Trauma

My back was against a tree.

Fiona stood on a branch, a few meters away from me, holding a dagger in her arms.

The wind stirred up some leaves. Oh man, I couldn't believe it. I'm in a cultivation world fighting wolves with my daughter!

After Fiona 'smelled' the treasures, she dragged me into the forest, and so we ran. The trees flew by with a blur of green as only the sounds of footsteps filled the forest.

"So.. uh Fiona, where are we going?"

"To the treasure."

"Uh... where is the treasure?"

"In the forest."

"Where in the forest?"

"Not here, that's for sure."

"..."

She's playing with me! Stop it! You need not remind me of how weak I am, okay Fiona? I just started, well not really, my cultivation a few minutes ago! I don't have a spiritual sense yet! Plus...I wanted to enjoy the scenery... the trees here are so lively, and the grass is fresh...

I reached down to grab a flower.

Crack. The branch snapped.

"Shh." She tossed me a dagger before jumping on to a tree.

"Amarok wolves, there's an entire pack of them. Daddy, this will be a tough fight. Try to stay as far away as possible! I will get the treasure!"

"Nope, I'm with you."

Fiona glared at me. "You're too weak daddy. You'll get hurt."

"I don't want to see you hurt either, Fiona. We are fighting together."

"Daddy..."

"Listen, Fiona. Even though daddy is weak, he has plenty of experience. We both won't get hurt, okay?"

She looked at a wolf, now circling around and sniffing the air. It walked back to the pack before tearing the large rabbit into two. Blood spattered on its hide as it crunched on the bones.

Fiona shivered, before shaking her head and mumbling in a gloomy voice, "Listen to daddy, he won't get hurt this time, no more blood... Fiona will protect daddy."

She's having from trauma when her birth father died, huh? And she's blaming herself too... poor child.

I glared at the wolves, as a pent of anger roused up within me. These damnable things brought up unpleasant memories and made my daughter scared!

I turned my attention back to Fiona. Is she all right?

Our eyes met. Her large eyes, once filled with bright tints and innocence, are now blazing with determination. Good! She resolved. As expected of my daughter, stay strong!

We nodded.

And that's when we charged.

Fiona jumped out of the tree and landed with a loud thump.

Awoo? The wolves howled in surprise.

Brandishing her dagger, Fiona dashed towards a lone wolf, far and unprotected from the pack.

Schlink. A clear slice through its neck, and it fell to the ground with a loud yelp.

AWOOO! Reorganizing itself, the pack snarled as they bared their fangs.

Now's the chance to break their coordination! We'll pick them off, one by one!

I bolted and ran to them head-on.

~~~~~Fiona POV~~~~

Daddy flicked the dagger in the air and grabbed it after. All I saw was a silver glint before he appeared in front of a wolf and swung his dagger into its heart.

Schlick. He pulled the dagger out, along with a red stream of blood.

My vision blurred. It's getting hard to breathe. My head hurts.... hammer banging...

Huff. Is Daddy all right? There's blood. It's just like before. No. no. NO!

AWOOOO!

A deafening howl shook me awake as I could see again. I blinked hard as sweat trickled down my spine. Daddy kicked a wolf away and pierced another in its eyes.

It's all right, Fiona. Calm yourself down. The blood is not daddy's. It's the wolves. GO! MOVE! Protect him! What are you standing here for? Arm! Stop shaking. Legs! Why won't you move?! Daddy needs help, daddy needs help, daddy needs help or else he'll die again... wuuuu... Fiona is again just standing here...

"Hey, Fiona. What are you standing there for? Is daddy so handsome to look at? Take the flank."

The voice was confident and nonchalant, with a slight tease to it. It's low but sweet at the same time... daddy's voice... daddy's calling for me!

I took a deep breath. Daddy's here... I'm not scared! All I need to do... is to protect him!

"Moonshot Flying Daggers!" I yelled, as 4 glowing silver daggers flew out, stabbing the back of the wolf's neck with a red burst of blood.

Daddy smiled at the sight of that piercing wolf. It was an ugly smile, daddy is still ugly...

I could hear nothing for the rest of the fight. The wolves yelp of pain, the sounds of our daggers piercing their skin... nothing. All I could see was grey tuffs of fur, red spatters of blood and daddy's ugly smile.

Another howl sounded about, and the wolf scampered off, their footsteps heavy against the grass.

Good, I thought before collapsing onto the ground.

I blinked, trying to open my eyelids... I want to see daddy smile again... oh... his hand is reaching for me...

"Daddy wasn't lying when he said he had experience..." I croaked... as weariness weighed my body down.

A pair of thin, but firm arms caught me. It was warm... and comfortable. I like this feeling.... a lot... My eyelids closed as I reached out and wiped the blood from the scar from Daddy's cheek.

"Daddy, your smile is handsome."

Thump.

My eyes closed, with my finger still touching his cheek.

~~~~Vincent POV~~~~

Oh, honestly, this stupid girl... she'll stare daggers at you but then freeze when using one...

She's been through a lot. Her trauma is severe... how am I going to treat it? Fiona must've loved her father a lot, to be like this after losing him... and the symptoms must have developed after being exposed to a whole unknown world, alone. Her mother probably also has a mental illness, allowing her to go out like this. Wouldn't her husband's wish be to take care of his daughter properly?

I glanced down at the sleeping Fiona and moved her finger off my cheek. Her face was peaceful, with no signs of fear from earlier. I placed a hand behind her back.

Good, it's stabilized.

I sat down, with her still in my arms. Prying her off my chest, I tried to move her to sleep on the glass. She shook and nestled herself on my leg, before dozing off again.

Silly girl, daddy is trying to let you sleep comfortably. I chuckled.

Now, onto the treasure. Even with my low cultivation, I could see an aura, a source of energy coming from beside me.

I turned my attention to a small red flower in the middle of the clearing. The thing that Fiona was so desperate for. She'd said it wouldn't help her that much, while it would improve my cultivation by leaps and bounds.

How ironic. A red flower reminds me of the poppy, a symbol for sleep and death.

Sleep, as per what Fiona is doing now... and death.

Hah. I laughed out loud. Yes, death.

I'll be killing for her, for Fiona, so she can live her life free, without blood. She won't have to worry about people harming her loved ones... she'll have her hands clean and her innocence kept.

Yes, I thought, sitting in the clearing in the forest with Fiona laying in my lap.

A world that feeds on the weak... I'll do whatever it takes to keep Fiona by my side.