Hey hey hey! It's been a while, but again, finals and wedding planning and reports and this is a supersuper long chapter so ENJOY!
Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Merlin, just Lira and Bedivere
During the next day Gwaine took two river dives and Lira merely dunked her head. Merlin's shirt wouldn't exactly hide her breasts if she got soaked.
When night fell, Gwaine insisted they stop. She couldn't go on like this, she was hardly awake and he was sure she would fall if they continued.
He helped the groggy girl off the horse and she sat on the ground. Gwaine pulled her bed roll of her horse and set it up for her.
He walked around a bit, keeping a close proximity to the campsite, and returned with a few logs and kindling. He set them down a few feet from Lira and tried to imitate her last campfire, failing miserably. He looked at the girl, still sitting, looking dazed, eyes half closed, mouth parted, and laughed a bit. She really did look like Merlin sometimes.
Her eyes opened a bit more, and she glanced at the pile of firewood. With a tired laugh, she moved forward and wordlessly began to arrange the wood. She fumbled around for her pack and pulled out two flints. Instead of lighting it herself, she just tossed Gwaine the flints and crawled over to her bedroll and lie down.
Her breathing deepened, and Gwaine knew she was asleep. He just chuckled and scraped the flints together until the kindling lit and he nursed it to a stronger flame. He sat and rubbed his hands in front of the fire.
He glanced at her open pack on the floor, and ambled over to it. He was about to flip it shut when something caught his eye. Well, roughly four something's. Grinning, he pulled out one of the green apples and took a big, juicy bite. He set the pack next to her on the ground and moved back to the fire. When he sat, a sudden sleepiness overcame him. He shook his head and tried to shake the feeling off. But he couldn't shake this off, and he fell back into an endless sleep, apple still in hand.
The warm rays of the sun woke Lira the next morning, or afternoon, one could say. The sun was high in the sky, blindingly bright. She scrambled around and gathered her things together. Then she noticed something was wrong.
Gwaine
The name passed through her mind as she whirled around to see him sleeping soundly on the forest floor.
"Oh. Oh you-you dollop head!" She nearly shrieked in frustration. She knew it wasn't his fault, though, and calmed herself down. She grabbed her pack and reached in for an apple, feeling only three instead of four. Narrowing her eyes at his hand she groaned.
"Great. Less food for me." She groaned and bit into an apple.
After refastening her pack to her horse's saddle, she gripped Gwaine from under his arms and pulled him over to a bush. She managed to roll him under it and cover him in enough leaves and sticks that maybe someone wouldn't see him. With Gwaine no longer out in the open, Lira mounted her horse and rode off.
She followed Gaius' instructions to a small cave, shockingly only a thirty minute ride from where she and Gwaine had made camp. She pushed through the brush and looked around.
The caves ground had vervaine coming up from every crevice in the stone ground. She ran around the cave, plucking every purple-flowered stalk of vervaine from the ground.
She'd nearly cleared the ground of vervaine when she heard it behind her. Stuffing the remaining vervaine in her pack and slinging it onto her back, Lira cautiously turned around and froze in place.
It was large, hunched in the cramped cave. Its beady eyes stared her down as it dug its claws into the stone ground. Its claws. Cut. Through. Stone. It was covered in a thick layer of black fur, giving it the look of an overgrown wolf.
Without even taking a breath, Lira spun around and ran out of the cave. Luckily for her, the animal was too big for the entrance. She had mounted her horse and was riding away when she heard the loud crack of stone breaking and crumbling. She spared a glance behind her to see the wolf-creature forcing its way out of the cave.
She rode hard and fast back to camp, taking half the time it had taken her earlier. The creature, probably minutes behind her and moving slow due to being cramped in the cave, was thankfully nowhere in sight.
She wasted no time pulling out the vial Gaius had given her, containing the other two parts of the tincture.
She ground all the ingredients together until they formed a paste. It would have to do without being cooked. She began to rip away the meagre cover she had provided for Gwaine and pulled him from the brush.
She could hear the claws of the beast ripping into the ground as it ran towards them.
