Chapter 19: A/N I do not own Merlin. I changed the rating to M just in case, but I don't really think there's anything too bad in my fic. I have some more of the chapters written, so for the next four or so it'll be sort of regular updating, but writer's block is a bitch guys. and theres a couple tests I have to study for so...
She saw the red seep through hid tunic, she panicked, clearly still hearing the sounds of battle, and placed her hands on his shoulder before whispering: "Teon út sé gÁr, áfeorme bæn blóddolh, gerenne, ĝefanga bæm bónlocum ond se ferjgt."
Cassie felt the tears stream down her face before the knight began to gain some color, and stir. At that moment the sounds of the bandits returning could be vaguely heard.
"Hurry, Owaine. I know It hurts, but you must stand. Be strong, for me. Stand." Owaine just nodded, and used all his strength to stand. Cassie had summoned her horse next to her and helped the injured knight onto the horse. She quickly mounted and spurred her horse westbound. They went on for as long as they could, gaining space between the bandits and themselves, until Owaine could go no further.
"Yes, we'll stop now. I have to look at your shoulder." Cassie said softly in response to the groan. Cassie dismounted her horse before helping him down and retrieving her saddle bags. She had just finished removing one of her saddle bags when the horse reared up, startled by a snake on the ground.
"No! It won't hurt you. It's practically asleep!" Cassie cried out. But it was too late. Her horse had bolted in the direction they came from. Leaving her in the cold forest with an injured knight, and no clue how to explain his injury. His HEALED injury. The tears she had been fighting so hard started to fall down her face.
"Cassie, don't cry. We'll be fine. Let's just start walking." Owaine said softly, not wanting to scare the girl anymore.
Unbeknownst to him, she was crying because the horse had left with the saddle bag of medicine. Cassie had grabbed the wrong bag.
"Can you walk?" Cassie asked, dubious. He had lost a lot of blood.
"'Course I can." Owaine said, pulling himself up to his full height.
Or at least that's what he thought he was doing, in reality he just stood up infinitesimally straighter. He went to take a step forward and prove his point, but lost his footing and rolled down the ravine into the small stream that had yet to freeze over.
"Owaine!" Cassie yelped, afraid for him. She held tightly onto the bag she had been able to get and followed him down as fast as she dared. When she finally reached the bottom she removed her cloak and ran into the stream to drag Owaine out. Once she got him on the shore, she realized he wasn't breathing.
"No, no, no, no! Que hago ahora? Hay! Porque no logro recordar!" Casie cried out desperately. She was so cold and tired of thinking that she let her instincts take over and started compressions. After about twenty compressions, Cassie bent down and covered Owaine's mouth with hers to breath air into him. She kept on repeating the compressions/breathing until Owaine coughed up the water and started shivering from the cold.
"You saved me." he said in a tender voice, a look of wonder in his eyes. Then he passed out.
When he woke up he was in a cave somewhere. How he got there was a mystery to him. The last thing he remembered was the horse running off, then Cassie leaning over him. And why was he so cold?
"What happened?" he groaned out lifting his arm to his face; then wincing in pain as he jostled his arm.
"Owaine! I was so worried. Pensé que te pegaste en la cabeza y como no despertaste no sabía qué hacer. Y luego te dio fiebre por andar empapado en pleno invierno, y-" Cassie started rambling, not realizing when she defaulted to spanish
"Cassie, I don't understand what you're saying. You're speaking in Spanish, darling." Owaine said, slightly wincing as he shivered.
"I was so worried about you. You have a fever, and I healed your shoulder as best I could, and treated the fever as well, but my medicine pack went with the horse." Cassie said, calming herself down enough to speak in English.
"How did you get me here? What time is it?" Owaine asked.
"I tied you to my cloak and dragged you here. Took a while, you're not exactly light. I suppose it's near twilight " Cassie teased, trying to lighten the situation.
"Where are we?"
"A cave."
"Yes, I can see that." Owaine said with an exasperated look.
"I'm not sure, I got turned around, then it started to lloviznar. Drizzle and I panicked and tied you around the cloak and dragged you to the nearest place of shelter before it really started to pour." she babbled on, staring dejectedly out of the cave mouth at the pouring rain.
"You saved me." Owaine stated, remembering the fall.
"Not really, I just dragged you here."
"No, I remember you…" Owaine started, then broke out into a wide grin.
"What's that grin for?" Cassie aske, unnerved by the man before her.
Owaine mumbled something unintelligible, which caused Cassie to get up from beside the fire she was keeping lit to hear what he had said.
"I didn't hear you, what did you say?"
"Come closer," Owaine said, so Cassie obeyed him, curiosity getting better of her.
"I said you can finally tell the girls you've had your first kiss."
Cassie blushed furiously and went to lean out, "It wasn't a kiss." she whispered sadly, low enough that Owaine didn't hear.
"Come here," Owaine said gently.
