Bound by Nature

Summary: Pre-movie possibly into the movie also. They find Tristan or really "it" teetering between life and death in the forest and one decides to help him/it get better out of curiosity more than anything. Which is only the beginning of it all when Tristan gets dragged into things he wants no part of.

Genre: Drama/Romance.

Rating: T for suggestive later chapters.

Authors: This is a story idea I had for a while but never could really write it properly. It is just something I came up with when thinking what if these things lived within the woods beyond Badon fort. Anyway enjoy and let me know. I originally had this pegged as a Lancelot one but I decided to make it a Tristan one.

Disclaimer: Clearly I don't own the knights and such cause if I did... I certainly wouldn't have the time to write these stories. Lol.


Chapter I

She looked at it.

It was strange.

She knew what she, and her friends currently standing five paces behind her, looked like and this thing laying unconscious and covered in blood on the ground looked nothing like them. Well it sorta did- just a little bit. Leaning over it slightly and peering down at it with large leaf green eyes, she reached down and poked it jumping back a little as she expected it to react. It didn't move and she returned to loom over it, wondering just what it was that she was looking at.

It could be a human maybe; a male human possibly?

Looking round at her friends, she waved them forward a little. Whatever it was, it needed help; and help was what it was going to get.

"Help me get it to my tree," she order to her three companions who all quickly stepped in closer when they realized that it proved to be no danger currently to them.

"What do you think it is, Styx?" Quill inquired as she grabbed at one of its legs and Willow picked up the other.

The one in question with large green eyes lifted a shoulder in reply. Styx didn't rightly know. She had never seen anything like it before. She was only guessing in what it might be and didn't trust her guessing all that much. "Maybe a male human, though I'm not sure, but it is hurt and I am going to help it."

"You're too eager, what if it is dangerous?" Bark queried as she looked at the other three who all looked at the thing on the ground and then back up to their friend.

"It is unconscious Bark, I don't think it is much threat to us currently," Styx shot back dryly as she crouched down to grab its torso and try to lift it up from the ground. It proved to be much heavier than they had originally gathered.

Bark reluctantly stepped forward and grabbed one side of its torso and on the count of three, they lifted it from the ground slightly, all straining and making noises of protest. They were not tall nor were they strong enough to be lifting such weight. The most they had ever lifted was probably a baby bear cub or little deer. "By the mother, it is heavy!" Quill groaned.

As they slowly shuffled deeper into the forest, Willow took in the creatures' strange clothing with innocent brown eyes. "It's dressed funny," she remarked and Styx giggled in reaction as Quill said that it looked funny too.

"It smells bad," Bark breathed out before sucking in another deep breath and keeping her head turned away from the thing. All of them agreed with that. It did smell terrible. In fact it reeked worse than anything they had ever smelt before in their normally peaceful and untouched lives.

This thing they now carried was foreign but a welcome break in their quiet world. Or so Styx thought. Bark may not agree with her opinion on the matter. She was curious about the world outside of theirs and she had every right to be. Quill could match her curiosity at times but Bark never did.

They came to a think cluster of groves and bushes and after easing the thing to the ground Willow stepped forward and pursed aside some of the things, revealing a small cave entrance that reached about six meters back. "It is too small for us to carry it through like we have been," Bark stated as she looked down at the still motionless thing at her feet, nudging it with her bare foot for good measure.

Styx hit her arm lightly. "I'll pull it through and Willow can come in last and cover the entrance back up," she said. Surprisingly enough, it actually did work out well; Styx was just able to muster enough strength to pull the heavy thing through the entrance to their grove and tree houses. "Now- just to get it up into my tree," she mused, hands on her tiny hips.

"Can we leave it here for now and do it later," Bark whined as she looked over their luscious home. It was like a small paradise. A small pond was located to the western side of the area and the ground was covered in grass, moss and flowers.

Quill rolled her eyes at Bark and just told her moving it now was better than having to do it later. She grabbed the vines that hung down from treetops and next to Styx's home. They were small little boulder like homes in outward appearance, but they were much larger than a first glance would suggest.

