It was rather early when Leona’s eyes shot open. The sun had yet to peak over the horizon yet she still felt the need to wake as soon as she did. Maybe it was her sense of duty that pulled her out of bed earlier than the other guards and knights of the city, maybe it was because she had a chance to revel in the early morning coolness, and enjoy New Krayan when it was at it’s most peaceful, that time when thieves and bandits went to hide away from the guard, and before men of all backgrounds awoke to sell, buy, or work for the day. It was easily her favorite time, yet it always left her with a distinct lack of satisfaction. She liked the calmness, the coolness, the peace and yet she always felt it nothing more than a charade, as the truth of the city would eventually peek its ugly face out again to hurt and abuse people for it’s own gain.

Frowning, Leona turned to peer out the window of her living space, a small, pink room in the temple of Mia Morey. It was in these halls she was raised, from youth to adult she had done so with the heart and spirit of her goddess, but she felt distant from her at the same time. The things in her head, they told her to love and protect the people she cared about, but Leona cared about everyone. Sure, people could be cruel, cold, selfish and unfair, but she wasn’t sure if it was them to blame alone, or the society they’d been brought into. She heaved a gentle sigh, pulling off her pink, heart embroidered blanket to stand before her mirror.

Staring into her reflection, she gazed at her massive form, wrapped delicately by soft, light features and a pale skin tone, all topped by soft pink hair. She smiled for a bit, but that smile turned all too quickly. She hated the way she looked. She came from a place far to the south, or, at least her parents did. The place her heritage hailed from was a harsh, cold place, far more unforgiving than anything the paladin’s witnessed in the city. That place, far from here was often referred to as the “Land of giant men.” and her reflection told her why, she was large, freakishly large, she was even larger then her father had been, and that spoke volumes. She dwarfed everyone and everything around her, her bulky physique making her the target of not just ridicule, but fear.

Long ago, the people, her people, marched on Arliege, leaving thousands of homes buried in ash. The tales from then spoke of rageful, vicious monsters who tore through women and children alike with such wild and angry abandon, it scarred the people of the land for centuries to come. Though they failed to take the nation, the mark her heritage left on the country was a permanent one, one that loomed over her head anytime she so much as stood up. People were afraid of her, afraid of the legend that her eyes would glow red and that she’d tear them apart with her bare hands before screeching in some foreign tongue in victorious roars. Even she feared it.

She wasn’t an angry person, she really wasn’t. Or, so she told herself. Truthfully, it took a lot to even get her so much as annoyed, let alone mad. Yet, when it happened, as rare as it was, it was … terrifying. She recalled, after having witnessed a dear friend beaten for her brown skin, tortured and nearly killed for daring to be foreign something in her head broke, and something else awoke. The memory, no matter how distant always found it's way back to her. The anger, the carnage, the -satisfaction-. The look of fear plastered on the offenders faces as they begged for mercy, a mercy that would only come in... Leona shuddered, for as she loved the goddess with all her heart, the feeling then, the adrenaline, she craved it.

Leona shook her head, looking away from her own face, hoping if she believed it enough she would be a different person, only to be disappointed each time. She stood, in utter silence for a while before she heard the small click of her door opening. Hastily, she reached for her blanket and wrapped herself up as a young boy, with dirty blonde hair and wide green eyes peeked his head in. The boy blushed as he got just enough of an eyeful to cause any young boy awkward dreams for months. The boy turned and began to speak “I-I’m sorry dame Leona, I, uh, I thought you, uh…” he stumbled over his words, trying desperately to push the woman’s attractive form out of his head.

“Oh, uh, s-sorry, I forgot I asked you to accompany me this morning… if that’s still okay I mean…” Leona spoke apologetically.

“Of course!” he said, completely still, though wanting to take another peek, letting the idea slip away in fear of being stricken down by an angry goddess.

“Um, I should get dressed, so…” Leona muttered just loud enough for the boy to hear

“R-right!” he said as he ran out, slamming the door shut behind him.

With a sigh Leona gathered her clothing and entered the small powder room attached to her quarters. After having cleaned and dressed herself in tight fitting black underclothes she left her room, her young ward waiting outside, blushing furiously as he stared at the ground. He hadn’t seemed to notice Leona, prompting her to fake cough until he lifted his head “Oh, uh, r-ready?” he asked, which she replied to with a nod.

The two walked silently to the church armory where Leona kept her equipment. The boy, without a word of prompting, opened the door for Leona, before quickly entering himself and running to grab a massive armor stand sporting large pink full plate, emblazoned with a big heart.

