-Present Day-

Her clothes were gathered from the floor, the nimble steps taken leaving her to walk quiet against the carpet without making a sound. Every creak and groan of the wood beneath had been memorized for the year she had kept herself as the presumed "girlfriend" to the Irish fella. It was easier that way especially when she knew of the tell tale nights when his drinking habits made him a far less comfortable companion to remain with.

Those days had long worn their welcome as she moved to the kitchen to rid an Irish man of the things he was never willing to let go: His smokes, his drink, and his woman. Thankfully Sean never had the addiction to the nicotine but everything else well" he was a glutton over. Penn knew that Sean had been cheating on her for months now but had let it slide right on by in hopes that he would feel reasonable enough to tell her the truth.

The truth itself never would come.

Penn if anything was tired of finding the lack of truth and justice in the world. No longer did there seem to be that nature of a man to be honest and good and to serve like the days of old for simple things like honor and preservation of good deeds.

Even in this world the saints could sin and abandon all of their vows. Still as Penn dumped out the booze to drain down the sink she started to wonder if there were any men out there in the world like those once she had known.

Her reverie was perhaps her burden and weakness in that moment as the roar of Sean's frustration hit her ears just as blow after drunken blow of his fists had her stumbling to the floor. She scrambled backward through shards of broken glass, her body bloodied and bruised as the blows continued and she had to remind herself that even in these moments she had to pretend.

She couldn't reveal who she was, what she was, no matter what.

Gasping in the pain of broken ribs and bruised flesh she crawled and stumbled to the bedroom to the small dresser that kept the only items she possessed.

Self defense was her only reaction as that survival instinct set in as she pushed away layers of clothes to find the gun hidden beneath it all. Fortune was with Penn tonight and through this life as Sean wasn't the smartest man out there.

Smiling thinly she watched him approach as she back crawled to flatten herself against the corner as she rose to stand. Her lake blue eyes were wide and wild as she saw the 6"4" bear of a man towering above her wielding nothing more then a bat.

Penn knew well of the violence that bat could bring, she had witnessed it before in fits of rage against other poor fools. This time though the bat would not earn the same privilege to her skin.

The gun was raised, held within her two shaking hands as she focused and aimed before pulling the trigger. A good three rounds to assure the man would never strike her again. There were many things that Penn was starting to learn about this time and this life she had forged for herself, but one thing would always remain with her.

Nothing else in this world mattered to her now save for the preservation of truth and justice. She was a woman forged of honor and lifetimes full of sworn vows. Her clothes were collected as she made the phone call out to the stables.

The softness of Penn's voice held the evidence of all endured as she advised of her withdrawal from the stables and that she would never be seen again.

It was time to move on. Surely she would leave herself enduring the confession and claim to self defense as the gun was eased in the waistband of her jeans to rest at the small of her back. It was time for Penn to find a new path, one that hopefully would lead to that which she searched for"

"Pagan. Heathen. Zealot. Wh*re. Witch."

The insults spilled like curses from his tongue and she shook her head as she rose to her feet.

"I only wished to confess?"

"Our God does not listen to your confessions, witch."

The smile crossed her lips briefly as blue lake eyes briefly flashed with a ghostly gleam.

"Perhaps not but you are no holy man to make that decision."

So this was how it would start. Word already it seemed had got out and the Crusader was after the one thing that so many men had worked to possess. It was only happenstance that she was the one that happened to carry such a relic.

Penn could only shake her head as she waved dismissively towards the door as she plucked up her leather jacket. There was no chance, no matter her beliefs, that she would ever destroy a holy place. It was not her way.

A thin smile touched her lips as she shouldered the door open and stepped passed the man even as his boot caught the back of her knees to send her rolling down the front of the church steps. Penn's teeth bared in a silent snarl as her head snapped up and that blue soul fire filled her eyes.

The Crusader chuckled to himself as he moved down the steps to look down upon the Lady.

"You see witch, this is where you belong, on your knees."

"Not for long."

The questioning look at her arrogance only would push her on to react in that survivor's instinct. Justice and Honor were the only things that mattered to Penn now, and this Crusader had long abandoned both.

Perhaps as the gun went off and the blood soaked into the ground just before the holy steps Penn would question her faith in her own actions, yet this was another time, another way of life and she had a path to follow.

After all, maybe in this day and age they would just assume a Crusader was not a self righteous fool stepping out of time but instead another obsessed historian playing dress up. She could only hope so.

The jacket was shouldered as she moved quickly from the church and into the shadows where even then her gold hair glistened as a beacon, the end of a comet tail. There was that uneasy feeling like she was still being watched, being hunted.

Penn should be used to it by now, but this observation was different. It almost seemed" curious.

Boots hit the street as she took off running, it felt good to be free but even Penn knew she couldn't run forever. Eventually she would have to stop and face the past again but for now" she ran.

Her fingers moved against the coat of the stallion that stood with that magnificent confidence and strength she remembered from long ago. Penn's teeth were bared in a smile as she grinned up to the boldness of the beast. If anything the air and nature of the stallion reminded her of the knights forgotten.

"You are a bold one aren't you?"

The whisper was coated with amusement as a fond affection could easily be seen between her and the beast at her side. He would be the start of the stables breeding program she could see that now.

