HELLLOOOOOO! I am basically writing this on a whim, and will update as regularly as possible, however I am kind of writing as I go so yeah...reliability? Schedules? Who needs that kind of stress in their life?
aaaaanyway, This ff is based in the period of time just after the marriage of Arthur/Gwen, and before all the crazy shiz starts happening during their marriage. No particular references to other episodes, just a bit of fun using the characters.
RATING: K+ (I like a bit of not-too-graphic whump, but not sexy bits. They are bleughy. Just being safe!)
DISCLAIMER: The characters depicted in this fanfiction are...AW C'MON you guys know I didn't create them - darn the BBC and their collective genius.
It had been a long while since Arthur had felt so free. He watched with affection as his wife Guinevere swayed gracefully in her saddle just ahead of him. Being married to a woman of such whole and complete goodness was to Arthur every dream come true. She turned her soft brown eyes to him and smiled, slight laughter lingering in her voice as she spoke, "Arthur, do you really feel it is dangerous enough in these forests, even during the day, to justify your caution?" Blinking a few times, Arthur suddenly snapped out of his reverie; he had been riding extremely close to the Queen examining her perhaps a little too intently for Gwen's comfort. He backed his horse up slightly, momentarily embarrassed. Guinevere laughed lightly and Arthur, feeling the need to recover his pride, responded good-naturedly, "I'm afraid I feel an instinctual need to protect honourable Ladies, my dear Guinevere; even during the day." At this Guinevere smiled again, a coquettish expression taking over her features. "Oh, If only I had married a servant! You'd certainly have had less work to do Arthur!" Arthur smiled lovingly, and was thankful for every moment of this beautiful day.
The yellow eyes followed the two riders as they chattered away, calmly trotting right towards the perfect strike point…..heavy, feral breaths grew thicker with anticipation. Fresh food, so easily come by too, was a rare treat not to be passed up. As they rode it stalked – silent despite its size - edging towards one very hearty kill.
"Arthur, I do not think I will ever understand how you can feel so comfortable with Merlin – I feel positively strange…..Arthur?" The King had stopped his horse, suddenly intent. Guinevere knew this was never a good sign and so held her own horse, breathing quickened in apprehension. As both stood stationery a deep growling resounded across the space, out of place in the calm green light of the forest. The Monarchs, both now tense exchanged looks of mutual concern and Arthur, always the King, set his jaw and dismounted. "Perhaps it was just a wolf?" Guinevere offered somewhat lamely, at which Arthur smiled grimly. The metallic slide of Arthur's sword crushed Guinevere's hopes that this was nothing more than their ears playing tricks on them. She watched in dismay as he transformed from her loving husband Arthur into Camelot's hunter extraordinaire; it seemed it was their destiny never to have a truly uneventful outing.
As if out of nowhere, the creature of Guinevere's nightmares leapt into view. Its slavering mass was a repellent fusion of Wolf, lion and eagle – wings, claws, rank decayed fangs and judging by the glinting of its terrifying golden eyes, it was hungry for a kill. Guinevere wanted to scream at Arthur to run, but before she even had the chance, Arthur was thrown brutally into the air by one of the creature's huge limbs, smashing into an age old tree and falling unceremoniously to the forest floor unconscious. NO, this could not be happening! Guinevere leapt from her horse, trying desperately to reach Arthur when the creature turned to her, and let out a roar that had Guinevere stumbling back on her feet. As the beast snarled and stalked further towards her, the Queen used the only weapon left at her disposal and screamed for someone, anyone to offer her help.