“Not that armor, we’re not doing anything more than patrol today.” Leona spoke, causing the boy to nod and push the armor back into place. Instead, he pulled an equally large stand out with a pink breastplate on it, it too decorated with a heart. Letting her squire do his job, she took a seat as the boy hefted the armor up over her head and onto her before fiddling with the straps until they were nice and tight on her body.

“How’s that dame?” he asked with a smile, proud of his handiwork

“You did fine, could you go fetch my blade and shield squire? I think I left them in the training hall.” she asked politely before the boy nodded and ran off “Oh, you’ll need a whetstone!” she shouted after him.

Now she was alone with her thoughts again, and that was never a good time for her. She began to think about all the things that bothered her, about how mean people can be, and how so many people in the town were hungry, and homeless. The people she's hurt... She thought about how the guard did nothing to ward off the thieves guild. She wanted to think about happier things, but she rarely did, she wanted more then anything to change the way things were in not just New Krayan, but all of Arliege. Sometimes, the way they treat people, the bigotry, the cruelty, it stung her, made her grit her teeth as she fought back something in her blood that screamed for justice.

Wanting to stem the tide of emotions she got to her knees and began to pray, it’s what she always did when upset. She prayed for New Krayan, for people to get along and be happy, for people to stop being attacked on the roads from town to town, for the mindless, selfish murder to stop. She wanted things to be better, at any cost ‘No matter who get’s hurt in the process.’ the words that stretched across her head caused her to force open her eyes in panic. “I-I…” she muttered quietly to herself before sitting back down on her stool quietly.

She sat in complete silence, looking at the door every so often, wondering when her squire would return. ‘Is this entirely because of where I’m from?’ she wondered ‘are my people really so angry? No, they couldn’t be, my father nor my mother were like this, they were the nicest people I know!’ She tried to convince herself, but she felt like her thoughts were wasted as it didn’t change herself. She just wanted to help people, to make people happy, so why did she feel these weird urges to hurt some of them as well.

Again, a memory came to her, this time it was during her training. By then her parents had passed, murder in front of her, her dearest friend had dissapeared and the city saw her as a monster for the incident that preceded her joining of the church. She and the other sister quickly learned she simply lacked the patience or understanding to perform their spells and blessings. And for a time this hurt Leona, broke her. But soon she found purpose, strength, a blade was given to her, the weapon as light as air and as natural as breathing. Maybe it was her size, or her strength, or her very blood but she wasn't just skilled, she untouchable. The ferocity by which the woman fought was astounding, the way she took blows without flinching almost inhuman. She was born to fight, and it was clear to all around her.

This brought about a new memory. A painful one. A few years ago, Leona was pit against a recruit from out of town, another heralded as a natural born fighter. The boy was blonde, handsome by most standards, but he was snobbish, rude. He treated women like toys, and other men like dogs. He thought that because he had money, that because his parents had power her was somehow immune to the same rules that applied to everyone else. As they continued their bout, the man taunted her, insulting her, her size, calling her many awful names, but nothing she hadn't heard before. He then began to insult her parents, laughing at their death, how he knew was beyond her but it stung, bringing her to tears as she fought through the rising anger in her chest. His words came out like venom as he said "And to make it even funnier, I hear that worthless brown skinned whore of yours is a member of the thieves guild. But don't worry, when I get the chance I'll put the bitch down like all the rest." Her heart beat like a frenzy, years of unkempt emotion burst like a shattered damn as she began to weep. The man stood over her, laughing as he continued his hateful speech, but no words were heard. All Leona could feel was rage.

Screaming like a wild beast Leona began her assault anew. Her blade coming down so fast and heavy the man had no time to speak. Seeing his opportunity he struck, bashing the sword against her skull with incredible force, so much so the blade snapped and flew away. And as the blood fell from her head, he came eye to eye with her, cocky grin turned to a terrified gaze. In that moment he knew he had to escape, though the group around the two were unaware. With a roar she dropped the sword and shield she held, grabbing the boy, tearing his shield away before pinning him on the ground. Again and again she bore her armors gauntlets onto his face, smiling, screaming, yelling "What's wrong! Why'd you stop talking! Where's the hate you were so proudly spewing from your ignorant mouth!? Are you afraid? Scared? Yes, fear me, fear me as I will kill you all!" by now she had no comprehension of what she was saying, words echoing out hollowly as she unabashedly beat the mans face in, three knights just barely pulling her off right before the killing blow could be made. They say the boy survived, but he left the knighthood soon after.