He wanted to be awake for their next kiss. Wanted to feel her soft lips, to get intoxicated on her scent, her taste, her feel. So when Cassie finally complied, a blush creeping up her neck, eyes locked onto his blue orbs, Owaine reached out ignoring the pain to twist a hand in her hair and push her closer. At first, the kiss was tentative, letting her get used to him, while loving the feeling of her supple lips. But when she overcame her shyness she leaned into him, deepening the kiss. They lasted a while in that tender kiss.
'I can't believe I'm finally kissing her! This is so much better than I ever imagined. Never could I have imagined how perfectly soft and supple her lips feel. Nor how great she tasted of mint and honey. Ever since we woke up together, that ambrosial, delicate scent has been with me. Intoxicating me from afar, and now I have her here, in my arms!'
'How could I have waited so long for this! His strong lips against mine. So tender. So loving. His hand entwined in my hair, pushing me ever closer to him. That heady, manly scent. Oh, those lips, they're all I ever want to think about. That exhilarating feeling that has me wanting to do nothing but smile, and stay like this forever. That warmth that's been spreading from within me since he looked at me. Those feelings that have only been growing since the first time we met, the first smile, the first time our hands touched. I want nothing more than to stay with him and forget everything!'
When they did finally separate Cassie remembered herself, and her physician's training, and admonished him for being so foolish.
"You could've hurt yourself! Holding your breath for so long, honestly Owaine! You almost drowned, And I'm not entirely sure all the water left your lungs!" Cassie cried, returning to the nervous ramblings, completely sure she was flushed as red as a tomato. She went back near the fire and continued to fan the smoke out, eyes glazed over thinking about running back into his arms.
Owaine didn't care about her reprimand, though. He just gazed at her in the same ardent way he had been since she came nearer, wanting nothing more than to pull her back to him, to kiss her again.
Neither of them noticed the rustle in the bushes or the glowing yellow eyes, too wrapped up in their own thoughts, their own fantasies. When the creature came farther out of the bush, it stepped on a trap Cassie had fashioned earlier that triggered an arrow to shoot out and kill it with a backup of a net to trap it in case the arrow missed- she wasn't Euclid there was very little possibility she got the angle exactly right for a kill. Ideally, the trap was for a squirrel or a rabbit, so the arrow pierced the larger animal's paw, making it cry out in pain and get trapped in the rather small net.
"Oh, dinner. Or breakfast, I suppose. Twilight seems to be nearing its end." Cassie said, startled out of her reverie. The food she had in her saddle bag was enough for maybe three days, but she wanted extra in case they had to spend some time in the cave for Owaine to heal enough to start on their way back to Camelot.
However, when she went to see the net, she saw a black, panther-like creature with wings. Owaine saw her back up in fear, she had never seen something like this before. When he managed to sit up and look around the girl's slight frame, he practically snarled at the obviously magical beast.
"Get back!" he told the girl, struggling to reach his sword.
"No! We don't know what it is, Owaine. Besides it's trapped and hurt. It won't hurt me, trust me." Cassie replied, fearing for the creature's life.
True, she didn't know if it was evil or dangerous, but she trusted her instincts enough to know it wouldn't hurt her. She neared it, using her magic to try and calm it down.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Cassie said in a placating way, hands up and advancing slowly so as not to startle it anymore, eyes glowing the whole time. "I'm going to help you, I will take the arrow out. I'll bandage you up and set you free. Don't worry." she said calmly. When the first rays of sun started to peak over the horizon something unbelievable happened. The creature started to grow smaller in size, but longer, the fur started to recede and the paws grew into arms and legs.
"A witch!" Owaine snarled, but the effort of standing and lifting the weapon made him break out in sweat and fall to the floor.
"Hello, I won't hurt you. I'm just going to treat the wound, I'm a physician's apprentice, I'll do what I can without any slave or ointment, but I have water here to clean and I can't bandage the wound. I'm Cassie." she said softly, hoping not to startle the girl too much.
"Please. Don't come near me." she said with fearful eyes. "I don't want to hurt you." she cried out passionately, struggling to stand up due to the arrow protruding from her leg.
"You won't. Let me help you. Please." Cassie said, putting as much kindness into her voice as she could.
The girl just nodded shakily, stretching out her leg as best she could without moving too much. Cassie set to work, getting the arrow out carefully and washing the wound thoroughly. She dared not use magic again with Owaine awake. While she worked she asked the girl why she turned into an animal.
"A witch cursed me. Every night I turn into that, and I don't remember what happened, or what I did. It's terrible, truly." she cried out.
"Why?" Cassie asked, curiosity winning the battle over not pushing the girl for answers. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
"Thank you." she said, reaching out to grab the other girl's hand. At this the tattoo she had been able to hide was visible, and the wounded knight in the back audibly gasped, wanting more than anything to protect his Cassie, but not having the strength to do so. The druid girl looked up at this and recoiled, wanting to leave, but not being able to as her leg was still being treated.
