Shield and Solemn, a doodle for my In The Spirit Of Love story on AO3.
The spirit approached her while assuming her shape - for in her heart it could feel the closest thing it had ever felt to itself from a mortal. It had never encountered such a thing before, and despite all its wariness of the world, it felt compelled to seek her out - the way one might should they see a vaguely familiar face in a lonely and cold land.
The girl looked up at the approaching child, stick poking at the river bed, a grin growing on her face, completely unfazed.
“Hello! Who are you?”
“Love.”
The girl smiled wide at the strange name, a missing tooth, a scrunched nose, but only said in delight, “Hello Love, I’m Hawke. Marian Hawke.”