The memory was awful, and it pained her that she was capable of something so brutal and vicious. ‘It’s not right.’ she thought as she began to tremble slightly just as her squire returned with her sword and shield. She turned to look as they were presented to her. The sword was a long sword of masterful quality, it’s hilt shaped like a pink heart. The shield, too, was painted pink with a heart right on the front. Leona smiled at her square “Thank you.” she said, prompting a bow from him ‘You forgot the whetstone…’ she thought for a moment. ‘I guess it’s sharp enough…’

“So, dame, where’re we going?” he said with a smile

“Nowhere special, just headed to the royal district to do some patrol.” she said, turning to look out a window to see the sunshine beaming brightly over the town “We should get to it.” she said softly as the two left.

Leona, alongside the boy, walked about for a while. Neither spoke much, and every time the boy tried to start a conversation Leona either ended it short or just pretended not to hear him. As they were preparing to move to another part of town her squire tugged on her leggings “Dame Leona, look!” Leona turned to see a pink haired songstress composing for the nobles. The two watched for a while, appreciating the music. After a few seconds Leona became distracted as she felt something bump against her back, turning she saw a blonde, freckled girl behind her on the ground, wide eyes staring up at her. Leona blushed, certain she was being stared at for her size.

“Oh it’s y…” the woman said as if just realizing something, but abruptly stopped.

“Sorry!” Leona said as the strangely dressed woman got up and rushed herself away. ‘She must of been afraid of me too…’ Leona thought for a moment before feeling another tug on her leggings as her squire pointed out the woman again “No, we can’t sit around and listen to her all day.” She said softly before getting another tug

“No, look, she’s taking their purses!” he said, pointing out the bard’s clearly illegal activity

“What! She can’t do that, someone should…” she began as the boy turned to her, eyes wide in excitement as it was apparent he wanted to see her take this girl down “Oh, that’s my job.” she smiled nervously before running over towards the other girl. “H-hey, stop!” Leona shouted.

Having taken notice, the other woman began to wave at her, smiling happily as she did before running off. “Shoot!” Leona muttered softly before making chase.

Galloping full speed, Leona shouted “In the name of the law, you’re under arrest!” though that didn’t seem to slow down the thief.

As they ran Leona noticed the woman, dressed in a light blue kilt and white top, begin to dance and twirl about mockingly as she deftly dodged several people before making a sharp left into the market district.

Seeing Leona barreling down the street, everybody immediately jumped to get out of her way as she ran down after the girl. Taking the same left as her target, she watched as the women made a show out of leaping, ducking, and twirling about away from Leona. The crowd was thick, as was normal for the market district by this time. This made Leona’s job all the harder as she began down after the thief, forcing her unwieldy body to stop, dodge, and sometimes even move through the various obstacle in her way.

Making good time, Leona was quickly on the other woman's heels as the thief stared back at her. The woman turned her head right before falling to her knees and sliding underneath a sign. Not having the dexterity to do the same Leona, instead of trying to dodge the sign, lifted her arms above her face and rammed through the sign, not being slowed in the least as she did, though it left several chunks of wood in her hair.

The chase continued for a few moments more as the other woman was obviously leading Leona to the slums, though she would not be deterred as she heaved her massive body forward. Watching intently she saw as the other woman half turned to wave at her before ducking into an older looking building. Determined to apprehend the thief, Leona ran in after her, pushing through the halls until she found a large stretch, at the other end the bard who was now mocking her “Come now,” the woman yelled “Y’can’t make tha’ jump.”

Leona heard her, and looked down to see the hole, Leona knew at this point there wasn’t much that was going to slow her down anytime soon, so instead she decided to speed up to try and clear the jump.

“C’mon, you’re goin’ ta hurt yerself.” the woman spoke worriedly

Ignoring her words, Leona continued until just where the hole ended before propelling herself off the ground and into the air over the hole, landing with a loud stomp.

“Oh, well darn.” the woman muttered before turning to run. As they continued, Leona heard the bard begin to yell “How’d ya even do that, paladins aren’t good jumpers, and you’re in medium armor.” strangely losing her accent.

‘Huh, what’s that even mean? And where’d her accent go…’ Leona thought briefly before shaking it away and focusing on her duty.

Leona began to catch up to the other woman, who was very obviously running out of energy. Smiling Leona kept at it, thankful for her superior training.