Already the money had been spent to assure the old stable and land she had found would be brought back to working order. The staff had been hired from the grooms to the assistant breeders. Penn didn't worry anything about finding a trainer for the time being. She was confident enough that she could train them on her own.

The flank of the stallion was patted with that natural affection as she spoke to him quietly. The words easily caught the stallion's attention as his ears flicked forward. If the horse could laugh perhaps right now he would make such a sound.

"I think I shall call you Knight."

She was grinning broadly at the name and the stallion seemed to agree. For the time it seemed so easy to forget everything else that had transpired. It almost seemed easy to believe that the relic at the small of her back didn't exist at all.

But this wans't a time for make believe was it' No, only a few moments in life to take a brief hiatus from reality. Penn did what she could to take pleasure in those moments. The beast at least was hers. No one could change that.

The other thing....well....she would worry about that when the time came.

~Avalon Stables: Dawn to Dusk~

Day in and day out, Penn worked with Knight. The afternoon session had left her to daydream over the group that she had met at the Red Dragon. Who would have thought that come a moment of relaxation and a break from the Avalon stables would lead her to snuggle with a bear and a dragon.

Icer's chilling presence had been something comfortable and far more soothing then just pinning back her hair to leave a hint of a breeze against the nape of her neck.

Knight could tell that Penn was a bit more distracted then usual when he chuffed out a breath and shoved his head against her stomach to remind her he was there and needed a good brushing.

"I know I know. I'm on it, Knight."

The brush was lifted as she set to grooming Knight with vigorous circling strokes. His hooves already had been picked and examined and his mane plaited so really as the sun began to sink into the horizon she was finding the grooming session as nothing more then therapeutic relaxation.

It was strange in those relaxing moments when she finally led Knight back to his stall and found her thoughts drifting back to the mountain of a man she had met earlier today.

Usually Penn would not have been so bold and almost bawdy when it came to interactions with those of the opposite sex. After all, she was meant to remain as a Lady, and yet here she was coyly asking just how much she would owe to watch him.

Thinking back on Pont brought the blush back to her face as she shook her head and pulled the pin from her hair. The spill of sun gold curls fell around her face once more as a halo of softness as lake blue eyes roamed the pasture.

Penn had become far too bawdy when she should have been more of a lady towards him and she privately scolded herself as she looked up to the moon. Strangely enough no matter how far she was from home she still could feel the provocative and persuasive pull of the moon upon her spirit.

She wondered if Pont had even heard her offering to visit the stables and more so if he would even come. Penn remembered that the one so fascinated by Icer had been looking for work.

It seemed that she could use the help around here from what she had already arranged, and it was about time she started making those arrangements.

She'd just have to keep that in the back of her mind when next she came across the one so fascinated with Icer to see if he was interested in helping around the stables.

For the moment though she couldn't help but think back on Pont and if he really would consider her offer

~Avalon Stables~

That sense of being watched became the moment of awareness that she was indeed being watched. Penn's lips pursed as tension rippled through every fiber of her being as she approached the shore line. All she had wanted to do was have a relaxing swim but even that could not be obtained no matter what she did. The simple fury curled inside of her as she closed her eyes and gave in to that roaring sensation of the tide that was deafening her once more.

At first she had struggled and fought the change. It perhaps was not her that fought but the Shell she had used and borrowed that struggled ever time she as the Lady truly revealed herself and used her power through the Vessel. Even now the struggle took so much out of her but being this close to the water helped to ease the struggle, it made the pain far more tolerable when it came to that transition.

Naked she emerged on the shoreline, hardly having the shy embarrassment that the Shell she used possessed of her physical body. Instead she stood tall and proud, near ethereal in her grace and ways as the light moved across her flesh as a mirror shine of reflective moonstone hue.

Those lake blue eyes had altered to become shining pools of ethereal blue lacking pupils or white, nothing more then that eerie, unnatural blue. The gold of hair writhed and came to rest as serpentine midas strands of slick wet against the mirror shine surface of her flesh as her true form and power was known.

She did not reach for the relic or her clothes when the lackeys of the Crusaders approached. She knew well that they would whisper their curses and foul words at her even as she fought them. The Lady had no choice but to survive even if it meant death for those that surrounded her.

Two of the lackeys were made quick work of as her skill and grace of movement had her around them as easy as water licking and lapping at the shoreline, so easy and peaceful would her nature and steps be. The last one though near doubled her in size and part of her being that split the awareness of the Lady and the Vessel made her vaguely recall the mountain of a man known as Pont.

Despite the size and strength of the man before her, the Lady was not as delicate a creature as she appeared. The manmade weapons they carried were used against the last man when his large hand closed around her throat and began to slowly work its way to crushing the life out of her. The spots grew before her eyes before the Lady near could feel the very essence of being starting to slip and fade as she was losing the life of her Vessel.

Snarling her small hands lashed out and boxed his ears roughly, once, twice, three times before he released her. It was only then that she scrambled toward the pile of clothes to grab the relic. The moonlight kissed across its namesake along the handle before the gun was fired and the man went down like a bag of bricks.

The Lady moved faster then she ever had in that moment, a blur of moonlight and magic, as flawless and rippling as the serene surface of water. Only when the bodies had been buried would she still and allow the Vessel, that delicate Shell to have possession once more.

Thankfully this time the Lady had been gracious enough to leave Penn with enough energy to dress and carry herself as far as a pile of hay before collapsing and giving in to the sweet claim of exhaustion.