Dw- xD nice one. I hate it when someone says or does something hilarious right when you take a sip of something…
Calliann- Glad you liked it:D More in the future, I assure you.
HGandRHrforever:P yay! Sorry it took so long to update. I wrote my excuse at the bottom somewhere…
Verteri Lunum- Thanks :D yay for the story, boo for my dad and his bad timing, making my updates take longer.
Camlann- Thanks for reviewing almost all the chapters :D You didn't really need to, but if it suits you, I don't mind!
katemary77- Eh, I don't know how intriguing it will turn out to be. I'll let the reviewers decide :P
Noemy009- That would be interesting, Tristan loosing his mind…that would make a very nice humor fanfic.
Op- xD ok, ok, don't try to sound too happy. More is coming.
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Chapter 8- Woads and Sarmatians
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When Tristan and Vrena had successfully reunited with the other six knights (who were all more then glad to see them alive), Vrena's situation was explained to Arthur, and it was up to him to decide on how they would act upon the matter. The moon was now invisible in the sky; the world was black, except for the glittering stars.
"So, your destination is also the town owned by Marius?" Arthur asked for the fifth time before he could come to a conclusion.
Like he had a choice what her conclusion was, though.
"Yes, that town is my destination. How many times must you ask?" She replied with a deep sigh. Didn't Tristan say that they could not afford to waste time? Then what was this! Vrena shook her head. She could feel a headache coming on…
"Did you not listen to me when I informed you of the Saxon army headed right for it?"
"Yes, all the more reason to go."
"It's dangerous."
"Nothing I cannot handle."
"You can barely walk strait, and yet you think you can manage throughout the atrocious northern climate?" Arthur continued to argue. There were two possible reasons that this man would not want her to travel with them- He either feared for her safety, or thought that she would get in the way. Neither of which he should be concerned about.
"Of course I can, I'm from the north! I know Britons climate as well as the lot of you. And I am going- with or without your consent." Vrena snapped back at Arthur. Saxons anywhere wasn't good news, and they were headed towards her innocent aunt, which she would not tolerate.
Thinking about it, if she had never met the knights here near Tirth, she probably would have met them at Marius' town anyway. How convenient.
"It would not be safe to travel alone though, especially not on nights like these…oh." Arthur admitted, recalling the dangers of the woodland.
Vrena could have told them of her Woad background from childhood, but decided against telling. Sarmatians and Romans, she had learned, were not too fond of Woads. The good points: If she told them, she could easily help them through the forests. Woads know another of their kin when they see one, and would not attack her after seeing her ride freely with these men. The bad points: They would probably abandon her right then, disgusted with her.
None of the knights seemed to look ready to move but Tristan, who had been distancing himself from all of them. But Arthur, Lancelot, Dagonett, Galahad, Gawain, and Bors seemed to be under a serious discussion. All of them were still contemplating bringing her along, the others imagining what they would be ordered to do once they got there.
As they had told her already, their plan was to obtain Marius' and her aunt's son, Alecto, and bring him to a bishop by the name of Germanius. It seemed an easy task, but adding in the Saxon army marching towards the town with only a day or two until they reach it…that changed the matters.
Someone was going to have to move, and Vrena was the only one willing to do it.
Allowing a groan of annoyance to be released from her throat, she urged her horse into a steady trot down the worn dirt path. They had already been in the woods, but deep in the thick parts is where all the Woads spent their time. She would not have to worry about them too much. Would the really attack an un-armed, un-prepared woman anyways?
She felt the eyes of the knight's heat up her back as she passed Tristan, voluntarily easing into the woodland.
"Miss Vrena, where do you think you're venturing off to?" Lancelot called from about thirty feet away, but she refused to halt Arvin. She was going, and didn't feel like stopping.
When she twisted her head, she could see Tristan giving Arthur an amused look that clearly said 'she's being a better commander then you are'. Studying the scouts face, she could tell he was eager to leave as well.
And when Tristan showed emotion, obviously something needed to be done.
Arthur sighed.
"Alright then, we ride now. If we can keep this pace up until afternoon tomorrow, that would be a reasonable goal. Do you think you can handle a night's lack of sleep?" He finally agreed; then aimed the question towards all of them, not just her, which she was pleased with.
