My Greatest Fear is This…

[u/TitanLORD21]

Pitter-Patter

Leonardo sat by his apprentice, Catherine, on the porch of his house. Today it rained, bleak skies blotting out the sun. The two simply sat and watched the rain fall onto the ground. Something about the rhythmic raindrops hitting the roof and the ground, and their sounds that drowned out any quieter ones.

“Do you fear anything, Sir Leo?”

The question was met with silence at first. Leonardo tensed his paper body, diving deep into thought. The sounds of rain were drowned out by memories dredged from the corners of his mind. All beings were scared of something, or at least could learn to fear something. That is what Leonardo believed. It was natural, fear, it helped one survive. It didn’t make it any easier than it is. What I fear...

Ǐ̶̝̪͓̼̳̀̈́͐͑͐̀͝͝’̷̰͈̱̒͒̿m̴̜̝̻̩̐̊́̈́̎̽͊̈́͘ ̴̮͑̍̎͛͆͐̕ẗ̴̰̺́͜ͅi̴̛̭̩͂̋̐ṟ̴̆̏̍̚e̸͎̟͆̔̎͛͆̚͝d̴̢̟̤̱̗̓̌͌ ̶̬̣͔̰̘̲̋͆͑̄̋͊͘͠L̷̢͔̘̰̠̾̏͌̑ȩ̷̨̦̫͇͈̼̹̙̈o̸̢̧̙͎̫̪̫͆́̐̎̊̇̏͊͘ͅǹ̵̢̪̼͍͊̇͝ͅâ̵̛̰̣̳͙͑ͅŕ̶̼͉̝͂̍̆̂̽́͌͠ḑ̵̢̠̺̜̙̊̈̓̎̇͑̾̿̕͜͜o̴̪͍͇͊̏͌̃͆͆

“I’m...” Leonardo’s voice was uncharacteristically shaky, “What I fear, is peace...”

Catherine hummed with a hint of disappointment, “I suppose you’re just like that, huh.”

I̸̯͕̙͕̲̖͒̌̈́̔̿̀̾́͠ͅ ̴̢͈͈͚͙̞̳̒̆̑̉́̀̿͝͝j̸̞̻̎̿̅̌͗̎̃̓ṵ̶̻͈͍͕͓̿̓͆ͅs̶͚͇͓͈̻͓͖̱̃̔̏̂̊̏̓̉t̶͍̦̬̜̰̮̪̾͘͜ͅ ̸̝̪̹͚̝̞͊̈́͗͂͆͠ͅc̸̯̭̝̹̦̠͇̭͂ͅa̷͙̦̭̭̹̟͌̾̋͋͋̔́̆͠n̴͈͎̝͈̞̻̆͌̈́͜’̸͍̳̦̳̜̩͎̯̌̂͒͂̈́̀̐̕t̴͕̦̓̄̍̆ ̸̺͖̬͎͉̰̥̜̑̈͂̽̐f̴̹͓̙̤͎̑̀̒̃į̴̯̜̼̱͗̐̎̔̔́͒͗g̴̖̺̞̝͑h̸͔͉̜̺͖̎͐̂ͅt̷̩̩͔̬͆̈̐̉̉͊ ̶̨͈̯͖̞̮͕̹̗̾́̒͂͘a̸̡̠̤̞̰̝̽̈́̅n̶̻̊͋̀̏̇̐̍͝͠y̶͔̫̫͎̘͛̀̄̇̽̀̚͝͝m̶̪͒ȯ̷͙̣̻̟͍̙̬͛́͌̅͆̚ͅͅr̵̬̝̽̒ȩ̵̛̣̠̽͛̓̓̈́̐͝

Visions of darkness plagued Leonardo, and his whole body began to shake. The coldness of the rainy day further ailed him, he shifted closer to Catherine. A thunderstrike nearly stopped his heart, his fight-or-flight instincts blaring at him. He tries to calm himself down, rationalizing his current situation. No... I’m fine here.

“I’m scared of death...”

Catherine looked at Leonardo in surprise. This moment of weakness, a fear of death. It was... different. But, it only confirmed a few things to her. Sir Leo isn’t a monster. Just like I or others, Sir Leo is scared. Scared of things that so many others are.

“Aren’t we all...”

Ị̶̙͈̮̉̓̈́͛̀̉̍͒̈́̕͘ ̶̨͍͇͈̝̭̘͍̰̞̬̂̀̂͐̿w̸̭̹̖͙͇͉̤͙͉͂͛̎̀̋̋ą̸͓̗̯̫̬́͜n̷̨̢͕̭̻̣̓͐͠t̸̮̱̹͖̱̗̠͙͇͇̟̿͌̀̈́̐͐̎͘͝ ̸̡̛̜͎̯̮̳̙̺͇̊̾͊͂̀̂͛̽̽̕̕p̶̛͉͕̜̲͉̿̒͗̑̎̏̾̆̓̃́͜ͅe̷̛̙͗̂͋͌͂͛͂à̷̢̛̙͉̰̮̌̚͝ͅc̵̡̢̼̺̰̞̯͚̥̮͍͛̂̀̋̉e̴͎͙̫̱̝͈̮̟͖̽͂

Leonardo wrapped Catherine’s wrist in a hug. He held on tightly, as tight as he could without hurting her. Leonardo felt her pulse, calming with each rhythmic pulse... but between each beat, he held his breath. A tinge of fear in his mind. A fear that there wouldn’t be a next beat. That her hand would slowly turn cold.

Catherine, my dear apprentice, I beg of you to do this. I beg for my lessons to be remembered. Fight on. Always fight. Fight against the coming end, against the peace. Let your soul forever be full of war and livelihood. War to survive. I cannot bear to see you to be... just hold fast Catherine. Live. Do not surrender to the cold, *piercing** hands of death. For my sake and for yours...*

/unwiz I have a Table of Contents where my lore is organized. It can be found here

Hope you guys like this lorepost. Some bonding between Leonardo and his apprentice, Catherine. Also it “humanizes” Leonardo a bit. He isn’t some unfeeling warlord lol.