Melting the Ice Needs An Enema
Title: Melting the Ice
Author: Kassandra Black
Fandom: Fable 3
Chapter One
"Now, use the power in your legs to bring up your sword and block!"
Lara rolled her eyes as she brought up her sword like her "uncle" had suggested. Going with generic princess? Okay, fair enough, I'll let you have that. But the princess in Fable never called Walter uncle, he was just Walter. This is called giving your character spice... where it isn't needed. Try her personality next time. It was just like Walter Beck to be giving her advice in the middle of a fight. And that's a problem... why? She loved him, sure, but the man had literally no sense of timing… He was a right hand man, awesome soldier for how many years?
"Atta girl! That's it!"
"Must you always do that?" Encouragement?! How dare he?! Lara shouted over the sounds of swords clashing and weapons firing. Does anyone else remember guns in this scene... in the game... I don't. Her dog, Ares, lunged for an attacker, letting out an evil growl. It's a dog. Dogs aren't and evil and they aren't good. They're guided by instincts and their loyalty.
"Do what?" Walter called back, bending his body in a way Lara would never have thought possible to dodge an attack. ...Now that just sounds awkward. Walter's old, he's not a stretchy action figure from the 80s. Walter might be getting up there in age, but the man could still fight.
Lara threw herself in a forward somersault and pointed out her gauntleted arm at the nearest enemy, sending a shock of lightning his way. Oh, this isn't the fight scene from the beginning of the game?! Ohh. That's why there's guns! His body convulsed violently as it coursed through his body, leaving the bandit's corpse charred and smoky as it fell to the ground. They may be bandits, but they're still human... you're economy is crap, do you NOT expect people to turn into thieves? One down, two more to go. She can count?! WHOA! Lara drove her sword into the next bandit just as Walter brought down the last one, kicking the attacker's knees out and decapitating the helpless enemy. Man could still fight, indeed… That's not nice to the bandit! He probably had a family and you just killed him like he was nothing!
"Do what?" Walter repeated walking over to her.
"Make comments and give me advice in the middle of a sword fight," Seriously, Walter, Bella hates it when you're nice to her! You better not look too 'overly helpful' or she'll leave you and your friends for a vampire and never talk to you again until the third book! Lara replied, wiping her sword clean off the dead man's trousers.
"I thought you liked when I did that," Walter said, using the back of his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his brow.
"Yes, when I'm training, not in the middle of a bloody battle. I'm normally a bit busy trying, you know, not to get killed? Instead of listening to instructions?" So... if someone's sneaking up on you from behind, he stays quiet? Aren't you smart!
Walter clutched his heart feigning to be hurt. "If my lady wishes for me to cease giving her advice, I will gladly obey her command. Is that what you want, Princess Lara?" This is Walter? O.o Okay... Wrap my head around that...
"Oh, come off it," Lara retorted. "Since when have you called me 'my lady' or 'princess'? Just Lara, please." Hold up. You call him 'uncle', that means you must be close. So you still have to ask him to call you 'Lara'? Really? It annoyed her to no end when people treated her like royalty. You'd think a princess would be use to that, but I give you points for trying to give your character something to round themselves on. Snaps for you. Granted, she was a princess, a fact that she was reminded of every day of her life, but that didn't mean she had to like it. You mean to tell me that pretty much having everything you want is a bad thing?! Oh, yeah, don't like it all you want, sister! Besides, what kind of princess roams around the country with only her mentor and her dog for company, regularly getting into fights? Oh, you know, the generic one. From Fable Three. Remember? The title seemed almost pointless given her current situation. I bet you prefer Hero, huh?
Walter let out a loud chuckle.
"What I want is for you to trust me," Lara raised her voice over his thunderous laugh, slightly annoyed that he wasn't taking her seriously. Someone's not listening to me! Temper tantrum! "We've been out of the castle for two weeks. Surely, I've proven that I can handle myself in a fight." I would have figured that would take MUCH longer than two weeks. Just wait until they throw you in Reaver's Mansion. You'll miss all those stray wolves attacking you up in the mountains.
"That you have," Walter replied, this time wiping the tears WHAT of mirth Oh, okay. from the corner of his eyes. "But must you always be so serious? It wouldn't hurt for you to crack a smile every once in a while, girl. People prefer approachable royalty, after all." Oh, Charlie, just let Bella listen to her emo music! Smiling isn't in her twitchy, gray skinny jeaned vocabulary.
Lara let out a small sigh as she finally sheathed her sword and strapped her rifle to her back. She had become serious the day she started training with Walter. Starting a rebellion is serious business! Jokes and random one-liners weren't going to get her to the top. That was relevant... to what? As a woman (and the princess), she had to work twice as hard to best those training to be in the Royal Army. And I bet it wasn't difficult at all! Watch, she's just a natural. What she lacked in bulk, she made up for in speed and endurance. Her naturally small, lithe frame became an advantage when she was pitted against the taller, stronger men. It had taken her years to finally achieve her goal, and, in the end, she was the only one left standing in a room full of seasoned soldiers. Alright, I stand corrected. I like that you mentioned it took years, but you didn't mention how difficult it was. You can learn something for years, but you're not Sponge Bob. You can't just soak it all in and be able to fight, it takes sweat and pain to get there.
She had earned their respect that day, really earned it, not just because she was their princess. She had become a warrior, a fighter just like them, and that's what got you respect. Who you really were, not what your title dictated you should be. I find it hard to believe that after being defeated by the princess, they would show her respect. They're probably feeling a little embarrassed at this point and are probably pulling it off like 'they meant to do that'.
"Smiles don't kill bandits," That you should at least think twice about killing, first! That's just heartless, I don't like it. she merely said, whistling for Ares to follow her as she began making her way down the road. "Though if they did, Albion would be a much happier place." All you need is love~
Walter considered her for a moment, before silently following her lead. Avo help the man who falls in love with her, he thought wryly. Poor bastard is going to need it. Look at that, Walter makes sense!