The silent agreement had been made as all seven knights rode forward. Vrena sped up her horse to keep ahead, how she liked it. She knew how to get to the freezing mountains which they would have to ride over to reach town, but from there on she was lost. Only once had she ventured through them, and that had been over ten years ago, at the very least.
The woods remained thin for a good lengthy period of time. She knew that it would be early in the morning until the woods would begin to thicken, and they would need to slow down their pace. From then on it would be that way until a while later, in which then it will be –from her perspective- very early in the morning. Estimated, they would make it to the mountains by sunrise and no later, unless complications arose, which she prayed they would not.
Feeling her eyes burn, she knew that she was already as tired as anything, and needed sleep. Did she not, she would most likely pass out while riding upwards; which would result in a mighty fall and a good trampling, along with some curses and swears from the Knights of the Round Table.
She remembered when she had been nearly a child and slept on her horse while it followed Naeda and Vejha on their grey one, the horrible memory of the long ride sticking to her thoughts like hot needles. Did she dare allow Arvin to follow the knight's steeds and at least rest her eyes as she did so long ago?
It was always worth a try. Besides, her bones and bruises were aching. Dozing off would temporarily erase her mind of the pain.
She watched the confused look on some of the knights faces as she moved Arvin off to the side of the path, allowing them to move ahead of her. She placed the hood of her cape back onto her head and began to ride behind them.
"What the blazes do you think you're doing?" Asked Galahad, who had been riding at the rear of the group.
"Catching some shut-eye. Arvin will follow you, pay no heed to me." She said as she removed her arms from the cloaks sleeves and wrapped her hand around the thick leather of Arvin's reigns, and stuck her boots into the stirrups further so that they would remain there.
"Falling asleep on a horse, are you mad?" He asked in disbelief.
"Not at all, just talented."
"If you fall, I'm not rushing back to catch you. Perhaps you are the witch Tirth's townsfolk said you were, if you can perform such a feat." Galahad retorted in a joking way. Though she knew he had been teasing, the last comment made her stomach churn.
"Sleep with one eye open, dear Galahad. For when you decide to rest your eyes, you may awaken with those gorgeous curls of yours missing." Vrena threatened, sending his joke right back at him. She watched as Galahad looked up and around at his hair, a worried look nestled onto his face.
"Ignore my last comment, then. Sleep well." He finished, returning his attention back to guiding his horse through the trees. Hopefully she would snap out of her slumber before they reached the thick part of the woods.
Allowing Arvin to follow as the men led, she rested her head up against his neck. And though it was moving, and their pace had quickened, she managed to doze off.
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A long time after making her decision, Vrena had successfully fallen asleep.
Tristan knew that sleeping while riding was indeed possible, though took time to get use to. Not that he had done it before by any means. In fact, the heavy galloping of his steed was the only thing keeping him awake. They were beginning to edge nearer and nearer into the thicker woods. The trees had already begun to grow taller, and less underbrush could be seen.
It was only a few more long periods of time before they would be through these dangerous woods. Had they have taken the normal path, they would not have had to dodge trees and fallen logs for this long time. But their original pathway would have leaded them around instead of through this extensive and ancient forest, causing them to loose more time then necessary.
Not too long after, the moon came out from its hiding place. The forest had gotten brighter, though now it didn't nearly matter as much; the trees so thick and leaves and branches to plentiful that only a flicker of the white light could be spotted.
He set his senses on high alert, and the rest of the knights began to slow their pace to a quick trot.
This was Woad territory now.
For a second, Tristan wondered if having a frail; vulnerable and injured woman among them would be enough to convince the blue ghosts to ignore them, just this once. But the thought became lost in his head, him realizing that Merlin's hate for them was stronger then that. More then once had he sent his warriors after them no matter what the cause.
Turning his head slightly to see the lady sound asleep on her steed, he knew why Arthur had not wanted her to follow.
As if he had subconsciously read Arthur's mind, the man called him from behind.
"Tristan." Arthur spoke quietly and calmly. Tristan turned.
"Go behind and lead lady Vrena's horse up to the head next to you. It would probably be safer." His roman friend spoke to him and also turned to see Arvin trotting along, Vrena proving herself to be a heavy sleeper.
Obeying his orders without question –mainly because he agreed with Arthur's decision on the woman's safety, He turned his horse and used what little space he had on the side to slide by the others. He pet the white stallion to ensure it that he was not going to hurt it, and grabbed one of the leather straps from the reigns that held them to his face, and led him up to the front, Arvin reluctantly following.
