Keep Calm and Call the Knight (Rick and Evangeline)

Evangeline had been doing her early morning weapons practice, where she would don her armour and begin to do the thrusts and lunges needed with her large broadsword. It took a lot to be able to hold this up and battle with it, especially with the other heavy armour on in this heat, it was all worth it though.

She could barrel any walker out of the way when she was wearing this and they could do no damage to her.

The first few times she had been able to rugby tackle them it had been very humerous, although now it had gotten a little bit boring and there was less occasion to do it. Those motherfuckers decided to travel in big groups more often than not and it made her irritated, she had even asked Chloe about it and she was writing a profile on them now. When she was done, Evangeline would be sure to read it.

In her eyes, the more they knew about these things, the better.

Raising an eyebrow when she heard a commotion coming from not far away from her, having left the main body of the camp to do her training, Evangeline sprinted through the woods until she saw three walkers approaching two children.

Growling lightly she swiftly decapitated two of the walkers, the other one sending a scratch across her chest plate, but she merely kicked at it's leg, sending it to the floor and bringing her sword down on top of its head, cleaving it in two easily.

As soon as she was finished she sent an unimpressed look at the two children and stood up to her full height, her hand placing itself on her hip and shoving her sword into its scabbard again.

"What are you doing this far from camp?" she asked in her low voice, her eyes flicking from child to child, one boy and one girl.

Rick was beyond pissed off right now.

One of the annoying hangers on of the camp, an annoying woman who seemed to only do dishes and complain about doing them constantly, had sent Carl and Sophia out of the camp for playing too close to her children. Apparently Carl was on a "downward spiral" since his mother was dead. Of course Rick had taken exception to that... and now the bitch and her spawn were off on their own because neither he nor Shane would tolerate that kind of shit.

It did leave his son still stuck outside the camp though.

By the time he found Carl and Sophia he was just in time to see a pair of walkers making their way ever closer to the two scared kids. Even as he was fumbling for his gun though there was a tremendous amount of crashing noises before Evangeline came swinging out of the bushes with her sword, full armour on. It must have been what was making all the noise but it had been very effective in helping her barrel her way to the kids.

Rick wasn't about to begrudge her choice of clothing.

"Carl! Sophia!" he called out, getting the attention of both children as he pulled Carl into a tight hug (much to the boy's embarrassment) before giving Sophia a light hug too (something which caused her to blush slightly). He grinned up at Evangeline, "Thank you for saving them... some meddling old woman sent them out of the camp while I was hunting with Shane... thank you. What do you say to Evangeline kids?"

Sophia and Carl shared a look for a long moment before both turning to her,

"That was so COOL!" they declared in unison, causing Rick to smack them both lightly on the back of the head to remind them to add, "And thank you for saving us!"

Evangeline raised her eyebrow and turned her head to see Rick standing there with the children, it seemed as if this was Carl, the boy she had been hearing about but had not actually met yet, he seemed to be an awful lot like his father by his looks. Of course never having met his mother she couldn't say for sure. The girl, Sophia seemed to be rather timid and frail, perhaps she was in shock from what had happened?

Hearing at the reason why they had been dismissed so far from camp, Evangeline furrowed her brow and thought about what type of woman would actually send children into danger. Surely the mothering instinct would call to her not to send them into unknown danger. What would have happened if she had not been here?

Still just looking and taking in the information from Rick, Evangeline didn't actually want them to say thank you to her, it was part of her job as camp protector to protect the people of the camp, yet it was nice the way that Rick still insisted on keeping up manners with the children of the camp.

Her lips twitched up into a small smile and she shook her head happily, the only thing that came from her lips was a small 'Hmm' which although deep sounded good natured.

"Just make sure you stay with an adult next time." she stated making sure to look at the two children very sternly when she spoke "You got them from here?" she asked Rick, half turning back towards the forest to continue her training.

Rick had been protecting Sophia ever since he first met her and realise what kind of a man her father was and so she and Carl often spent their nights having sleep overs in the caravan under the watchful eyes of Rick, Shane and Dale. Hopefully they would both be as safe as possible until such a time as Sophia's father showed his true nature... upon such a time Rick and Shane would work with the group to pass judgement on the sick bastard.

