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dragonologist-phd · 27 days ago

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Secret St Waidwen Gift Fic!

Happy Secret St Waidwen reveal day! My recipient for the @secret-st-waidwen-exchange is @veronaluna / @spacepigfanclub!

I hope you enjoy your gift!

Fic: Steadfast Characters: Adaryc Cendamyr, Watcher Maraia Ships: Adaryc/Watcher Rating: G Summary: An unconventional first meeting leads to a unique connection, and Adaryc finds himself entranced with someone wholly unexpected.

Adaryc wonders, at times, whether he made the right decision in coming here.

All Commanders must have such thoughts, he supposes. With so many lives in his hands, people like him cannot afford to make decisions that are wrong. When someone like him takes the soldiers he is responsible for and marches them to seize a frozen fortress in a hostile land full of hostile people…he’d better have a good reason.

The thought turns to a sigh, and the sigh almost turns to a yawn. Exhaustion has not yet taken hold, however, and he manages to focus his mind and fight it off; he’s had plenty of practice at that. Sleep is a tempting siren, as it always is, but Adaryc knows better. He knows what sleep will bring.

Even now, if he closes his eyes for too long, he can see the visions: armies and destruction, falling like a hammer on his already-battered homeland.

The memory shakes all thoughts of sleep from Adaryc’s mind, and with renewed vigor he returns his attention to the maps and plans laid out before him. If he wants to stop the vision from becoming a reality, he has a lot of work to do. It may not be pretty, and it certainly won’t be easy- but it must be done.

Later on, he won’t be able to say whether his absorption in his work or the approaching grip of sleep is what causes him to miss the sounds of a trespasser approaching. Perhaps, he’ll consider with some chagrin, he simply let his guard down; why would he be on alert for intruders, here in the middle of an army camp with guards on patrol?

Whatever the reason, the result is that Adaryc does not notice his company until they’ve already slipped into his tent, and he looks up to find himself face-to-face with a stranger. He leaps to his feet immediately, a shout of alarm already on his lips.

The next few moments happen so fast, he barely has time to take in the sight of the strange woman standing before him- just a flash of brown hair, the wind-blown ripple of a long purple scarf, the green of her eyes staring boldly into his.

It’s when their eyes meet that it happens: a sudden, breathless snap, the sensation of falling, a flood of visions and memories and scenes from another life whipping by too quickly to decipher.

And somehow, Adaryc knows that this stranger is feeling the exact same thing.

The feeling is over as soon as it begins, though the breathless sensation lingers. The strange woman is staring at Adaryc, not breaking her green-eyed gaze even as soldiers finally rush into the tent. Adarys holds up a hand to halt them, though even then he doesn’t dare look away from her.

He has no idea what feelings his own face may be betraying, but hers are easy enough to read- wonder, excitement, understanding. The words leave their lips at the same time.

“You’re a Watcher.”

Her name is Maraia.

She is a traveler, currently residing in the Dyrwood, where she has been proclaimed the Lady of Caed Nua. Or perhaps ‘proclaimed herself’ is a better manner of phrase- as Adaryc understands it, there is some dispute over the title, though she is quick to laugh off the conflict. Such is her way, Adaryc soon learns.

She is also a Watcher, just as he is.

The two spend a fair amount of time together after their first hectic meeting. Adaryc’s soldiers are wary of this newcomer and her odd assortment of companions, and for good reason. There are no strong arguments to be made for trusting her and the fantastical stories she brings, save for one: she has shared her own visions with Adaryc, and he knows her to be telling the truth.

It seems impossible. Not only the tales she tells, but the very notion that for all his conviction- the very conviction which drove him to bring his army here, to make these plans, to bind his very soul to his sword as proof of his commitment to Readceras- that despite all this, he may still be wrong.

But then, Adaryc has had his own share of impossible experiences. And when Maraia opens her mind to him, he knows the truth of her intentions.

With nothing else to do, he agrees that they should work together against whatever true threat resides in these mountains. And despite her strangeness, Adaryc finds himself glad for this new ally. There’s a certain comfort in knowing another Watcher is out there.

She must feel that, too, for it doesn’t take long for them to end up sitting together late one night, when neither can reach the realm of sleep.

Like everything else that’s happened here, their nighttime meeting is an accident. Adaryc is merely taking a walk through the camp, hoping the biting night air will clear his mind, when he rounds a corner and finds her standing there, staring up into the dark, starlit sky. She carries a distant look in her eyes; not a Watcher vision, Adaryc thinks, but distant all the same.

Then she catches sight of Adaryc standing there, staring. Her face brightens, and she flashes him a smile, and suddenly Adaryc is at a loss for words.

“Oh,” he finally manages. “Hello.”

“Hello, yourself,” she replies, leveling a knowing look in his direction. “What brings you out so late? Wait, let me guess- weird dreams?”

“You could say that.” Although distressing is a far more apt descriptor, in this case. The visions which drove him here, those images of invasion and bloodshed…they still haven’t stopped.

“Same here,” Maraia groans, running a hand through her hair as she shakes her head in aggravation. She glances back up at the moon overhead with narrowed eyes. “Wish I could get visions about something nice for once, instead of getting a front-row seat to all the gods’ drama.”

A reluctant smile tugs at Adaryc’s lips, though he does his best to keep his composure. “Careful. You never know when they may be listening.”

