Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for those who are of my own creation.
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Chapter Two: Beware of Conveniently Placed Shelters
I stared, wide eyed, at the man whose name I was so familiar with on the livejournal communities dedicated to the movie. This…can't be happening. Can it?
'What did you find Lancelot?' came another voice from behind him. It can't be. This can't be happening. Clive Owen poked his head over the bushes and I whimpered.
'I'm not going mad, I'm not going mad, I'm not going mad…'
But what I witnessed was proving quite the contrary.
'May we share your shelter?' asked he. Then Mads Mikkelsen joined the two.
'I don't think he can understand you,' he muttered, "That one's foreign." I stared then frowned.
Was he insulting my ethnicity?
Having found this interesting tidbit however, Ioan and Clive proceeded to act out what they wished from me with ridiculous and exaggerated hand gestures.
'May…' Ioan started, mouthing the words and using his arms expressively as if I would understand better. 'We…' he gestured to the rest of the company.
'Share…' Clive gestured to the company again and continuing his companion's question. 'Your…' he pointed to me. 'Shelter?' he gestured to the tree. I bit my inside lip from laughing. I struggled to a sitting position and pulled the hissing Slinky into my lap to quiet him down. What to do? If this was actually happening…I would probably be safer with them…
'Saxons! They were Saxons!' I recalled the marching army and the man whose face was so familiar. That must have been Cynric!
… I can't believe I almost electrocuted Cynric.
'Boy?' came the questioning tone which snapped me out of my thoughts. Ioan…no, Lancelot glanced at his traveling companion, 'Think we should try again?'
'No need, I understand perfectly,' I quipped. I grinned at the surprised looks on the knights before they hastily tried to hide it by returning to their cool demeanor a few moments ago. I then watched silently as they tied their horses to a nearby tree so that they would be shielded by the rain and began to settle down under the provided shade. I propped up my bike to make more room and shifted so that I sat with my back against the tree.
In a few moments, they managed to get a fire going. I was quite surprised. Due to the rain, I did not think that a fire was possible… but there it was. Fed by a few dried sticks and branches that they found beneath the tree…
'Come boy, join us,' the one whom I guessed to be Gawain told me, making some room for me in the small circle. Hesitantly, I approached them then sat down beside him with a muttered thank you.
'Well now, what's your name boy?' asked Lancelot.
My patience snapped.
'Why do you people insist on calling me that?' I asked with a glare in his direction. He raised an eyebrow.
'You're a girl then?' laughed Bors. I stared at him and suddenly the knights fell silent.
'You…you mean you really are a girl?' Bors asked with raised eyebrows.
'Is that really so hard to believe?'
The knights exchanged glances before replying in unison, 'Yes.'
I winced at the attack.
Galahad gestured to my hair, 'Not many women would wear their hair that short.'
'Really, I find it quite practical. But I suppose regardless whether or not you believe me, I'm certainly not going to go out of my way to prove it,' I replied, stroking Slinky's fur. Bors laughed and nudged Lancelot with his elbow. He could only grin.
'Your name Lady?' Arthur asked.
'Jones. Just call me Jones. I do not own a title,' I smiled. Arthur nodded as if understanding where I was coming from and the circle of knights proceeded to introduce themselves. Despite the fact that it would've been unnecessary since my memory was now as clear as it could be.
'Pray tell us Jones,' Gawain requested, 'where you are from? Your attire is strange as is your appearance and…belongings.' He cast an uneasy eye on the bike and backpack. 'You wouldn't believe me if I told you anyways,' I replied ruefully. Best I hide my origins…
'And why not?' Lancelot demanded.
'You didn't believe me when I told you I'm a girl.'
'Ah.'
'Come, share your tale with us. The night is long and restless,' Arthur told me with a warm smile. I shuddered. 'I'm not going mad, I'm not going mad, I'm not going mad...'
'I… I come from the future. Well...technically, no... but... I mean... Damn. I'm really confused.'
This statement was greeted by a round of loud guffaws. I focused my attention on the ball of fur in my lap.
'Surely, this is a jest?' Gawain asked. I shrugged, 'I did say you wouldn't believe me.'
'Come now, what sort of witchcraft is this?' Galahad laughed. I shrugged, 'I'm not going to go out my way to prove that statement either.'
Bors snorted, pulling his cloak around him 'Doesn't matter does it? Here we are, in the middle of the forest, it's raining and we're stuck with a crazy woman.' Arthur gave him a look, 'Regardless of sanity, she is still a woman.' I opened my mouth to protest but was cut off by the murmurs of agreement among the knights. I scowled. It would be pointless to argue against seven men who had set their minds.
Galahad stretched, 'Do you know what I miss?'
'The company of fine looking women?' Lancelot asked. Arthur shot him a look and gestured to me. Lancelot quickly apologized for his rudeness. I rolled my eyes, 'I'm not an idiot.'
'Besides,' I said with a grin lighting my features, 'I can be just as crude as the rest of you.' Galahad snorted and I raised an eyebrow in his direction.