Again he swerved around the other knights and made his way up to the lead again.
That was when Vrena shot up from her resting position as if she had just seen the living dead.
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'Twas a peaceful dream she had been in. Key word: had. Until the horror of it all began to unfold.
She remembered it as if it had actually happened at some point in time. And maybe it had. Like some sort of lost memory hidden in her childhood that sprung up after the days events.
"Vrena, Vrena!" Vejha called as the childlike form ran closer and closer to her.
She had been resting in a large golden field, the wheat plentiful and the sun shining. She was not in Briton or Rome…somewhere peaceful and calm, where chirping birds could be heard from miles away and flowers of different colors would bloom.
"Vrena!" Vejha called her name again, closer now. She could almost smell her sister, whom always seemed to bring the aroma of honeysuckles about.
She looked up to her sister, now laying on the ground next to her, their young forms hidden by the tall wheat and other towering undergrowth.
"What are you doing?" Her sisters voice flowed into her mind, she couldn't tell if they were spoken or not.
"Looking at the sun…" She replied.
"Silly, that's impossible. You would be blind as a cave bat already." Her sister laughed at her, and she giggled back.
That was when she noticed that they were speaking in their native tongue.
"This is so lovely…where are we, anyways?" She asked her sister. But when she turned to look at her sibling, she instead saw herself, as if she was looking through a mirror of time, looking at her older self as she was in the present. Though she knew she was in the body of her child self.
"Where we belong, Vrena. Where we were destined to be the day our mother bore us." Her sister's voice spoke through her body, though at the time it seemed so normal.
"Our mother…I remember her, but I do not remember our father."
"Do you want to remember that horrible man with filth for blood?" her sister's voice spat.
"What makes you think such things, sister? Mother always told us he was a brave man." Was this because of who our father was? Where he was from? She suddenly remembered.
"Why do you think so highly of him? His people killed our people. His people murdered our mother. Do you not understand this?"
Vrena's childish body froze solid as if paralyzed. Romans had killed her mother, not these men she had heard were also fighting for the Romans. Naeda had told her this herself, and she knew that Naeda would never lie. Unless there had been something kept from her?
"True, Naeda has never lied. But Naeda has hid things from you, little sister. Things that she refused to tell me, but I found out in the end…"
"What do you mean? Vejha, you're speaking in riddles." She said, remembering her place. Suddenly, the body that had been hers now had shorter hair and bright green eyes. Woad eyes. She had always wondered why her sister bore those while hers were brown with grey, the colors rarely found in Woad children.
"Do you not see, Vrena? We are different. You have more of him in you, less of her. That is why you belong here, this way. Forever."
"But I don't understand." I spoke. "Where am I? Where do I belong?" The question rang in her head as if haunting her.
Vejha let out a harsh laugh, not one she knew her kind sister for.
"Where doyou belong, you ask me? It's a simple question, answer it yourself!" Vejha taunted, her eyes becoming a fiercer green with every word. The golden fields began to disappear and the colors began to grey, her vision dimming.
"Vejha, wait! Don't leave me! Where must I belong?" her weak, child-like voice rang through the blackness. Another sharp, almost pitiful laugh erupted from her sister's now distant voice.
"Dead. And keep a close watch of your surroundings. You never know what is following you from close behind…"
With that said, the last part remained in her head like thick paste. But "Dead" echoed over and over, getting rid of it felt like trying to break a stone in half with your bare hands.
The echoing of Vejha's harshest word remained in her mind, yet now her warning sprung up from under her mixed thoughts.
"And keep close watch of your surroundings. You never know who is following you from close behind."
Almost instantly, a sharp pain slammed into her chest and she nearly lost her breath. But when she shot up from her sleeping position, there was no evidence of a physical attack. Her breath was now quick, as if she had been deprived of oxygen.
Spinning her head in all directions nervously, she caught perplexed stares from the knights, including Tristan. But she didn't have time to explain to them why she bolted up out of the blue.
She hated this feeling. The feeling that she was being watched.
And then she felt it.
Like a ghost, a luminous presence entered her mind, her senses fully alerted. Someone was out there in the woods. But then it glowed brighter in her mind, like a candle. It was out there, but she could not see it with her eyes. Like a ghost…
A Ghost.