The kids didn't seem to want to close their mouths right now since they had fallen open from watching her be, if you pardoned his French, so badass. And Rick admitted that she had killed those Walkers in a damned impressive way. He hadn't seen action like that since the last medieval film he had watched before the world went to hell,

"I've got them from here don't worry." he told her with a small smile before smirking and teasing her slightly, "It'll be hard to keep them from chasing after you I imagine though."

Carl and Sophia both nodded shamelessly and tried to follow her into the forest, only to be held back by Rick. Unfortunately holding them back just meant they could drag him with them and they started to follow her anyway,

"So Evangeline... what are you up to anyway?" he asked with a light chuckle, trying to hide the fact that he had been dragged after her by two scheming little children who seemed to be massively interested in whatever the sword-wielding woman was going to be up to.

The children seemed like they had just had Christmas and their birthdays on the same day, it was like they were in awe of what she had done, when really she hadn't done anything special she had just done what anyone else would have in the same situation. Only she had done it with swords and armour instead of guns and long range fighting which admittedly was a little bit less badass than the way she did things.

Casting a look back at the kids and at Rick, she couldn't help a little chuckle that escaped her lips when what he said was true, they were indeed looking to follow her. Evangeline didn't mind though, she just came out here because she needed the space and honestly a few people in the group were grinding on her nerves.

Honestly the children looked like they were about to be brought into some live interactive knight show the way they were pandering after her like that.

"I am training, sword training." she stated simply as she wiggled the sword she was carrying in her scabbard "It takes a lot of work."

As they approached the clearing that she had been using for her fighting, Evangeline showed them the series of lengths and widths of swords that she had brought with her, it was what she carried in one of her packs. The more swords they had the better, what would they use when all the guns ran out, swords and knives.

They were a good long term investment.

"Here." she smirked softly and took off the sword she was carrying, handing it out to Rick "Try carrying that around all day."

Gesturing to the other swords Evangeline sighed; "I would be happy to teach you how to swordfight, it is useful." she smiled very slightly at the two children.

The children wanted to see what she was going to do with the swords and Rick was rather curious too actually, having realised quite awhile ago now that guns were too loud. Bullets they had in a massive supply for now. Of course there were people saying that the bullets would run out... and to them he would say that there were more bullets in the world than there were Walkers and Living People.

By a multitude of millions now less.

When she said that she was training with her sword he almost groaned a little bit and looked up at the sky to ask God to stop punishing him just as both Carl and Sophia took a deep breath. Turning to him, they both latched onto his clothes,

"Please can we go see?! Please please please please!" They chanted as one, their voices getting uncomfortably high pitched in their whining, "Please! We'll never ask for anything else ever again! Please please!"

He groaned a little bit at their pleas before handing them off to Evangeline by gesturing at her when she said that she was be happy to teach the children how to swordfight,

"She said she would be happy to teach you how to swordfight... now please just go back to speaking normally!" he moaned a little bit before sighing in relief as Carl and Sophia immediately went to kneel by the swords, looking at them in awe. He accepted the sword from Evangeline for a moment, holding it in his hand and twirling it slowly and carefully, "It's... got a nice weight behind it I must admit. Don't think it would be something I'd use though, a bit too long for me."

Evangeline turned on her heel and looked in horror at the children and the loud noises that they were making, they were so excited it was like they had never been to one of these medieval shows before and seen the way that they fought with swords. Like they never had plastic ones to play with when they were younger, maybe they didn't, many families were against violent toys being played with in their homes.

Turning her rather shocked gaze to Rick, at the fact that the children had been able to make such a horrible high pitched noise in the first place, Evangeline shook her head with a heavy sigh;

"I will teach you if you promise never to make such an irritating sound again." she stated, seriously, while she knelt down by the pack of swords and looked through a few of them, she was trying to find one that was suitable for both of the children to use.

