Erin picked up the beautiful antique crossbow off its display shelf. She had always admired it as a child, and with good reason. It had a beautiful hardwood stock and ornate metal detailing from back in the days when a weapon was also a piece of art. This fine Scottish weapon had been in the family for generations, from the days of Jacobite Rebellion. "Seumas*, come here," she said. "I want to show you something." The little five-year-old, who had never been to his grandparents' villa before, skipped lightly away from the marble bust of William Wallace he'd been examining. "Look at this beautiful crossbow all the way from Scotland," Erin said. "It's been in our family for almost four hundred years. Right now it belongs to Grandpa and Grandma, but someday it will belong to you." "To me?!" Seumas exclaimed, gazing at the weapon with wide-eyed wonder. "Can I hold it?" "You can hold it with me, but it's very old and fragile so we have to be careful with it," Erin said. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" "It looks like a gun with a bow and arrow on it," Seumas said. "That's sort of what it is," Erin said with a smile. "Does it work?" Seumas asked. "Maybe, but it hasn't been used since our great-great-great-grandfather fought alongside Bonnie Prince Charles in the seventeenth century," Erin said. "Who's Bonnie Prince Charles?" Seumas asked. "And why does he have a girl's name if he's a prince?" "Bonnie means he was young and good looking," Erin explained. "He was supposed to be the heir to the throne of England, but Parliament wouldn't allow him to become king. His supporters--mostly from Scotland and Ireland--tried to make him king anyway, but they lost. Most had to leave the country entirely; that's how our ancestors came to Ireland. Then eventually they came here to America. Neat, huh?" Seumas nodded and gently patted the crossbow as though it were a kitten. "Come on, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping tonight, okay?" Erin said, replacing the crossbow and placing a gentle hand on Seumas's shoulder to lead him upstairs. */ʃeɪməs/ "shay-muhs"; Scottish equivalent of Irish name Séamus/Seamus (Irish form of James); Gaelic form of James This piece is dedicated to three people: Anniebel, Surreality, and Trigue. A while back, when Anniebel had just released Playtime Fun, I remarked that I wished there were a good boy's turtleneck for K4. She suggested WinterBerry and a transmap but I was highly skeptical…until she proved how wonderful it looks. For inspiring her Winter Warmth set, she was kind enough to gift me with a copy. Surreality kindly gifted me with MelancholiX for sharing my render of Opelie Giry (see previous image). I used MelancholiX eyes on both figures (well, a mixture of Eth and MelancholiX on Seumas), the MelancholiX textures on Seumas, and the MelancholiX lashes and nails on his mother. Trigue released this gorgeous crossbow from inspiration from one of my comments. I tweaked some of the shaders a bit, but the model and textures are absolutely gorgeous! Apparently, I'm a rather inspiring person lately, and I really do appreciate all the love and support, both from these gifts and all the wonderful people who comment on and view my gallery here. :) CREDITS Light Crossbow (Trigue) Giselle (LRP) Cosmopolitan Casuals (Will Dupre) Platform Slides (Aanascent) Raven Collar (Arki) Tres Chic (4blueeyes) Belle Arum Hair and Expansion (Arien, Surreality) Brothers & Sisters (Muscleman) Ants Pants, Ebryth, WinterBerry (ThorneWorks team) Cowpokes K4 (DAZ) Playtime Fun, Winter Warmth (Anniebel) Jai Hair (AprilYSH) CITM Kids Edition (Vagabond Allen) (sorry for change in format; Rendo's credits are still scrambled) :( Blackhearted (ProLuma2) Fabiana (Bettine's Sekrets, Sage Babylon and Expansion) HeRaZa (HR Donna) Parrotdolphin (Pd-Metal Materials) Robynsveil (HR Donna) Surreality (Distinctive Features, Modern Muse: Melancholi, Modern Muse: MelancholiX Golden girl, Surreal Jai, Warrior Maiden Eth) Synthetic (ProLuma2)