A Blue Ghost.
'Dozens of them' a mental message made its way through her brain, drawing her to the conclusion.
She knew that Woads could sense the presence of other Woads, but the only one she had known for the past ten or so years was her sisters, which she had gotten use to. Every Woad had a different glow to them, and these were certainly new. New and dangerous.
She quickly halted Arvin, causing him to rear slightly on his hind legs and cry out, somewhat surprised with his riders' sudden break. And like any normal chain reaction, Bors and Galahads horses stopped. Arthur, Gawain, Tristan, Lancelot, and Dagonett shot glares at her.
"The hell was that fo-" But Vrena swung out her hand to silence Lancelot.
Woads were everywhere. They were surrounded.
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Tristan was just as surprised as anyone else with the ladies strange outburst, and knew that something was wrong as she halted their ride.
Taking in her warnings, he studied the silence carefully. Then he heard what he had not while the horse's hooves were stomping on the ground-
The stretching of a string, most likely adjusting an arrow to fit on it.
Was this what the lady had heard? He was sure not. Kicking those thoughts forcefully away, he focused on the situation at hand. Questions later. He knew that they were now not alone in the woodland.
"Woads. They're tracking us." He turned to Arthur. The Roman's face became serious and like stone at the mention of the beings. Indeed this was not good. He saw the other knights glance around, now scanning the area.
Tristan and Vrena had now turned to face the others. Vrena's face was shockingly pale and her complexion looked frightened, you could tell even with her hood shading her eyes. But Tristan greatly doubted that she was scared. More like shocked at something. Again, he put the questions at the bottom of his mind as he usually did. It was not his business.
"Where?" Arthur asked and gave his scout a grave look. But it was not his scout who answered. Instead, the mystified, silent voice of Vrena answered.
"Everywhere."
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Just as she had let the word escape her mouth, she saw a blue ghost from behind a tree whip out his bow, aiming it right for them.
"GO!" She shouted and whipped Arvin around as fast as she could, sprinting down the path. The other knights followed suit, and the first arrow missed them. But it was not the last.
They did not manage to get far before barbed wires with spikes and all sorts of painful things shot up, tied with vine and rope, preventing her from riding any further.
Her Woadish adrenaline began to kick into gear, along with another instinct that told her to think smart and clearly, or she would not make it out alive. She blocked out how sore she still was, how scared she had felt after her dream, and concentrated on saving herself- and the knights.
But she didn't need to do that. They also knew what they were doing, or else what would be the point of the stories?
"This way!" Bors yelled, and the eight of them dodged trees, heading east, but again didn't make it too far as more blockades sprung up.
Before they knew it, they were trapped.
'Do they not sense that I am also Woad?' She thought to herself as she watched a blue ghost bowman, hidden behind a tree before, spring out and aim directly at her.
But didn't let go.
Hope kicked in that he sensed it, and she heard a quiet swear come from one of the knights, most likely Bors or Lancelot. Maybe both.
She waited. Waited for the arrow to pierce her, but the pain never came. Closing her eyes, she could still sense the Woad with his bow aimed, ready to unleashthe arrowand send her to her death.
Before, he had sensed something else in her. But now what he became aware of sent him back a few feet, skepticism in his eyes. She sensed him slightly lower his bow.
Even from the distance, her eyes opened up again and searched his, still trying to catch her own breath. Green eyes. Like her sisters. They remained this way for what seemed like an eternity, but her concentration broke as a loud horn billowed in the distance, making all their heads turn.
But when her head turned, all seven of the knights seemed to also be staring at the Woad warrior, who could have easily killed the lass- but decided not to.
They all stared in disbelief as around a dozen Woads sprinted towards the direction of the horn, leaving Vrena and the knights behind.
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I'm SO freaking sorry for how long it took me to get this up! Right while I was in the middle of updating it (good thing I save a lot, or Id've lost the whole thing.) my dad comes in and says "I need to fix your Verizon e-mail, get off." Which is complete BS, because I don't even use Verizon, I use my yahoo for everything to keep him the hell off.
But yea, it takes him an hour to do it, then my internet cuts off at nine because HE set it too, which screwed me over completely.
I'm not having a good day. Hope you enjoyed the chapter none the less.
III Cari III