Sophia didn't look like she could lift a small box, so she needed something lighter, maybe a rapier, but for now she would give her a small sword, the thinnest width that she had;

"Here, for you." she stated with a hum, before picking out a slightly thicker sword, and it being slightly longer and handing it to Carl "And for you. Try them out. Not on each other though. Go thrust ten times on each side of a tree."

Smirking a little bit, she took it back from Rick and stabbed it into the ground again, it must be embarrassing for him to have her around she did have to look down slightly to talk to him after all. Her height had always made her stand out but it was what gave Luna her sense of security and that was one good thing it had done.

"Well I am taller than you, so it suits me fine." she stated with a smirk "I don't think you could hack it. Guns are better for you." Evangeline teased softly but also, she really didn't think he could hack using a sword in a proper fight, he was underestimating the weight and how the weight would grow when you were tired.

Rick had to admit that he was glad that he would have an ally in the camp that thought that the sound the children had just made was against nature and should be banned as being part of some malicious type of torture. Sighing a little bit in relief when she made her ultimatum, he was so very glad to see both children nodding happily at the deal. That meant he would be able to shut them up by mentioning the deal if they ever did it again.

The children listened with wide eyes and rapt attention as she handed them each a sword and told them what to do to test them out to see how they worked for them. Chuckling a little bit, he shook his head as the two of them hurried to the nearest tree to try them out,

"I have the strangest feeling that we're going to regret giving those kids a hobby like this..." he admitted with a grin which slowly slipped into a sad frown, "Pretty soon it won't be a hobby but a skill... and a skill that will put them on the front lines in this battle against the Walkers... sad really."

When she took the sword back from him he smiled a little bit, glad to be rid of the damned thing if he was honest. If he was going to be fighting at a closer range he wanted to be sure he would hit the head first time so he'd stick with something smaller. Or perhaps something much longer, he was unsure. He raised an eyebrow in good humour,

"Of course, the amazon woman can handle the sword better than the average man." he teased with a wink before smirking and tapping the armour of her chest, "Even if she does seem to have the stealth of an elephant while in her armour."

Evangeline felt good watching the children begin to practice their side hits on the trees in front of her, they were pretty good although they needed to be able to convey that skill onto people. People were a whole lot different to just whacking trees left right and center. It was nice to be able to help them protect themselves though, it was just sad that they were having to learn to do this for real so early in their lives.

Folding her arms against her chest she smirked softly as Rick grinned at her, of course, he wouldn't regret it when they could handle themselves in a situation like before on their own but, she had just been thinking the same thing herself a few seconds ago.

"Hardly on the front lines." Evangeline retorted swiftly "That is not the place for children, and I shall always stand in front of them while I travel with you." she stated, shocked that Rick would not seemingly do the same, would not stand up for the children to never be on the front lines of walker attacks.

Unable to stop a small laugh when Rick called her an Amazon Woman, Evangeline shook her head and raised an eyebrow in return;

"Is that a compliment?" she hummed as she fixed her eyes on him, the children still doing their exercises happily, even doing a few more than she had asked them in their vigour to try and impress her, although her attention was fixed on Rick "You don't need to be stealthy when you have this, besides, my team is excellent at helping me."

Luna more than anyone, get that girl up in a tree with her arrows and she could pick off at least 20 walkers on her own.

Richard watched as Carl and Sophia continued to practice and also noticed how Carl seemed to boost Sophia's confidence whenever she got a bit down about her practice. He chuckled a little bit. What were the odds that Sophia would end up with a crush on Carl? Pretty good since there weren't a lot of other children around at the moment.

He smirked a little bit before shaking his head a little bit in reply to her retort,

"The frontline is all around us Evangeline, the entire world has become a battlefield and every line is the front." he told her wisely... before snorting a little bit, "Not that it'll stop me from tying the two of them up and carrying them on my back if they try to insist on fighting."

Rick laughed a little bit when she asked if it had been a compliment to her. Was it a compliment? He smirked slightly,

"If it would flatter you then yes it was a compliment." he agreed with a wink before shaking his head slightly, "There will be times when we need to be stealthy still I think. After all, not all other living people will be as friendly as our two groups appear to be. We have to be prepared to have to fight or flee from the living too."

