Thanks to all the reviewers!
Thirteen
Tristan passed thick oaks as he scouted ahead. As he did, an arrow whizzed through the air from the trees, and knocked Tristan from his horse. The arrow had barely clipped his arm, but he found himself suddenly in an ambush without a horse.
"Tristan!" a voice called from behind as the rest of the knights rode up.
Tristan waved for them that he was fine, and quickly drew his bow and arrows. The other knights drew their weapons as well, but couldn't see where the woads resided. Tristan shot two arrows into a tree, and two woads screamed as they fell to their deaths.
"Archers!" Arthur shouted, directing the others.
The knights quickly changed weapons to bows and arrows and began firing into the trees. Tristan noticed out of the corner of his eye the woads on foot that came their way. As Tristan made his way toward them, both Lancelot and Percival also noticed his motives. They lept from their horses and joined Tristan while the other knights covered them. Tristan casually walked forward, swinging his blade left and right.
"Here woadie, woadie, woadie," he said quietly.
He quickly turned and drove his sword through one woad's stomach as he ran towards him. He lifted his weapon again to block two woads' weapons as they came down on them. Thrusting himself forward with all of his strength, Tristan pushed back the offenders. He pasued for a moment and surveyed the area. He knew that there were too many woads for them to handle.
"Get back to the horses!" Tristan shouted to Lancelot.
Turning to tell Percival the same, Tristan saw that he was directly in harm's way. An archer stood on the tree nearly above him. Tristan took a dagger from his chest plate and lunged it at the woad archer. Percival came to attention as he struck down another woad and looked to Tristan.
"To the horses, Percival!" Tristan said.
Percival nodded and knocked through three female woads. One jumped upon his back and tried to pull him down, but he used his leg and arm muscles to escape them. He knocked one of them over and hit the other two females with the hilt of his sword. Hastily, Percival and Lancelot made their way back to their steeds and mounted. Tristan quickly followed as he kept the woads at bay for a moment.
"Tristan!" Lancelot said, holding out his hand for the scout.
Having no horse as of now,the scoutquickly mounted up behind Lancelot just long enough to escape from the woad ambush.
"Forward, knights!" Arthur commanded as he rode hard.
The knights, dodging any final arrows, rode hurridly after their commander. Some time later, after escaping the ambushing woads, the knights slowed their horses' paces. Arthur looked around at each of his knights.
"Is everybody all right?" he asked.
"Well, that really got the adrenaline goin', eh?" Bors said. "Now, I'm hungry."
"Bors, do you always think about your stomach at times like these?" Gawain asked.
"He doesn't think about it. He just fights and eat, fights and eats," Dagonet said.
"It's no wonder then that he's so fat!" Lancelot grinned.
"Aww come on, then there's just more of me to love!" Bors chuckled.
"Guess your the only one who could say a line like that. Bet it brings all the women running," Lancelot added.
"If they're running to me, they must be bored with you!" Bors slapped his knee.
"No, then it would mean I must be dead, the day they go for you," Lancelot said.
The knights chuckled at him.
"No, it's true. If anything every happened to me, there'd be a lot of miserable women out there," Lancelot smiled again.
"It's a shame," Galahad said. "Guess that'd warm our beds more often then."
"Yeah, maybe we should kill him now, eh?" Bors asked, his face turning red with laughter.
Arthur eyed up his knights. "Now, if you all are quite finished, we will make camp over there by those trees. I don't think the woads would befoolish enough to try anything else tonight; just remember to keep an eye out, though."
As the others went to prepare camp, Tristan strapped his weapons to his back and headed out again, horse or no horse. He nodded to the lighter haired knight, Percival, and Lancelot both as he passed them. He would be back later after he found his horse. After all, a knight with no horse is a foolish one.
It didn't take long for Tristan to track down his white horse, for it had not traveled far. It had stopped by a stream for water after fleeing from the forest. Tristan stroked the horse's snout and spoke softly to it, before mounting the steed and riding him back to camp. It was late in the evening, so Tristan did not bother to call back Illiana. He knew she would want to hunt for her supper tonight, because he could not.
Tying up his horse near the others, Tristan went and sat down near the fire by the other knights. Percival smiled to him slightly as he handed the scout a dish with meat and dried bread on it. Tristan thanked him with a nod, and began to slowly eat his food. He wanted to make it last as long as possible, because he knew there was not much food to go around. They had to eat in rations in order to salvage their food. Water, on the other hand, was not an issue. The knights always kept their flasks full. They even had little viles of liquor to mix with it to kill the bacteria and make it taste better all at once. Tristan knew though, that it was only a petty excuse for the knights to get drunk.
After the knights had finished their meal, Arthur came to Tristan again, as he suspected he would.
"Tristan, I need you to take first watch tonight. Someone will relieve you when the time comes," Arthur said.
Nodding to his commander, Tristan walked to the outskirts of camp and built himself a small fire to keep warm. Then, he settled down and prepared to take the first watch of the night.
Dusk came and went, and Tristan lay back on the ground near his fire and gazed up at the heavenly sky. The stars shown brightly this night, like tiny glowing embers of the fire of twilight. The night was calm and the weather mild. Fireflies and lightning bugs danced together in strings of light. The short green grasses tickled Tristan's neck and he lay. The night was like a peaceful hmyn, even more beautiful than the day. The calls of the wild, the insects, the birds, even the cry of the wolf calmed him accordingly. As his eyes nearly closed from him being so relaxed, Tristan decided it'd be better if he sat up after all.
The moon waned in the midnight sky sleepily, its cover was the blanket of glorious stars that surrounded it. Tristan brought his knees up slightly, and placed his elbows across his them. His dark eyes watching the flickering lights of the blazing fire caused them to begin to close again. Then,he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Percival there, and he sat beside him.
Tristan peered around and noticed the others were asleep. Then, helooked back at Percival, who seemed entranced by the stars in the sky.
"It's late, you should sleep," Tristan said.
"I would say the same of you," Percival answered. "Don't you think I've realized by now that even though someone is supposed to relieve you of watch duty, they never do. You keep watch all night with barely any sleep in between. Why do you not say something to Arthur?"
"Arthur has more important things on his mind. I am not one to complain either. Keeping watch every night is as relaxing a job as one can have. It does not bother me," Tristan replied.
"It bothers me, though," Percival said with a kind smile. "I've slept enough. You sleep; I will keep watch for you."
Tristan raised his eyebrows. Why was Percival so nice to him? He was unlike the rest of the knights. He seemed to care more for his well-being than anyone. It was alarming and strange, yet he was glad for it.
"Thank you," Tristan whispered as he lay back on the ground again.
He turned on his side, facing away from Percival, yet he could still feel the knight's eyes on him. Chills ran down Tristan's spine and he shivered. it was a strange, yet refreshingly beautiful feeling Tristan suddenly felt for Percival, but he wasn't sure what it was. The younger knight was pure of heart and a good man. Tristan admired him for that. Soon, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
End, 'Thirteen.'