"Why, for the love of all things good are NONE of these herbs around when you're looking for them?" Muttering about the woes of frustrating herbs, The cloaked figure wandered around scanning the forest floor; once again the only illness that ever seemed to arise in this area had to require the most ridiculously rare or tiny plants! She rearranged her bow and quiver before crouching down to closely examine a patch of moss. Meandering around the forest close to Camelot was not how she had intended to spend the whole of the day. "Yes, of course I can help you, no problem – I should be back with a cure in oh, say, three blasted weeks….good lord!" The sudden roar of something that sounded more than a little angry stopped her in her thoughts – the figure straightened quickly. She listened for a moment more and heard the strangled sound of a woman screaming at the top of her lungs….dropping her bag of supplies, the figure began sprinting swiftly towards the sound. Well, so much for a quiet day in the forest…
Guinevere slowly backed away as the creature matched her pace – every instinct told her to run but she knew the moment she turned the creature would strike. Just when Gwen thought her luck could not fall any further, a tree root tripped her retreating form, and the beast, seeing its opportunity reared up to strike – Gwen closed her eyes, bracing for the attack….yet, the beast was not upon her; instead she heard the creature yowl in what sounded like…pain?! Opening her eyes to see what miracle had occurred, she saw that an arrow had pierced the creature, not in the ideal place to kill but enough to distract it from its target. Gwen looked around and sure enough on the peak of a boulder stood a figure holding a bow – they pushed back their hood…a woman! Gwen sat stunned for a moment as the tall, lithe figure came sprinting down to her, concern in her dark brown eyes. "Are you alright?" The woman's voice was steady and strong enough to snap Gwen out of her shocked state. "Yes…I…." But Gwen had no chance to continue as the beast, now truly enraged began towards the two of them. The new arrival grabbed Gwen by the arm and dragged her as fast as she could away towards the trees. "Can you climb?" asked the stranger, and Guinevere desperately tried to grab the lowest branch of the closest tree but thanks to the combination of her minimal stature and the close fitting dress of her station was unable to reach. Seeing Gwen's dilemma, in one swift and athletic move the mysterious woman was up on the bottom branch, reaching her hand down to the Queen. Despite the injury to its leg, the beast was catching up to them, and no sooner had Gwen been pulled up than its roars filled the air beneath them. Gwen desperately looked down realising that the height of the branch was insufficient…..they were too low…the beast was too close! All too soon it leapt and threw out a vicious blow, the strange woman thrust Gwen onto the trunk of the tree taking the strike and falling off the bough and onto the ground. Back on her feet in a moment, the woman quickly strung her bow with not one but three arrows. Before the creature turned had time to move the three arrows were lodged in its back, this time shot with deadly accuracy. The beast gave a final screech and then fell heavily to the ground.
Guinevere, near ready to cry with relief, scrambled down from the tree branch towards her saviour, babbling as she went. "I…Thankyou…That was….Where did you learn to fight like that?" The woman, panting slightly, tensed and looked at Gwen as if unsure what to say; the question was however left unanswered as Arthur came into view, one side of his face bloodied but apparently not much hurt by his rendezvous with the tree. "Arthur! Oh thank God!" Gwen ran towards him and embraced him; Arthur wrapped his arms around her and sighed in relief, saying softly into her hair, "Gad I'm a fool – I thought you must have been…." He stopped then, looking into Gwen's eyes with confusion. "How did you escape?" Guinevere smiled in relief, beginning to explain, "It was thanks to…oh, I must ask you your name…" On turning back to the woman, Guinevere finally realised she had not escaped the blow from the beast so completely after all. The woman was pale, the hand that had been grasping her bow now hanging limply, the opposite arm wrapped around her torso. Comprehending the situation, Gwen exclaimed with worry "But you are hurt!". Both Gwen and Arthur began to move towards her, but she put a hand up and spoke in an unerringly jovial, if a little weak, tone "It is quite alright – I am glad to have been a help to you – it is not so often that…I have a chance to...huh…Ah!" Arthur caught her as her legs gave way and helped her sit on the forest floor. Guinevere quickly lifted the woman's cloak aside, seeing a rapidly spreading scarlet patch on her side and upper arm. Wincing for her helper's sake she took off her own cloak and pressed it to her injuries, asking in rushed accents "Please, what is your name? I am Guinevere. This is Arthur." At this announcement, the woman's eyes widended slightly and she again put up a hand. Guinevere stopped her flitting and looked her saviour in the face. "Arthur…Guinevere – you are…surely you cannot be…Pendragon?" Arthur and Gwen exchanged smiles and Arthur said with a grin "Camelot owes you a great debt."
Judging by the reaction that followed, this was the wrong thing to say - the poor woman looked as if she would faint right there and then. Her breathing became quick and Gwen soothingly reassured her, "There is no need to fear us – we would be honoured to at the very least know your name." The woman suddenly relaxed, a twinkle in her eye as she spoke. "This is not at all how – I imagined I would first meet royalty! It is an honour to be considered honoured. My name is Helen. Helen Avo…Avodian. I work – in the nearby villages – as a healer. I was searching for - the single most irritating herb in all the land - when I heard your majesty - cry out…" At this point she stopped to take in a pained gasp, becoming even paler. Gwen, noting Helen's eyes suddenly drooping, shared another look of worry with Arthur before Helen went entirely limp in their arms. "We must get her back to Camelot, Arthur; but the horses have certainly bolted!" Guinevere stated in dismay. Arthur, in reassuring accents replied, "Camelot can't be more than a few miles distant – I will just have to carry her; not to worry Guinevere. If she could fight off that thing on no more than her own strength I think she can get through worse than this." Guinevere gave a small nod, hoping Arthur was right.
Yes? You Likey? No Likey? Review if you want...or not...or whatever! Merlin comes in during the next chapter, don't worry - I love him too much to leave him out for more than one chapter.