He looked at her for a moment before smirking slightly,

"So do you really like that metal armour or do you wear other clothes too?" he teased her lightly with a wink before adding, "I know I'd like to see you trying different looks... I feel like I've hardly seen the real you with all that armour sometimes."

Evangeline raised her eyebrow and she merely stayed quiet when she realised that Rick seemed to have entered 'Wise Rick Lecture Mode' honestly sometimes he made her want to punch him in the gut. Although those times were thankfully very rare and she got over them very quickly because she knew that he meant well and he didn't mean to lecture her like that.

'The frontline is all around us.'

Well if that didn't sound like he was trying to trample on her point.

"You should write that shit down." she stated with a little roll of her eyes "My point is the same whether the front line is a line or the whole world, kids come first." Evangeline stated, tugging the sword up out of the ground easily and moving over to the two kids in question with that same small smile on her lips.

"Very good work you two." she stated in her quiet voice, although it was commanding of their attention "Now I want ten jabs forwards, ten swings from right to left and ten swings from left to right."

Rolling her eyes Evangeline smirked as she rejoined Rick; "Calling a woman 'Amazon' is rarely complimentary."

Choosing to rather ignore the preachy down casting of her own beliefs, Evangeline looked off at the children again, supervising their work as best as she could. When Rick asked if she had any other clothes, she nodded her head and smirked softly, she of course did have other clothes with her but she needed to wear her armour more.

"I like it. It makes me feel secure. I do have other clothes though, just not much chance to wear them seeing as the front line is everywhere." she teased, her voice going a little bit mystical and floaty when she said 'everywhere'.

Rick could tell that she wasn't taking his point seriously and he admitted that he might have been a touch overdramatic in it's delivery too. He chuckled a little bit at her joking suggestion that he should write it down. They both knew she was joking and that she didn't share his opinion on the world as it was today,

"Well we agree on the most important issue." he agreed with her sentiment about the children coming first and looked at Carl and Sophia with a smile, "Seriously, those kids are the best thing about this little camp out in the woods. Without them laughing occasionally I swear some of us would have gone stir crazy!"

Carl and Sophia beamed at her praise and listened attentively when she told them their next little assignment. They nodded to each other before grinning at Evangeline,

"Yes Evangline!" They declared happily, "We're on it!"

When she said that it was rarely complimentary he blinked in confusion,

"Is it not?" he asked, perplexed, "I always thought that it meant you were comparing a woman to the proud warriors of old, strong and independent women of great wisdom, strength and beauty."

Rick smiled a little bit when she told him that she just wore these as they made her feel secure. Of course she was still not letting his earlier comment go. He chuckled a little bit, enjoying the light-heartedness they had going on at the moment,

"Well that's fair enough Evangline." he agreed with a little grin before shaking his head slightly, "I'd love to see you in some other outfits personally. But I guess I might be a bit of a hypocrite... I guess the police officer uniform is getting a bit thin right?"

Evangeline raised her eyebrow and couldn't stop her laugh when Rick said that the best thing about the camp in the wood was the children laughing, it seemed too cute for him to say something like that, and also she was certain that it wasn't actually the best thing about the camp. Or maybe that was just in her opinion. She was warming to the little people quite well actually, later on she would have them sharpen those swords they were using.

"Here I thought you were going to say I was the best thing." she stated with a little sad look on her face before she waved that idea away, she didn't really think he would have said that, and honestly she was surprised that he was vaguely interested in her still, Aurelia was probably angling for him as well as Shane.

The eagerness of the children made her smile lightly, and she found herself being rather drawn out of herself further than she wanted to be. She liked being quiet for good reason and she had talked rather a lot today...it made her frown softly as she gripped the hilt of her sword.

"That is not what first comes to a womans head." she stated with a knowing look on her face "I guess I can forgive the insult, if you meant it that way."

Honestly the police uniform could have been rather hot back in the day, now though it was full of grime and blood and sweat...so maybe it was time to throw the thing out? With a small smirk on her lips she nodded her head;

"It might be time to cease wearing it. It might come alive in your tent one day soon." she stated with a little smile on her lips "I'll take this off when we get to camp, it is too hot today."