Blade
Title: Daughter of Adam, Part 15
Author: carolhelga
Claim: Duncan
Prompt: Blade
Rating/Warnings: PG
Word count: 691
Disclaimer: I do not own the Highlander universe, although I do own Brunhilde. This writing is all in good fun; I make no profit from it.
Summary: Where'd Brunhilde go for all those years?
Duncan sat back. "Xavier?"
Hilda nodded. "Xavier St. Cloud. He missed."
"I didn't." Duncan's tone was wry. When she shot him a glance he added, "At least, not the last time."
"I have missed a lot." Brunhilde set her tote bag on the coffee table, still looking at Duncan. "Any others I used to know that you defeated?"
"I don't know who all you know."
"Well, there is that." She leaned back again.
"So tell me what happened. Why does everyone think you're already dead?"
Hilda rested her head on the back of the sofa and sighed, closing her eyes. "Partly they were right. I certainly wasn't in any condition to be part of the world for a good long time."
She remembered the flash--the bright explosion followed by smoke--and she had fallen as the blast ripped her leg off at the knee. She remembered Xavier's blade rising, his laughter ringing in her ears as he said, just loud enough for her to hear, "No one else will have you, sweetling." Then the second blade, from out of nowhere, which caught Xavier's and knocked it away.
"Can't fight a man, St. Cloud?"
Xavier looked surprised, but recovered quickly enough. "Naughty, naughty. You know you don't come between when there's a challenge, Ramses." And his sword swung and the quickening flashed.
And she fell into the bay, crushed under the pier that fell after her, burying her under wood and debris. Weeks passed, and she awoke, breathed water, and drowned, again and again. Years passed, and more debris fell upon her even as her leg reformed and her lungs cleared only to once again fill with water. Decades more, and the wood pilings began to rot, but slowly, so slowly. And she breathed and drowned, breathed and drowned, breathed and drowned.
Finally the day came when the last of the wood that pinned her rotted, when the gentle tides washed away the debris and mud, and her body floated to the surface and the tides carried her unconscious self to land.
Hilda sipped at the tea Duncan had provided during her recital. "A woman and her dog found me just as I woke again. I was naked, cold and disoriented. I didn't know when I was, or where. She took me in and I stayed for a week, learning about this new world I found myself deposited in."
"How long ago did you recover?" He could easily imagine the pain of dying over and over, but to drown…He shuddered.
"Not long. Two years. I spent four months just getting up to speed on what the world is like now. I still make mistakes, but I have to say I do like the Internet." She sighed, and sat her teacup on the coffee table. "When Stephen challenged me, that would have been my first swordfight in three centuries. I was sure I'd lose."
"He challenged you?" Duncan gathered up the tea things and set them in the sink. The sun was setting and the orange glow of it through the windows gave Hilda's hair red highlights. "So that's why you were there?"
Hilda nodded. "He had approached me where I work, and I agreed to meet him there at the park at dusk. Then those other men showed up, and shot us both. I'm sure you know the rest better than I do." She looked at Duncan, and said in all seriousness. "You saved my life more than you realize, Duncan. You're an amazing man."
To his surprise, she started silently weeping, big teardrops rolling down her face. "Hilda, you're safe here. I told you that last night, and I still mean it." When she seemed unable to stop he sat next to her and embraced her. "You're safe. I won't let them hurt you."
She relaxed against him, hiding her face in his shoulder, and he could feel her efforts to stop crying. He cradled her gently, rocking slightly, and crooning much as he remembered his mother doing to him when he was still a child--a wordless croon that soothed.
Then they both felt the approach of another Immortal.
Author: carolhelga
Claim: Duncan
Prompt: Blade
Rating/Warnings: PG
Word count: 691
Disclaimer: I do not own the Highlander universe, although I do own Brunhilde. This writing is all in good fun; I make no profit from it.
Summary: Where'd Brunhilde go for all those years?
Duncan sat back. "Xavier?"
Hilda nodded. "Xavier St. Cloud. He missed."
"I didn't." Duncan's tone was wry. When she shot him a glance he added, "At least, not the last time."
"I have missed a lot." Brunhilde set her tote bag on the coffee table, still looking at Duncan. "Any others I used to know that you defeated?"
"I don't know who all you know."
"Well, there is that." She leaned back again.
"So tell me what happened. Why does everyone think you're already dead?"
Hilda rested her head on the back of the sofa and sighed, closing her eyes. "Partly they were right. I certainly wasn't in any condition to be part of the world for a good long time."
She remembered the flash--the bright explosion followed by smoke--and she had fallen as the blast ripped her leg off at the knee. She remembered Xavier's blade rising, his laughter ringing in her ears as he said, just loud enough for her to hear, "No one else will have you, sweetling." Then the second blade, from out of nowhere, which caught Xavier's and knocked it away.
"Can't fight a man, St. Cloud?"
Xavier looked surprised, but recovered quickly enough. "Naughty, naughty. You know you don't come between when there's a challenge, Ramses." And his sword swung and the quickening flashed.
And she fell into the bay, crushed under the pier that fell after her, burying her under wood and debris. Weeks passed, and she awoke, breathed water, and drowned, again and again. Years passed, and more debris fell upon her even as her leg reformed and her lungs cleared only to once again fill with water. Decades more, and the wood pilings began to rot, but slowly, so slowly. And she breathed and drowned, breathed and drowned, breathed and drowned.
Finally the day came when the last of the wood that pinned her rotted, when the gentle tides washed away the debris and mud, and her body floated to the surface and the tides carried her unconscious self to land.
Hilda sipped at the tea Duncan had provided during her recital. "A woman and her dog found me just as I woke again. I was naked, cold and disoriented. I didn't know when I was, or where. She took me in and I stayed for a week, learning about this new world I found myself deposited in."
"How long ago did you recover?" He could easily imagine the pain of dying over and over, but to drown…He shuddered.
"Not long. Two years. I spent four months just getting up to speed on what the world is like now. I still make mistakes, but I have to say I do like the Internet." She sighed, and sat her teacup on the coffee table. "When Stephen challenged me, that would have been my first swordfight in three centuries. I was sure I'd lose."
"He challenged you?" Duncan gathered up the tea things and set them in the sink. The sun was setting and the orange glow of it through the windows gave Hilda's hair red highlights. "So that's why you were there?"
Hilda nodded. "He had approached me where I work, and I agreed to meet him there at the park at dusk. Then those other men showed up, and shot us both. I'm sure you know the rest better than I do." She looked at Duncan, and said in all seriousness. "You saved my life more than you realize, Duncan. You're an amazing man."
To his surprise, she started silently weeping, big teardrops rolling down her face. "Hilda, you're safe here. I told you that last night, and I still mean it." When she seemed unable to stop he sat next to her and embraced her. "You're safe. I won't let them hurt you."
She relaxed against him, hiding her face in his shoulder, and he could feel her efforts to stop crying. He cradled her gently, rocking slightly, and crooning much as he remembered his mother doing to him when he was still a child--a wordless croon that soothed.
Then they both felt the approach of another Immortal.