The reason I wrote this is because I just got tired of reading about the same person over and over again. That's what's so wonderful about this character; everyone can have their own interpretation of the events that shaped her life! Why waste the opportunity to create something unique and beautifully individual, by rehashing old and used material?! I am not trying to offend anyone, quite the opposite actually; I am offering some constructive criticism. Please feel free to do the same to me! Other than that, sit back and (hopefully) enjoy.
Rated M for Language, Sexual Content, Adult Themes
Warning ! Quite dark, proceed with caution.
Contains FemShep/Liara
This story is about an extremely damaged woman, struggling with love, loss and eventually redemption. She is not exactly likeable, nor should she be.
Whore, murderer, savior, hero, killer? No, not a single one could possibly describe her. Ariadne Shepard was one of a kind. Perhaps the only thing anyone who knew her would ever agree upon was that she was certifiably different from other people. She had a brutish, yet strangely elegant way about her and carried herself with an air of arrogant pride. Shepard was an enigma, a paradox, not to be trifled with and those who did had a habit of dying painful deaths. Even her name didn't fit; her namesake was a Greek princess, whose only accomplishment was helping Theseus find his way out of King Midas' labyrinth. Ariadne had survived the attack on Mindoir, earned the moniker "Butcher of Torfan" and become the first human Specter all before she turned 25. A lifetime of hardship and insanity, a life that no one should be subjected to, especially not someone who wasn't born with a bad bone in her body.
Designation: Ariadne Shepard.
Sex: Female.
DOB: Unknown.
Name of father: Unknown.
Name of mother: Unknown.
Registration No.: 13616
This child will be kept under hospital supervision, until accommodation can be found.
Shepard woke up to the sound of thunder. Beads of sweat dripped down across her forehead and her breathing came in ragged gasps. Her sheets felt damp beneath her, due to a most unpleasant nightmare. She had dreamt of an all-consuming fire, burning down a forest, until the only thing left standing was a single rose. The same rose had sung a melodic and melancholy tune, filling the remnants of its surroundings with hope. When it finished it had withered and died, leaving behind only silence and ash.
The sound of rain kept her from falling back to sleep, when she suddenly heard shouting from below. Her adoptive father had gone into another one of his drunken rages and had started harassing his wife with slurred insults. Ariadne often worried about what would happen, if he directed his anger at her, which had never happened before. She always took care to lock the door, when she heard the man take off to get wasted. Unfortunately her fears were about to become reality, as she could distinctly make out her "father's" labored breathing as he ascended the staircase. The creaking of the wood increased in volume, causing her to fly into a panic, when she realized, that she had indeed forgotten to secure her room that dreaded night. Just as Shepard rushed to the lock, the wooden door flew open, revealing a very drunk and angry man, who in that moment closely resembled a monster from one of her dreams. It was no dream however and it was certainly not a hallucination, when he started mumbling: "Quite a pretty flower aren't you? So young…"
"Please sir, it's late." Fear gripped the girl and a chill ran up her spine.
"If so, why are you up out of bed at such an hour?"
"I couldn't go to sleep," Shepard had started to tremble in fear, her legs shaking.
"Ari, it's okay, I can see that you just wanted to see me." He started getting closer.
"Why don't we sit down on your bed?" She could smell the alcohol.
Despite the best of her efforts, she was too young to defend herself and the sound of him undoing his buckle would stay with her forever.
Shepard woke with a start. To this day she could not forget what had happened to her. With little effort she swung her athletic frame off of the bed and proceeded to shed her clothes. A nice cold shower always seemed to help rid her of those memories. As she sat under the icy spray of the water in her accommodating stall, she considered her attraction to the fairer sex. The topic always seemed to come up when she thought about her only encounter with a man. Ariadne always knew that she liked women more even before her rape and didn't consider it to be the turning point whatsoever. It would be an insult to her and the girls she'd been with to call it that.
As she toweled off, Joker's voice sounded across the intercom.
"Are we ready for departure ma'am?"
"Give the signal." Came her icy reply.
When she had first gained control of the Normandy she had made it her first order of business to put the crippled pilot in line. She never liked his idea of comedy and had made that perfectly clear, when she chewed him out. First and foremost she was his commander and the only way to make that clear, was to keep their relationship professional at all times. So what if she was called a bitch behind her back, she'd been called worse in her years on the street and at the academy.
Today was a big day for the crew, as it would be their first off-world mission, they needed to find Matriarch Benezia's daughter on Therum and gather any information on Saren from her. From what her research had shown her, the girl, Liara, was quite pretty. Ariadne looked forward to meeting her.
Tali turned from Garrus as they were loading their weapons and threw a glance at her new commander. Even in the flotilla they had heard of the Butcher. However she looked nothing like she did in the vids, instead of the all powerful warrior, Shepard looked unwell, thin and pale.
"Do you think there's something wrong with her," Tali asked as she put the last of her shells into her shotgun.
"What do you mean," Garrus responded and clicked his mandibles in irritation at the young engineer.
"She looks sick and tired, as though she hasn't slept in days!"
"By human standards, she's considered to be quite the beauty…"
Wrex was standing behind the two of them and was listening in on their conversation, until he decided to throw in his two cents.
"Good luck with that, the quarian has better chances than you do, Garrus," The krogan chuckled.
"What do you mean?!" A bewildered Tail inquired.
Shepard had had enough of her squadmates gossip and decided to let them know, that they were not nearly as subtle as they thought.
"He means that I like fucking girls."
"Keelah Shepard, I didn't see you!" Tali blushed.
"We have work to do, sober up people."
As the aircraft docked the four of them departed in complete and utter silence.