Opening Gwaine's mouth, she worked the uncooked herbs down his throat. She heard the beast break through the trees.
Shoving a still-sleeping Gwaine back under the brush, Lira ran out into the open, before the beast.
Unsheathing her sword, they began their face-off. At first they just walked in a circle, neither letting their guard down. Then the beast swung out with a large paw, Lira ducking and rolling to the side. She struck the beast in the shoulder, causing it to wail and rear back.
They continued this dance, Lira purposefully leading it away from the camp and Gwaine. They neared a cliff overlooking a large creek, where Lira planned to lure the creature off the cliff. She didn't have much time to figure out how she was going to get it off the cliff
She dodged its attacks and plunged her sword through its left paw, ripping it back out immediately and regaining her stance. It reared back again and shrieked in pain.
Its massive paws shot out again, actually getting lira this time. It flung her back into a tree, ripping two distinct lines through the stomach of Merlin's shirt, breaking Liras skin.
She forced herself off the ground and glanced over to the camp, in hopes that Gwaine had reappeared. She grasped her sword and, with all her strength, ran under the beast and shoved her sword up through its chest, delivering a fatal blow. It reared back again, and slapped Lira backwards.
Lira smacked the ground and rolled just to the edge of the cliff. She stood shakily, feeling unsure on her feet.
Another rustling came from her camp. Gwaine groggily pushed through the trees, his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Lira, you won..." He stumbled a bit, still hardly conscious and barely coherent. Lira just grinned and stepped forward.
Big mistake.
The ground beneath her crumbled, and her hands barely gripped the edge of the cliff in time. Gwaine, now awake with adrenaline pumping through his veins, ran over to her and slid onto his stomach, reaching out.
But Lira knew better, she knew he was still weak. Gaius had explained that the tincture would only bring him to consciousness, and the other effects of the sickness would wear away in time. Still, she let go with one hand and gripped Gwaine's hand.
"I-I don't know if I can pull you up." He spoke through pants as he struggled to hold her. She let go with her other hand and let it drop to her side, hoping Gwaine couldn't see what she was doing. He grunted and began to slide forward himself. She reached back up and held onto the cliff.
"It's okay, Gwaine. Just, get this back to Camelot." And with a pull of her arm she ripped her hand from Gwaine's grip, her pack falling to her palm. She shoved her pack into Gwaine's hand and fell.
And fell. Gwaine screamed her name as she fell into the waters of the creek. He held his breath, waiting for her to surface and smile and wave and then they could go home and get patched up and have more adventures and talk about their lives and get to know each other more.
But when she surfaced, she was face-down and the water around her was stained red. She floated like that before being carried down by the current.
And so Gwaine left. He punched the ground and yelled and eventually picked himself up, got on his horse and rode back to Camelot. Arthur had always told him that no man was worth his tears.
When he returned to Camelot he ignored the crowds of women surrounding him, cheering as he brought the pack that carried their cure.
As he approached the citadel he dismounted his horse and walked the rest of the way.
Merlin and Arthur, miraculously still awake, thanks to Gwen and many, many buckets of cold water, were standing side by side, having heard the commotion that the cure had reached Camelot.
Merlin watched anxiously as Gwaine entered his view. He didn't catch sight of Lira near him. He looked at Gwaine, who was averting his eyes as he neared the two men. When Gwaine met Merlin's gaze, he just shook his head and looked back down.
Merlin made a fist and covered his open mouth, as if stifling a silent cry. Arthur didn't react, he merely looked down and turned away from Merlin, guilt filling him for letting the girl go.
When Arthur turned back to Merlin, he was already gone, running up the steps of the castle and towards Gaius' chambers.
Gwaine finally reached him, still shaking his head with his eyes lowered to the ground. He walked past Arthur and followed Merlin. Arthur, still in a daze from exhaustion, guilt and utter pain for Merlin, stood for a moment before heading towards the Physician's chambers.
Gwen burst through the doors of the Physicians chambers, sobbing. She'd taken a liking to Merlin' little sister, and couldn't bear the thought that such a young girl had died. Arthur gathered her into his arms, holding her into his strong chest as she was wracked by sobs.