'I bet none of you have ever wooed a woman off her feet,' I commented with a smug grin. Bors gave an indignant gasp, 'Never wooed a woman? Three wives and a dozen children! Never wooed woman indeed! You don't know what you speak of.'
'Not to mention some of those dozen of children you own are mine,' Lancelot piped up earning a glare from his friend.
'Who needs children when I can bed any amount of women in one night?' boasted Galahad.
'Oh come on. Aren't you the legendary knights of Samartia? Just saying that will have plenty of women flocking to you. There's no work to be done on your part,' I argued.
'There's plenty of work done on my part,' Galahad replied then broke into a smirk. I glanced in his direction and gave him a smile of sympathy, 'Don't worry. You'll grow up one day. And when you do, I promise it'll get easier.' Bors broke into loud guffaws and slapped his friend on the back heartily, 'She got you there!'
'And I suppose you don't need to grow up eh Bors?' came Galahad's reply. Bors grinned, 'Of course! Why do you think the women flock to me instead of you?' The knights broke into laughter and I smiled, stroking Slinky's fur.
'The only women that flock to you are those of your bastard children,' laughed Gawain. Bors grinned, 'And what's so wrong with that? I can count on something interesting every night.'
'Come now, those women of yours only come to you when they see I have my platter full,' Lancelot smirked.
'You mean, never?' Gawain asked with a silly grin on his face, 'Besides, I'm sure Jones here will agree with me when I say that I would be the one women flock to the most. Isn't that right Jones?' At this, he threw a heavy arm over my shoulders. I groaned under the weight of his arm combined with his armor.
'As much as I would love to prove that to be true, I think I speak for most women when I say, please don't touch me,' I replied with a grin and slipped out from under his arm.
'Oh Jones, you are being far too cold,' Gawain exclaimed with a mock hurt look on his features. I laughed and was joined in by the rest of the group. After a few more moments of the rough housing and the "witty" conversation which ended up in Bors needing to take a piss, Arthur stood up and stretched.
'Best we get some sleep. We still have two days journey to get to the wall,' Arthur announced then glanced at Tristan and Dagonet, 'Dagonet, Tristan, it's your turn for first watch, Lancelot and I will relieve you on the second.' The two men nodded as the stationed themselves on opposite sides of the tree. Tristan sitting near the horses and Dagonet towards the rolling slope which I had climbed to reach the ledge. The rest of the knights made themselves comfortable around the large tree. As for me, I went back to my original position. Beside my bike. Dagonet shifted to make room for me and I thanked him with a nod of my head. He returned the nod.
Lancelot put out the fire using dirt and his foot to smother the flames. Soon, the camp site fell into almost complete darkness. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the environment. The moon shone brightly and I watched silently as the rest of the knights took their own spots. Arthur was on the ground beside Lancelot with his head propped up against a protruding tree root. As for his companion, Lancelot rolled up his cloak to make a make shift pillow and propped it against the tree.
Bors, Galahad and Gawain followed Lancelot's example in rolling up their cloak to use as pillows and made themselves comfortable against the thick trunk of the tree. Slinky retired back into my backpack and I was left alone with the two sentries. I shifted uncomfortably, then, pulled my hood up and leaned back against the trunk of the tree.
Then all was silent save for the wind whistling through the trees and the raindrops pelting against the ground with what seemed to be in increasing ferocity.
Other than that however, the night was beautiful. The trees and rain illuminated in the silvery moonlight. I sat there, watching the trees and the rain that became the wind's toys. I was mesmerized by the beauty and serenity of this forest.
Spellbound.
But all was broken when Dagonet shifted and nudged me in the side gently. I glanced at him, not realizing the time that passed.
'Sleep,' he told me in a firm voice and a stern nod. I blinked, 'I'm not tired.'
'You will be,' was all he said before he turned his attention back to the landscape. His concern touched me but I resolved not to fall asleep. Honorable as they might be, they were still men and they still possessed animalistic urges. I shuddered.
'Here,' Dagonet spoke again, taking off his cloak and held it out to me. I raised an eyebrow in his direction. He frowned, 'Cold?' I grinned, 'No… I'm used to the weather.' Which was true… I've worn nothing but a t-shirt, a shirt and a pair of pants in as low as five degrees Celsius. Not to mention the number of times my friend had invited me over to spend Christmas at his place where the temperature dropped to negative thirty below.
Dagonet merely shrugged and wrapped his own cloak around himself and I shifted again, trying to get comfortable if I was to wait out the night. I glanced at the other knights. From the steady heaving of their chests, I presumed that they were already asleep. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Galahad twitched and I looked away, drawing my focus back on the slope below us. It was then in the silent reverie that my thoughts began to run wild.
I pondered on my existence here. I was certain that whatever happened could not be deemed something as simple as time travel. That is, if time travel could be deemed simple. Being exposed to sci-fi theories of the universe and the unexplained seemed to be churning out more and more crackpot theories from my head as to why and how I got here.
Blackhole? Wormhole? Time hole?
Rip in time? Rip in space? Rip in dimensions?
The possibilities, if they existed, were endless.
