A/N"

I know that I published a story with a similar concept in mind, but I decided that I really didn't like the old one, and I really had no clue where I was going with it. I was saddened by the lack of any fanfiction for this ship (in fact, there aren't many stories that have these characters mentioned at all. Also, at the time of this chapter being published, I have about 80% of the story drafted, and I plan on uploading each chapter after they're proofread. Hopefully this story will progress without any grammatical mistakes and continuity issues that are too painful.

All characters and the story this fanfiction is based on do not belong to me

"A beauty... But an odd woman"

Was among the muttered comments that Kate was accustomed to hearing, and as such she had conditioned herself to brushing it off as she sat wherever there was space to sit; reading and neglecting whatever task she had been sent into the village to do. Be it for pleasure, or for the sake of continuing her father's research, she "wasted" time which her uncle believed was spent socializing and doing other things befitting of "a lady of [her] age."

Kate's mother and father had been claimed by an illness which has swept through her former town, leaving her in the care of a man who knew her well enough to be her uncle. The man-Aldous-had worked with her father in the investigation of an ancient technology that may or may not actually exist, though he seemed to believe he had enough proof. When the rather elderly (and rather hairy) man adopted his coworker and friend's daughter, he moved away promising that he would see to it that the research was continued and the girl would be settled properly.

Aldous had insisted on more than one occasion that Kate shouldn't involve herself in the business of her father, but the girl showed intellectual prowess which enabled her to practically absorb knowledge and make of it what she would. And as the years passed, Kate grew increasingly brilliant, and increasingly beautiful, but was growing ever closer to the age by which she would be deemed not marriageable.

Books tucked in the crook of her right elbow, and a basket in the other, Kate returned home. She set the two thick volumes she had been looking over in their respective gaps between other tomes residing in the great wooden bookshelf, and set off to find Aldous.

The first place she always looked for him was the study. This was the room where most of the books relevant to the research were held, along with maps, notes, field samples, and diagrams. Kate gave the door three quick knocks before being admitted inside.

"You're home a bit later than usual" Aldous commented, so engrossed in whatever he was looking over that he hadn't an interest in looking up at her. "Not as if that's an issue. I know you can handle yourself."

Kate smiled. "It seems a lot of other people don't, unfortunately."

"Bah! These provincials couldn't see a strong woman if she smacked one of them upside the head. I'd leave this damned place if it weren't for the fact those ruins your father was chasing after were so close..."

She leaned over his shoulder, examining the spread of papers over the desk: a map of the area with several potential areas for the ruins to reside circled by a compass, an encyclopedia of extinct fauna, some scrawled field notes, and a drawing of... A creature that Kate vaguely recognized. "Do Spectrobes have something to do with this?" She asked.

The old man's bearded face lit up. "A man came stumbling into the tavern one evening insisting that he'd seen a beast nearly the size of a man while cutting wood deep into the forest. Many dismissed him as delusional, but I recorded his description and found a creature very much like it in this encyclopedia. The Spikan: the second-stage evolution of the Spiko line."

Kate couldn't help but feel a hint of disbelief, but chose not to voice it. "And I'm guessing that not only did this man see something like that in the deep woods..."

"His location-and therefore the beast's location-was approximately within the search area. Kate, it seems we've more ancient things to deal with than previously thought."

"Spectrobes were never actually hostile when they were abundant. You speak of this as if we have something to worry about."

"Given that the Light-Beasts are so rare now, I can't be so sure. We know very little of what happens when a Spectrobe has no master. Once the Masters' bloodline all but died out, they seemed to simply... Disappear." Aldous seemed to have only just notice that the basket Kate still held onto was an indication that she had gone into town and bought the supplies he had requested. "Ah, I had forgotten you went to town to fetch some things for me. Just leave it here, if you please."

Kate set down the basket, full of things like quills and ink, paper, and a collection of odd items which seemingly had no real purpose. But all this talk of mapping and circles and odd creatures made her wonder: when would they go together to investigate? Kate straightened her back and cleared her throat. She had asked the question several times before, and Aldous had always dodged the question for whatever reason.

"With all this new information in hand, when will we get our chance to get out in the field and actually search for evidence of the civilization and technology my father was looking for?"

Aldous seemed to stiffen, as if the question made him uncomfortable. He hadn't responded with anything but indifference in the past, so this circumstance greatly worried Kate. "You see, my dear..." (he only ever used that term of endearment when he was breaking news that she might not take well) "I will be leaving in the time of about three days, and will be gone for no less than a week, but no more than a month. You will remain here, as upon my return you will be introduced to the man I've arranged for you to marry."

Kate found herself both physically and emotionally taken aback. "Do you mean to imply that you arranged my marriage without so much as letting me know?"

"You must understand. Kate, this winter you'll be coming into your twenty-seventh year. Many people believe that is an age well beyond the hopes of a woman marrying. I promised to your dying mother and father that I would ensure you were married to someone capable of taking care of you."

"Didn't you say minutes ago that I could handle myself? I don't need a husband. I understand that you made a promise, but how do you know this man won't treat me like a pretty object to be confined to keeping his house and bearing his children? Do you think that's what my parents would have wanted?"

The man's tone grew sterner as he spoke once more. "This man is a merchant. His family is not only particularly wealthy, but also has connections to the university in the capital city. I'm presuming that this connection might give you the chance that I never could on my own. The world loathes nothing more than an independent unmarried woman, but there are times in which you must bend to a world that you haven't the power to change."

Having no argument left to make, Kate backed away and left with a practiced composure despite the melting pot of emotions churning inside of her. She knew this day would have come eventually, but had presumed that Aldous would at least give her some say in the arrangement. Though she knew it was inevitable due to the circumstances, she had never actually wanted to marry. The arrangement was confining and political, but Aldous thoroughly believed it would help her.

Frustrated and exhausted, Kate settled down onto her bed the moment she entered her room, lying on her side and thinking. She wondered what this mysterious wealthy merchant was like. If he was older than her, younger than her, what he might look like, and how he would feel about her intellectual pursuits. In fact, she hadn't so much as a name-only an occupation.

After the time of a few hours had passed and the sun was well below the horizon, Kate forced herself to stand up and dress for bed. The only nightgown she owned was a shade of pale yellow the indicate it at one point had been white, it's various rips and fading stains signature of a garment that had been well-worn. She'd had the thing since she was in the transitional age between child and adolescent, and it took well into her teens before it finally fit properly. The slightly tattered hem which had at one point dragged on the floor was now just below her knees, the sleeves that had at one time covered her hands and would have to be pulled up so she could use them were now comfortably resting at her wrists, and the neckline which would almost always fall down her arms back then now rested comfortably on her shoulders. It was looking at herself in the mirror with her wavy black hair hanging loose-let down from where she had tied it at the nape of her neck during the day-in the nightgown that had taken years to fit her perfectly, that she realized just how much she looked like her mother, and why this was one of the few things belonging to her deceased parents that she still kept.

And so she fell asleep, thinking of her mystery fiance and the unusual beast that existed somewhere within the woods which surrounded her village.