By now, the other woman had begun leading her towards the castle proper, in the royal district ‘Darnit, she’s going to try and lose me amongst the traffic.’ Leona realized, but decided there was little she could do but hope for the best.

Finally, they reached the royal district. Before the both of them was a line of wagons each moving forward through the street. In a supreme display of skill, the other woman leapt into the air onto a guard before diving over one of the wagons. ‘This is going to hurt…’ Leona thought as she decided that if she couldn’t go around the wagon, she only had one option.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!” Leona yelped as she drove herself through one of the wagons.

“My Radishes!” the merchant in charge of the wagon shouted as she exploded out the other side, accompanied by dozens of the mans vegetables.

Scrambling to her feet, Leona looked up to see the other woman stare in disbelief, before turning to, again, start running.

“Son of a biiiickersnicker!” the bard yelled, as Leona felt the trickling of blood fall down one of her cheeks.

Now, the other woman grew reckless as she haphazardly ducked into a nearby alley. Though she couldn’t see it, she could hear the sounds of someone heading up the rungs of a ladder. Focusing her vision above her, she ran into the alley and passed a building where she saw the bard on top, watching her. ‘Got you.’ she thought as she ran passed the building, turning to loop around behind the building.

Making it back to the building Leona stopped, looking up as the woman was still intent on looking in the direction Leona just was. With a smirk the woman hopped down off the building right in front of Leona before turning to see her. Leona, arms now crossed, looked down at the woman.

“Oh, yer a clever one.” the woman gulped and stared up with terrified eyes.

“I’m sorry, but, y-you have to come with m-me.” Leona said hesitantly

“ Aye, but first, ya look a wee bit tired, why dontcha sleep a bit?” the woman said before she began casting a spell, Leona didn’t have time to react as she felt the effects of magic fall on her head, only to realize nothing had happened “Huh, ah take it you’re a lot less tired than ah thought.” the bard said as she swayed to one side, looking passed Leona for some reason.

Nervously, Leona dug into her pouch to produce her manacles, having finally caught the woman “Now, just give me your arms.” she urged, and thankfully the woman seemed to comply as she produced her arms for Leona to bind

“Aye, yah caught me, ah admit defeat, but might ah ask ya for a bit’o water though, ahm a tad parched from runnin’” Reluctantly, Leona pulled her waterskin from her hip and placed it to the womans lips, allowing her to take a drink before nodding for her to follow.

Leading the way Leona watched on, proud smile on her face, paying little attention to the bustling crowd before her ‘I’m so excited, I did it, I really did it. This a good day!’ she thought

“Hey, you, what kinda music d’ya like?” The bard asked, causing Leona’s face to go pale as she realized exactly what this implied.

“Please don’t.” Leona turned with her biggest puppy dog eyes, but to no avail as the bard began her song causing the populace to mob around the paladin.

Leona knew she could force her way through after the woman, but was more concerned with hurting everyone else, so she could do little but watch as the bard slinked away behind the crowd.

Leona took but a moment to look, but knew by then the women had likely gotten far away. Leona dejectedly kicked at the ground with her greaves before balling her hand into a fist. She was getting upset, really upset. ’So close…’ she thought before losing control of her arm into the side of the building, leaving a rather sizable hole.

Defeated, Leona wandered back towards where she left her squire. Having found him, she began to walk over to his location. At first the boy was smiling, but upon seeing his knight’s failure to catch the woman, looked at the ground, sharing Leona’s hurt expression. “I-it’s ok dame Leona, you’ll get that dirty harlot, I know it!” he offered with a smile that helped to lift her spirit

“Thanks.” she smiled back, and just then, as the moment passed the world began to shift and shake wildly.

“Dame Leona, what’s happening!” the boy shouted.

“I’m not sure…” she turned to her squire to see him hold onto the side of a building that wasn’t going to last. Instinctively Leona grabbed the boy and tossed him away as the building fell down on her, sending her world into darkness...

Author's Note

There we go, all chapters should be made with this level of care. Got me a pre-read from http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Breakfateschain (Go thanks him for being a bro), I went and double checked it. I took a lot of extra time on making it shiny. Though I feel I could do better, and I probably could, I'm pretty satisfied. Anyways, have fun, and from here on out we'll be moving on with the plot. Yay plot (And not that kind ya b*stards) Oh, and as always, leave a comment, I like to hear feedback, it helps me suck less :D