Merlin was locked in his room, Gwaine couldn't open the door and Arthur ordered him to stop trying. He knew Merlin needed to be alone now. Gwaine placed the bag of herbs on the table and looked towards the sleeping Gaius, lying in bed where Merlin had put him nights ago when he was found sleeping on his bench.
Gwen sniffled and pushed out of Arthurs arms, walking to Lira's pack. She emptied its contents onto the bench: two apples, a comb and dozens of bunches of vervaine. Wordlessly, she gathered the ingredients for the tincture and began to grind together the tincture. Arthur began a fire, and Gwaine began to tell them about what happened on their journey.
"She pushed the bag into my hands, I couldn't hold her and she couldn't hold on, and she fell." Gwaine finished his story. Gaius was now awake, Merlin had opened his door near the beginning of the story, and was sitting, bleary-eyed and sniffling, on the steps leading to his room.
"She's always been brave, brave and stupid." Merlin croaked through sniffles.
"Merlin, I'm so sorry." Arthur said, looking to his manservant. Merlin just shook his head and retreated back to his room.
They heard the banging of Merlin's few possessions as they hit the floor. Gwaine shook his head and opened the door as Merlin threw something at it.
Gwaine clawed away the fabric covering his face and looked down at it. It was one of Lira's dresses- the red one she'd first arrived in Camelot in. When he searched the ground, all of the objects were Lira's possessions. Her hairbrush, multiple dresses, even her cabinet was overturned. Her bed was still intact, a few feet from Merlin's on the other side of the room. Her blankets were still a mess from how she'd left them days before.
Merlin backed against the wall and lowered to the floor, sobbing. Arthur walked in at this point, his own eyes brimmed red from unshed tears, and pulled Merlin to his feet. He pulled Merlin into a hug, something that didn't often happen, and let Merlin dribble on his shoulder as he cried.
When the sobbing was over and done with, Merlin put on a straight face, wiped the tears from his eyes, and began to help Gwen and Gaius produce tincture. He pushed every thought of Lira from his mind, knowing this was not at all what Lira sacrificed herself for.
Wordlessly, Gwaine and Arthur joined them.
By morning, they had awoken all the knights and sent them off with doses of the cure, instructed to only give a drop to each man.
They had a factory brewing in Gaius' chambers, producing the cure at an intense speed, with multiple servants working an assembly line.
Merlin had left Camelot to get his mother and step-father from Ealdor, tell them the news, and bring them back to Camelot, where they were planning to have a memorial for Lira.
After a few days, all the men in Camelot were awoken, and life began its slow return to normalcy, although Arthur declared a public holiday in order for everyone to recover. Miraculously, no one had died during the sleeping plague. Merlin could only suspect it had been Kilgharrah who'd kept the men who'd slept for over a week alive and nourished.
If only he had kept his sister alive.
A week after Gwaine's return, wooden stage was built with logs and sticks where they would place a few of Lira's belongings and things that symbolized her and burn them. So far there was one of her dresses, a bushel of apples, and a shield with the Pendragon crest on it.
At midday, people gathered in Camelot, donning black clothes and solemn faces, to mourn their fallen friend. Merlin and his parents stood beside Arthur, Hunith sobbing as Bedivere, Liras father, held her against his side.
A knight handed Arthur a torch and he walked up to the memorial. As he held out the torch, the alarm bell went off.
Arthur drew back and looked around, anger present in his features. The mourners looked around, confused. A knight ran from the citadel to Arthur.
"Sire, someone is scaling the castle walls." He told Arthur.
"Are you sure? Who would attack in the light of day?" Arthur asked, dumbfounded. Honestly, who is stupid enough to attack during the middle of the day? The knight just turned and pointed, where sure enough someone was flopping onto the castle walls.
Something came flying over the walls towards them. "Get down!" Arthur yelled, unsheathing his sword. Everyone ducked and shrieks echoed through the air.
Whatever is was, it rolled over to the unlit memorial. Gwaine straightened up, confused and walked over to it.
He never smiled brighter than when he noticed the green apple.
