reaches towards him of its own accord like it’ll do the job for her. But she can’t , not until C’vett is safely out of the way. She won’t risk it.
One step, two, then three is enough to cross the room and stand at the bandit’s back. He finally whirls around to face her and Adrian revels in how he stares up at her stinking of fear. She wonders what a sight she must make. Towering over him wearing darkness like a mantle and the blood of his men coating her skin and blade.
“I said. Drop. Him.” He lets go before she finishes speaking, body reacting before conscious thought. C’vett lands with a quiet “oof” and immediately runs behind Adrian.
She feels the kid grip her coat, “I knew you’d come.” He says with conviction.
“Are you hurt?”
“Nothing bad. Just some bruises I think.”
Oh how she would love to take a pound of flesh for every mark on the kid, “Go outside and cover your ears. We’ll be done quickly.”
The kid doesn’t say anything right away, and Adrian thinks he’s going to argue, but the hold on her coat disappears, “Okay. See you soon.” Keeping her eyes on the highlander her echo tracks C’vett; out of the room and a dozen fulms away before he stops and waits.
The man seems to realize his only saving grace has left and finally finds that animal instinct to live and tries to run. Adrian has her hand around his neck and lifted bodily off the ground before he gets more than a step.
“Thank whatever god you think cares that we don’t have time to drag this out.”
He tries to struggle then, fight or flight kicking in too late as he claws at her arm and haphazardly swipes at her with his sword. But that won’t save him.
-----
What the lookouts standing at the Ala Ghiri gate see first, is the horse that the woman left behind raises its head and stares out. Next, a minute or so later, they see a small group approaching. Their first thought is it’s the bandits returning and alert the others. The first that steps into view doesn’t do much to assuage their growing nerves, the ring of firelight revealing a towering woman covered in red with axe in hand. But then they can see the child held to their hip, and the others following behind them. The displaced villagers that recently arrived recognize them as their own and run to greet them. The woman and child keep walking past, the kid seeming unbothered by all the blood and keeps a tight hold on the woman carrying him. Not bothering to set him down she swings up into the saddle before shifting her grip to settle the kid more comfortably infront of her. With a quiet snort the horse starts walking and they all disappear into the dark desert.