It rested on the large branches of two thick, ancient trees - that were twisted together like lovers - about eight feet from the ground. All their little homes were similar outwardly but inwardly they showed each little unique thing that could be discovered about the nymphs who were now tying their find up securely with the vines and with Styx up above them waiting Bark, Willow and Quill all pulled on the other end of the vine which they'd swung over a large branch above Styx's small little veranda.

Very slowly the thing came up to Styx's level and when she tugged it onto the sturdy thick piece of bark with her, the other three collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. As she untied the vine from round its middle, Styx felt the thing move and froze. Looking up, she met a pair of dark eyes and stared at them with wide wonder as they seemed to glance round trying to find their bearings she assumed.

They looked at her for just a second before it collapsed again, those eyes disappearing from her curious gaze. It definitely had to be human. Male as well she gaged. It did not have womanly features like she and her friends did. A male human. She'd never seen one before. It was strange to look at but also very interesting. She wondered what it looked like underneath its clothes. Men and women were built different, at least she believed they were.

Tugging it inside, she managed to manoeuvre it onto her bed of animal skins and looked at its face curiously. Reaching out and finding the ties that held the strange clothing on him in place she wondered just how bad it was hurt and how long it would take to nurse back to health as she figured out how to undo them.

Tucking her long unruly brown hair back behind her ears, shaking loose a few leaves and sticks from the mess of it in the process, Styx smiled in triumph as she got the things undone. She brushed the small mess away from the thing lying in front of her and heard the others at the door as she realized to remove his things, she would need an extra pair of hands. Glancing round at her friends, she bit her lip in thought.

"Quill, help me hold him up. We need to get this off him."


Despite that it took some time with Quill's help Styx had managed to remove the clothing of the man. Until he woke up that was what she was going to believe him to be. She had kept his lower half of clothing on as his wounds were on his torso and no where else. Styx looked at the man who was laying there as she tried to find the things she'd need to help him. It couldn't be any different than helping an animal.

Sitting down beside him, Styx smiled to herself as her eyes slid over his body. He was extremely different to her. For one, he was extremely hairy. She giggled a little. The smoothest part of him seemed to be his cheeks which had strange blue patterns on them. Tentatively reaching up, she ran her fingers over the marks lightly and bit her lip as she let her fingers brush his hair back from his face gently. He was very strange compared to how she thought men would be. If he stood up she knew that her head probably would only just come to his chest. She was quite small, even for a nymph. Bark was two heads taller than her and there was not much difference in their age.

Styx wondered how old this man was. He didn't look young.

His wounds were bad and not like the simple gashes on animals that she had normally dealt with. With very delicate hands and ease, Styx managed to treat the wounds one by one, being mindful not to touch him to much in case he woke up.


Arthur sighed heavily, running a hand down his face as he looked at the camp of Roman soldiers and his own knights. Tristan was still out. It had him worried too. He had said he'd do a quick scout and be back before dawn. He hadn't come back and it was six hours past dawn already. Lancelot, Bors and Gawain sat at a fire in front of their tents, their faces deep set with worry. Arthur knew that while Tristan was silent and isolated, his brothers in arms cared for him greatly.

Rubbing his temples as he walked over to his knights, Arthur saw Lancelot lift his head up and give him only a silent look that spoke more than words needed. "He hasn't returned," he said and saw two other heads lift up to watch him as Dagonet and Galahad joined them round the fire.

"Do you want us to go search for him?" Bors grunted out.

Arthur shook his head. "I am not risking the rest of you when you do not know this part of the land," he told them and saw Bors nod solemnly.

"What if he is hurt?" Galahad inquired.

Arthur put a reassuring hand onto his youngest knights shoulder and squeezed a little. "He will come back to us, keep faith in Tristan's strength and he will come back." Even with his own words ringing in the air, Arthur did not have complete faith in them himself. As he walked off, he prayed to the sky above asking his Lord to return his scout to them safely. He did not need to lose anymore of his knights when there was only a year left of their service to Rome.