Morning
Something disturbed her light sleep. Mòrag blinked several times, shaking off the last effects of sleep.
Dammit. She had been on watch and she'd succumb to her tiredness. Brighid slumbered near her, undisturbed.
Mòrag fished around for her hat until she noticed one member of the party missing. Rex and Pyra slept near each other, Nia atop Dromarch and Tora and Poppi cuddled.
Zeke and Pandoria…
Mòrag stood up as quietly as she could. Both of her whip-swords were picked up without a noise. As she gathered her weapons, the sounds of grunting came from nearby.
She slowly walked, weapons at the ready, towards the sound. The forests of Gormott were quiet tonight, allowing her the advantage of hearing everything.
As she climbed over the ridge, she saw him. Zeke was doing pushups while Pandoria was quietly counting off the number he was at.
Zeke was doing several pushups a second. Mòrag had occasionally wondered how he kept his physique, and now she knew.
Pandoria noticed her first. She waved, not breaking from the count as Zeke continued.
Once he reached one hundred, he hit the ground, panting. "Thanks, Pandy," he breathed, his voice coming out soft. She handed him a canteen and he nodded in appreciation.
After taking a drink, Zeke rolled onto his back. He looked at Mòrag and with a cheeky smile, "You like what you see?"
Mòrag rolled her eyes, "I woke up and saw you gone. I didn't know you did this."
"Every day," Zeke answered her implied question. He leaned up with a groan. "This body doesn't keep itself up."
"I'll admit, I'm impressed," Mòrag chuckled.
Pandoria put a hand on his shoulder proudly. "My prince always needs to be in top shape, isn't that right?"
"Of course, Pandy." Zeke stood up with another groan and walked over to grab his jacket. "Our chum Rex isn't going to be able to do this himself."
Mòrag turned to look back at their camp. "You're not wrong," she said softly. "He and Pyra'll need us."
Zeke, sloppily putting his jacket on, nodded. "Hard to think a kid as young as he is has to shoulder this kind of responsibility."
Mòrag chuckled. "What were you doing at his age, Zeke?"
"Me? Running around Tantal causing trouble, no doubt. Never anything too inconvenient, but I wasn't making a friend out of the locals. You, Mòrag?"
"Training," she replied. Zeke gave her a look, and she frowned. "What?"
"I could have guessed that," he laughed. "Right, Pandy?"
"Lady Mòrag probably trains more than you," Pandoria replied.
"Pandy! You're supposed to be on my side!"
Mòrag laughed at their antics. The two of them smiled.
"You know, Mòrag, you should laugh more. It suits you." He smiled at her.
Pandoria glanced at Zeke and then latched onto his arm. Her gaze, not seen by Zeke, told Mòrag one thing: He's mine.
"Well, then do something to change that, Zeke. I'm sure you can keep both me and Rex laughing." Mòrag gave the slightest nod to Pandoria. She'd be a fool to get in that Blade's way. Pandoria would fight tooth and claw for her prince.
"I think I can manage that," Zeke said through a chuckle. He glanced up at the sun. "We better get back to camp. Kids never sleep long, and we wouldn't want them to worry."
"Or jump to conclusions," Mòrag followed up with a smile.
Pandoria cackled while Zeke wore a faint blush. Together they walked back to camp.
Author Notes: Just a little thing for me to get used to these characters. I'd like to write more for this fandom in the future, so exploring the characters is a way for me to test the waters.