“Let them. They know how I feel,” she says with a shrug. Irreverent though she is, her confidence must be admired. “Either way, we’ll settle this soon.”

“I hope so.” He stands there a moment longer, suddenly uncertain of himself as Maraia watches him with those curious green eyes of hers. Even now, her mouth rests at a half-smile, as if tonight’s nightmares and tomorrow’s battle are nothing but a trifle. Adaryc likes her smile…but something about it also makes him nervous in a manner which he is reluctant to place.

“We should both be rested,” he says, intending to make his leave even though he has no intentions of sleep, but Maraia speaks up before he can slink away.

“You want to meet someone?”

Whatever Adaryc had expected- and he’d truly had no idea what to expect when Maraia led him to the small circle of tents her companions have set up on the edge of his camp- he never would have guessed she was taking him to meet a pig.

Not just any pig- no, nothing is ever so simple with Maria. The creature she introduces Adaryc to is a spectral being in the form of a pig, and at this point Adaryc decides not to probe with further questions.

“His name is Cosmo,” Maraia says fondly, scratching between his ears. At her encouragement, Adaryc lifts his hand for the pig to sniff. After a long, slightly awkward moment, Cosmo make a snuffling noise and licks at Adaryc’s fingers.

“He likes you,” Maraia declares.

“Does he?”

“Yeah.” Maraia studies him a moment, that half-smile still on her lips, a glint of mischief sparkling in her eyes. “He says you’re a little brooding, but he can tell you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. A good heart, too.”

Adaryc’s face grows warm, and he drops his eyes from Maraia’s, focusing only on the pig as he struggles for a response. “Tell him…I appreciate the sentiment. And I’m glad he somehow found his way into my camp.”

They chat a little longer after that, though the night is finally starting to weigh on both of them. Still, Adaryc can sense Maraia’s reluctance to return to her tent, even as exhaustion creeps into her voice. Perhaps, he muses, the burdens of a Watcher affect her more than her cheerful disposition would imply.

But they both must eventually get some rest, and when it can be denied no longer Adaryc bids both Maraia and her strange pig goodbye with a small, respectful bow.

“Good luck with your coming missions, Cosmo,” he says, and the pig snuffles happily once more. Adaryc glances at Maraia, and he realizes there is much he still wants to say to her. She is the only other Watcher he has ever met, and she understands his perspective in subtle ways that no other kith possibly could.

And he realizes in that moment that even were he to ignore the obvious connection borne from their mutual powers…he also simply enjoys her company.

“Good luck to both of you,” he says softly. “And stay safe.”

“Luck’s got nothing to do with it,” Maraia says breezily. Then she smiles again, a full smile, and there’s something warmer in it this time. She places a hand on his shoulder, a light yet comforting touch. “But thanks.”

Maraia handles her mission at the fortress with ease, and she returns safe and successful. She handles the next mission just as deftly, and the next. Tales of those missions grow ever more grand- vengeful gods, ancient grudges, secrets lost to time- but Maraia handles them all. Adaryc is beginning to believe she can handle anything.

His admiration is obvious, he fears. Whenever Maraia visits, Adaryc finds himself standing a little taller. When their eyes meet, he becomes oddly flustered. When she smiles…well, there are simply no words for that.

Adaryc tells himself these reactions are merely due to their connection as fellow Watchers. That this closeness he feels is merely that of comrades who share a rare place in society.

But the relief he feels every time Maraia returns to camp, safe and flush with victory, is something different, and he knows it.

For all of that, however, Adaryc also knows there is no chance of pursuing these feelings down whatever road they may lead. His path may have crossed with Maraia’s here and now, but soon he must carry on back to Readceras. To his people. To his duty. She, meanwhile, has urgent business in the Dyrwood which cannot be denied.

Those are the roads they each must take. There is little chance of future intersection.

And yet…

Their bond cannot be denied. They are two Watchers who have glimpsed each other’s souls, unlikely allies who have worked to create peace out of conflict. They could be something more, Adaryc thinks, whenever Maraia flashes those green eyes at him. Whenever she gives him that damned smile.

The thought is unwise. Adaryc and his army cannot linger here. But he wants to leave something of himself with her, just to let her know that he sees her just as well as she sees him.

In the end, he decides to leave her with his sword.

Maraia regards the gift with some confusion at first- then her mouth falls open in surprise as she realizes what it is, and Adaryc feels a small thrill of pride at having, for once, been the one to leave her speechless.

“This,” she says, shaking her head, “this is your soulbound blade.”

“It’s name is Steadfast. I did the binding as a testament to my belief in my original mission. Considering my initial error in judgment, and your effort in setting it all right…it seemed appropriate that you should be its keeper now.” Adaryc waits to see if he has overstepped, if she will refuse the gift. But after a moment she nods, and her hands close around the hilt.

“…Thank you.”

It seems a rather poetic end to their time together, and Adaryc thinks that will be that. But Maraia pauses one last time before taking her leave.

“You’ll keep in touch, won’t you?” It’s something less than a demand, something more than a request. Her green eyes are piercing as she waits for an answer. “I do want to see you again. Promise me you’ll write, at least.”

And though Adaryc had intended for this to be a grand, final farewell…what else can he do, when she looks at him like that?

“I promise.”

#pillars of eternity #adaryc cendamyr #secret st waidwen #secret st waidwen gift exchange #hope you like it!

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spacepigfanclub · 27 days ago