"Hush, Owaine! She has done nothing to you." Cassie admonished him. "Here, have some food, please. You look hungry, take it." Cassie said kindly.
She saw the state of her tattered dress, the way it was ripped and barely covered the girl. '¡Debe estar helada! Este invierno está horrible, y andar sin protección contra los elementos debe ser lo peor!' Cassie thought as she scrutinized the dress.
"You must be freezing! I don't know where you plan on running to, but here, take my cloak. It's a little dirty, but it'll protect you from the rain and the cold. Please, take it."
"No, thank you, but it will just get ruined. You see what I turn into, it won't last a day with me." she said dejectedly.
"Then take my dress, it'll last longer, and the sleeves will help against the cold. And the hem will protect your wound some. I insist." Cassie said kindly.
"You've been far too kind. I cannot take this from you too."
"Owaine, turn around, please. I am going to change dresses. You can't see me. No peeking!" Cassie commanded, her tone brokering no argument from either of her companions.
As the two girls changed dresses, much to the dismay of the knight who respected his love's privacy, the sun rose even higher in the horizon. When the two were fully dressed, Cassie told Owaine that they were decent and he breathed a sigh of relief, letting go of the tension he felt with his eyes closed. ' If only I had the strength, I would grab her and run from here. I will respect her wishes to leave the Druid alone, but I won't help her any more than what Cassie has already done. If only there was a way for me to scare the Druid off…' he thought, planning in his mind.
"I thank you greatly for your kindness, but, if I want to be as far from here as I possibly can, I have to go now. Please don't argue, I must. You have been far too kind and I fear what might happen if I remain close. I cannot control myself after midnight. Please understand." she begged with her eyes and her words.
"Take my shoes, then. Please. You need them more than I. And I have more in Camelot. Go on, take them. Good luck. I hope someday you will be free of this curse." Cassie said with as much sincerity as she felt. Even though she just met the girl, she felt a fondness for her that she could not explain.
"Thank you, Cassie." she said, taking the shoes, showing as much gratitude as she could emit.
As she went to leave, she turned around and said one last thing: "My name is Freya. Thank you for the kindness you've shown me. I won't forget it. I will never forget you, my Lady."
Cassie watched her leave with tears threatening to spill down her face. The curse that was put on this lovely girl weighing heavily on her mind, making her want to find a way to free her of it.
Owaine just looked on in relief, not only was this girl cursed to turn into who knows what type of creature at night, but she was a Druid as well. Something he's been taught to recognize as evil since he was a young child.
"You have a great heart, Cassie. But you should not have helped her. She is inherently evil." Owiane said darkly. "She is a Druid." he said, responding to the confused glare he got from the girl.
At the word Druid, the physical change in Cassie was astonishing. She went pale and started to go clammy. Her eyes glazed over in terror, in disgust. And it took all her strength not to rip the dress off her body.
"Cassie?!" Owaine cried at seeing this, worried for the girl. "Cassie, what's wrong. Talk to me. What's happening?"
"The Druids killed my family. My people. They bled them dry, covered themselves in their blood and danced around, naked as some sort of ritual." Cassie answered in a hollow voice. Tears falling freely from her face as she succumbed to the memories of that day so many moons ago. She hazily saw Owaine inch his way closer, using the last of his strength, and hold her close to him as she cried. He held her like that for hours as she cried her eyes out, as she mourned every last soul that was lost on that day. When she no longer had any tears to cry, nor any strength to stay awake, she fell into a fitful sleep, languishing in the nightmarish scenes of that day.
Post chapter A/N: Euclid of Alexandria is a greek mathematician, father of geometry, sponsered by Ptolemy I-the same Ptolemy for the star charts from which Cassiopeia is, so, with angles and all that stuff I thought of Euclid after making the connection to Ptolemy. I was originally gonna go with Newton 'cause of calculus and the physics and all that science history behing it, but then I thought-why not make it believable and go with something they would have known about back then. Especially after my Macchiavelli reference, even though he's like five or six CENTURIES after the supposed King Arthur. On a less schooly matter; it's obvious I'm a hopeless romantic. I may or may not have read every last Nicholas Sparks book and seen all of the movie adaptations (my favorite book has to be either The Guardian, or A Bend in the Road, or True Believer/At first Sight-they kinda go hand in hand- and my favorite movie is definitely The Notebook, or A Walk to Remember, or The Lucky One. Actually never mind all the movies are great, and all the books make me bawl my eyes out. The guy really knows how to make me cry!) After writing their first kiss-second really, but no one will count the resuscitation as a kiss since Owaine was out cold-I had the giddiest smile on my face! I Actually went into Pandora and clicked on my Maria Callas station-even though I only understand, like, a quarter of what they say- and listened to it for the rest of my time writing this chapter. I didn't really have it all super planned out, so when I got to the end I was like tearing up. Anyways, I know this author's note is probably longer than the whole chapter, but I had to get it out of my system! You've already read if you're here, so… Review, tell me what you like, what you don't, and what I can do better. Bye guys! :D