"It's Lira! She's alive!" Gwaine took off running towards the castle wall, dropping his sword beside him. Merlin, Arthur and Bedivere ran after him, slightly confused, yet hopeful.
A rope came down the other side of the wall, where a semi-circle of knights were waiting, swords unsheathed.
Gwaine pushed through them, and climbed in the rope himself.
When he climbed to the top, sure enough, there was Lira. Her pant legs had been cut jaggedly mid-thigh and tied around the gashes on her stomach.
"Gwaine, nice to see you again. I thought I was goner." She said through pants, her eyes blinking rapidly as she struggled to stay awake.
Gwaine just grinned at her and let out a relieved sob. He went to hug her, but then realized something. She's been in the woods alone for a week, with an injury, without proper food, and after nearly being drowned. He had to get her to Gaius before he could celebrate. He turned and looked over the wall, where everyone was looking up anxiously.
"She's up here, she's been injured but she's up here." He spoke through his grin. He heard cries of relief from below. When he looked back down, Lira was unconscious.
"I'm going to lower her down, someone catch her." Gwaine called, gathering Lira into his arms.
"I'll do it." Merlin called from below. Gwaine pulled up the rope and wrapped it around her waist, tying it tightly. He looked down, where Merlin was holding out his arms. A large portion of the town was now gathered, watching Gwaine's every move.
Gwaine lifted Lira over the edge of the wall and began to lower her down to Merlin. Merlin caught her and immediately Arthur slashed through the rope with his sword. Merlin ran her to Gaius' quarters, without Gaius even being there yet.
He lay her on the table and undid the pants legs around her wounds. Gaius came in as Merlin unwound the legs. Her skin was red and puffed, there were white lines of pus where she's been cut. Merlin bit his lip and turned to Gaius, who was now rushing around, grabbing tonics and salves off shelves.
Then a whole team of knights, Guinevere, Arthur, Lira and Merlin's parents, and a posse of villagers flooded into the Physicians chambers.
"Out! If you're not the King, Queen or her family get OUT!" Gaius scolded, and Arthur pushed everyone else out of the room and slammed the door.
"How is she, Gaius?" Arthur questioned, walking over to the girl. Hunith and Bedivere were standing close to each other, looking frightened and relieved at the same time.
"Sire, she's lucky to have survived so long like this. I'll do the best I can but I can't promise anything." Gaius spoke as he applied salve to one of the long gashes on her abdomen. Arthur nodded and ushered everyone but Merlin out. He knew Gaius did his best work alone.
A few moments later, Gwaine burst through the doors.
"Is she okay?" he asked, out of breath from his drop down the castle wall and run to the Physicians chambers.
"I don't know, now will people please leave me to do my work!" Gaius snapped, annoyed with the constant interruptions. Gwen took Gwaine by the arm and led him outside so she could explain Liras current limbo.
Eventually, Gaius had Lira patched up on the table, covering her in another one of Merlin's shirts and a large pair of his pants in an effort to keep clothing from being too tight on her wounds. He called everyone else back into the room.
Gwen, Arthur, Hunith, Bedivere, and Gwaine filed into the room.
"She has a severe infection, one that will require constant care for a few days. She has a minor fever and two broken ribs. She's suffered hypothermia and malnutrition." He told them.
Everyone looked like they were about to cry until Gaius smiled a little.
"Plenty of bed rest and she'll be back on her feet."
They all cheered and hugged each other, some (Guinevere and Hunith) burst into tears while others (all the men but Merlin) held it together.
Gaius shooed them all out again, and Arthur brought Hunith and Bedivere to a room not far from Gaius' chambers where they could stay until they felt comfortable leaving Lira. When Gwaine insisted Lira stay in his chambers and he would stay in hers Arthur assigned Lira a room where she could recover in comfort- although Gwen would have made him do it anyway.
All was well in Camelot, although I can't tell you how long that will last.
Soooooo, whatcha think? Jesus it took me days to write this, between papers and finals and procrastination. But hey, it was worth it!
Review! Tell your friends! Make me a shrine! I AM YOUR GOD.
Lol jkjk...
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Yeah im gonna go now.
LOVE YOU GUYS
-Jules