Disclaimer: I don't own Gargoyles. But I do own my original characters.

I will try to keep historical information accurate, but I *will* be taking a few …shall we say…artistic liberties with dates and such so the story will flow better.

A Shared Past, Our Turbulent Present; and the Unknown Future

Summary: Ways of their saviors, so that they can't forget A daughter of their ways befriends a daughter of a native man. Can old and new live as one? Or old Hatred cost their life? The ancient past and endangered present come face to face.

Chapter 1: My Past Your Sleeping Dawn Part 1

Northern France, Early Spring, 1789

The early spring breeze softly blew through the town toward the large stone house, a near replica of the Murdoc family's home before they had been forced to France on the outskirts of village of Perle Riviera. No one, not even Sheriff Richard Nicolls-knew what the men, and by association the women and children, had done to be sent here….

"And I don't know what the Sheriff was thinking: 'I will NOT allow such traitorous peoples into this town'. Can you believe what those poor dearies went through to get here? The whole mess of pottage; that's whot! Poor Childs. Praise be the Lord, that our men talked him out of chasing them out. And did you just see those little 'un when they come off the wagonette?" The farmer's daughter young Easter Teusher prattled to Goodwife Fran Blacken.

"Oh, I know, poor babes. I just wanted to grab them and take them back to my home for a bowl of good soup and a crust of bread, although I'm entirely sure they couldn't eat more than a crumb. They was so little. But, I heard de men of the family- they was part of the army that marched against that King of England, don't cha know?" Blacken replied as the two continued their way to the house, intent on making their new neighbors welcome, even if they were disgraced soldiers. The least they could do for the poor dears.

Soon enough, they crested the last hillock, but it seemed the house was entirely deserted. "Why, were did they all go?" Fran exclaimed, "It's not as if people just up and vanish into thin air!" She wandered through the open gate and tread carefully toward the house.

Teusher retorted, "What the dickens are you blathering about now?" She remained at the gate, staring incredulously as her married friend acted half her mature age of 25, peering intently into the glassless window. "Come now, you'd have to be as blind as the Count not to see no one's in there. Let's check around back." They moved around to barn area and were met with a surprising sight, to say the least.

There was a circle carved in the dirt and inside the circle, two men wrestling. Not that that in and of itself was surprising. After all, men of Perle Riviera and the surrounding towns frequently sparred during the summer festivals. No, what was surprising was the fact that the men were shirtless, and not only that but both men were extremely fit, even more so than most village men.

"Dè an t-ainm a tha ort?" Both women jumped slightly at being caught staring. Fran and Easter turned slightly and saw a little girl sitting, partially hidden, in the shadow of a strange statue. Neither wife spoke and turned back toward the crowd of women and children now surrounding the wrestlers. After some moments, the little girl looked at them through a wild tangle of hair and whispered softly, "Dè an t-ainm a tha ort?" Neither woman knew what the child was actually saying, but courtesy never hurt. "Hello, little girl." At the sound of Easter's voice, the girl gaped at them for a second before rushing away, probably to hide behind her mother's apron. However, that second was a enough, enough to see that the child didn't have the eyes of a normal person. Hers were a strange blue-purple, a color they had never seen in a person before. 'Her eyes…they looked as if someone took the blue out of a bluebell and mixed it with the red eyes of a demon!'

Noticing the townswomen, one of men greeted them cheerfully, "Halò, Madainn mhath!" Both women looked at their new neighbor . Taking in the looks on their faces, the man chuckled self-consciously, "I mean…Hello, Good Morning. Please excuse my mistake; surrounded by family as I am, I forget I am not in my birth-country and so I speak my birth-tongue." Easter was the first to shake herself from the sight of the demon-eyed child and the strange tongue both man and child spoke, answering, "And a Hello and Good Morning to you too, sir. We understand and don't hold it against you. Um,…If I may, you were one of the wrestlers, were you not?" Her companion gabbed slightly in the side, camouflaging her actions by shifting the basket in her arms. Easter glared at her slightly, "What I meant was, you are very good for someone your age; you'd probably make my brother a few francs poorer come festival time." Easter laughed good-naturally and soon both companions joined her in laughter; the good-looking wrestler waved them toward the house, "Please join my family in breaking the midmorning bread, my friends."

Soon enough Fran and Easter were sited inside at the oaken table, bowls of stew in front of them. "I believe I was wrong; these children are perfectly fine and healthy." The Goodwife stated with a curt nod of her head, watching the children running around and making housework twice a bother as children do. "It seems my protégé has been neglecting his duties.", a roguish-looking man to a seat beside Easter on the table-length bench, "Don't look so startled, girlies, I mean ye no harm. I just want to know what ye doing here, and don't say being neighborly." Fran sighed, "The town was getting suspicious." The man sat up and gave the young wife his attention, "Suspicious, you say? Why is that? We've did nothing wrong, broken no law!" The elderly gentleman began muttering and shaking his head worriedly. "…That we know of. Tis so much easier to be a soldier in battle than a man in a country he knows not the laws of." Easter quickly assured him, "It's not because you broke a law. It's because you never come into town. Plus, Fran and I were worried about the children; they didn't look hale when we first saw them."

The grandfatherly soldier smiled softly "Thanks, lass. That's a weight off me shoulders, for sure." A mischievous gleam shined in his eye. "Well, if ye are done eating, you can meet the bairns. I warn thee-they may not look like normal children, but don't hold that against them. Sweet things they are." As he spoke he lead them down a corridor and outside to a doorway in the small courtyard. Pushing the door open the women stepped inside what looked like an artificial dome. 'Is this the nursery?' Fran thought amazed. Bedding was strewn about and at least twenty children, all looking about ten years old, had burrowed deep into the blankets.

"Watch this girlies." The old man chuckled mischievously, breathed deeply, and commanded, "A-tten-tion!" All the children quickly scrambled into a rough column in front of the adults. "Everyone, meet Miss Blacken and Goodwife Teusher. Now, I needs to gets to work so behave or twenty laps around the statues, ye hear." With that, the soldier left quickly; and a awkward silence descended as lady and child stared at one another.

Fun Facts:

Bluebell- Not the ice cream; the flower. It's really pretty and it grows in the northern areas of Europe.

Men of that era never went without a shirt in public or when someone could see them, ever. Not even if they went swimming.

What The Dickens- the ancient version of 'WTF?' Not a good thing for a women to say, unless you were a tavern girl.

Gaelic (Can anybody guess what dialect this is?)

Dè an t-ainm a tha ort? -What is your name?

Madainn mhath." - Good morning.

Halò- Hello.