Hide and Seek
As Rogal walked through the palace, he did so with all of his senses open and ready for what he knew was about to happen. This opponent had caught him unawares twice before and he had sworn it wouldn't happen a third time. The enemy was crafty as Guilliman, stealthy as Corax and could be as vicious as Russ. And it was out there. Suddenly he heard tiny footsteps in the cavernous halls of the Imperial Palace. They were all around him. He tried to filter out the echoes to find the right direction they were coming from, but he couldn't get it down. Finally... he felt it. The enemy struck him on the back, crawling up to his neck. He tried to grab behind him, but his muscular arms couldn't reach the quick little one. Finally... he felt the finishing blow as his little niece left a kiss on his cheek. He sighed in defeat.
"Okay, N'Bella. You win again." He picked the 6 year old girl off his shoulders and looked at her with the eyes of a tired old man who didn't usually need to sleep, but thought it would feel good to do it. Even after 10,000 years of death he felt that dealing with a child with the energy of a newborn star was more exhausting than all his past campaigns.
N'Bella, at first glance, was clearly nothing like her adopted father. Whereas Vulkan was tall with onyx black skin and eyes as red as fire, N'Bella was small with white skin, green eyes, and a head of tangled black hair. If she had truly been of Vulkan's blood, she would be as bald as her father. She giggled and laughed in her uncle's surprisingly gentle hold and kicked her feet in the air.
"Again, Uncle Rog! Again!"
Dorn shook his head. "The deal was that I catch you and then you go to bed."
N'Bella frowned. "I'm not tired and you didn't catch me!"
"I am currently holding you right now so I think that counts as having caught you. And you are definitely tired and you are going to sleep."
N'Bella admitted defeat by lowering her head onto Dorn's index finger. "Can we play again tomorrow?"
Dorn sighed. "Only if you promise to go to sleep at the allotted time. Now... let us find your father." As the Primarch walked away with the child, two women in gold armor emerged from the shadows. Dorn couldn't understand how this happened. The Primarch of the Imperial Fists and the Sisters of Silence had been reduced to nursemaid status for a child whose life was a blink compared to his. But as he found his brother, having returned from his forge, he noted the affection in Vulkan's eyes as he embraced the girl he'd found alone after having lost her mother in a storm. She wasn't of his blood, but she was most certainly of his spirit. They both had the same laugh after all. The sisters followed Vulkan as he took N'Bella to her bed chambers, draping her over his shoulder. N'Bella smiled at Dorn and waved. "Nighty night, Uncle." Dorn waved back.
"Good night... my niece." He would get the upper hand tomorrow. He was Rogal Dorn, the Praetorian of Terra. He could outwit a six year old. The fifth time had to be the charm.
The End
Author's Note: Decided to come back to this to give my thoughts on why I really started this. At first I had meant for this series to be mainly slice of life stuff with the Primarchs being uncles to a little girl who was as innocent as a newborn babe in a universe that is literally out to kill everyone in it. But it became a full thing on its own. I'm proud of that.
N'Bella was heavily based on my middle sister's daughter. She is a hyper kid who loves to give hugs when I visit (Mainly because I live out of state and she doesn't get to see me as often as she used to before I moved) and she and N'Bella are basically the same. Minus the burgeoning dream powers. Now maybe some might say N'Bella might be too idealized for a kid, but if I was going to base her off any traits of my niece, it would be her love of hugs and hanging with her uncle.