Therefore, the conclusion I arrived to was that I would stop thinking about why and how. Simply because I did not want to waste the Tylenol in my bag.
A gust of wind blew past me and I shivered. Not from the cold but from the realization that perhaps, I'm not going to be going back any time soon. Dagonet however, interpreted the shudder as me being cold and for the second time that night, I refused to take the cloak from him.
It smelled anyways.
Suddenly in a melancholy mood, I glanced over at him, the sleeping knights and Tristan who was still wide awake and seemed to be making soft cooing noises to his pet. A sad smile lighted on my face as I remembered what happened in the movie. Dagonet won't make it… Tristan won't make it… I glanced at Lancelot who was now sleeping with his mouth wide open. I stifled a laugh then grew solemn. He won't make it either… I bit my lip.
'It's not fair,' I thought glumly to myself, 'Here are men who deserved to see their home and the remnants of their family they were torn away so cruelly from.' I glanced at Dagonet who stared straight ahead.
'And they're not going to be granted that wish…'
The wind whistled.
'Dagonet?'
He grunted in reply.
'Will… will you take me with you to Hadrian's wall?' I asked. I watched his features as he glanced at me but they showed nothing.
'I'm…lost.'
He nodded as if he understood me and returned his attention back to sentry duty.
I found him captivating. Here was a man, silent, reserved and seemingly, lacking emotion while later on in his life, his fateful encounter with the boy Lucan will expose his feelings of affection. Feelings of a brother and a younger sibling… no, feelings of a father and his son.
When I looked up, I realized he was staring at me with a slight frown gracing his weathered features. I raised an eyebrow in question.
'Sleep,' he insisted. I shrugged and the two of us resumed sentry duty. I sneaked a glance in Tristan's direction and caught his gaze. He was looking at the two of us in amusement. I quirked an eyebrow at him and he looked away.
I thought I caught a smile on his lips.
For the rest of the night, I refrained from making conversation with the silent knight and he stopped persisting in me getting some sleep. Soon however, even the mind can't fight against fatigue and I found myself nodding away only to shake myself awake. I shifted again to find a more comfortable spot. The bark on the tree was rough not to mention the countless rocks that jabbed me in the butt whenever I shifted my weight.
I growled, 'Now I remember why I hated camping in the first place…'
I drew my knees to my chest and hugged myself then observed the rest of the sleeping knights. Arthur, being Arthur, was still. From the moonlight, I saw a frown gracing his sleeping features as if he was in constant battle with his dreams…or nightmares. I glanced at his companion who slept with his mouth wide open and I briefly wondered why he wasn't snoring. Bors was in a sitting position with his head crushing against the rolled up cloak, holding it in place against the trunk of the tree. His mouth was slightly opened and moving as if having a conversation with his dream wife. Galahad and Gawain seemed to be locked in a sleeping battle. One would subconsciously flip over and have an arm or a leg sprawled across the other's chest and in retaliation, the other would shift over and shove his hand in the other's face, and so on and so forth. I bit the inside of my lip to stop myself from laughing out loud and their antics.
I turned away to glance at Tristan who occupied his attention with the other side of the ledge, focused on finding that invisible enemy that seemed doubtless to be there. I shivered. Woads. That was what they called them… The blue demons. I felt a shiver run down my spine yet again and shuddered.
'Cold?' Dagonet asked yet again. I looked up and frowned, 'No.'
'Sleep,' he told me, yet again. I sighed and muttered something along the lines of shoving large pointy objects into exit only areas but decided to give in. I was tired anyways. Looking around, I found that I had nothing to rest my head against. My backpack was taken residence by Slinky and my bike was propped up to make more room for the knights. Hesitantly, I glanced at Dagonet then, feeling the blood running to face and feeling thankful that it was dark enough to hide the blush, I shifted closer towards him.
Did I mention that these guys really need to take a bath?
'Dagonet,' I whispered. He grunted softly in reply. I wrung my hands uncomfortably, 'Urm…may I… may I… would it be possible to…'
He gave me a pointed look which told me I should get to the point.
'May I er… use… your… urm… May I… that is… use you?'
Oh dear gawds… that came out wrong.
He quirked an eyebrow and smirked and I hastened to correct my mistake.
'No! Not like that!' my blush deepened, 'I need to rest my head.' He nodded and grunted in understanding before he shifted and offered his lap. I raised an eyebrow as I was thinking that perhaps the shoulder would be a better choice. As if sensing what I was thinking of, he shifted his shoulder and I heard a 'crick'.
Ah… his shoulders were sore from leaning against the tree. I nodded in understanding and shifted to lay my head against his thigh. After a few moments, I found a comfortable position, turned my face away from his crotch area (seriously people… his lap…), pulled my coat closer around me, closed my eyes and ever so slowly, I drifted off to sleep.
'For a knight… Dagonet is surprisingly comfortable…'
End: Chapter Two
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A/N: Huzzah! Another chapter done and over with. I'm not sure if I was able to capture the personality and the bickering between the knights correctly… so please forgive if there's OCCness and tell me what to do to fix it. And remember, I'm a review whore. XD Please leave a review. Mucho Thankies!
