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Jan 18, 2011 5:37:48 GMT -5
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Post by dotdotdot on Dec 23, 2010 13:53:23 GMT -5
Freya laid on her side in the cage, her face blank as she counted the number of trees that went as they rode by on a forest road. It was already dark outside, but it hadn't been that dark for long. Four hours until midnight, she would have estimated if anyone asked her. She wasn't even sure where the city was that they were heading towards, only that the ruler of the land would pay for her death. Camelot, she had heard him say, the kingdom where one could be executed for the marks on their arms.
The man on the horse, pulling her cage along, had only been in possession of her for thirteen hours or so. She had been passed along from another captor. The first man was older and knew about her curse. Freya wasn't sure if he had somehow been watching her, or if he'd seen the curse before, but he seemed to know exactly what to do with her. He put her in a room somewhere -- she didn't know where, he'd blindfolded her, so that it wouldn't be easy to escape -- and it was secure enough to hold in even the most determined of beasts, what she was forced to change into every night: the Bastet. She had been there for weeks, before the bounty hunter came this morning, and offered a high enough price for her.
That was how she came to be on her way to Camelot, to be sold for an even higher price. They entered the city from the lower town within another few minutes, and Freya sat up. They would stop soon, and she needed to be awake to avoid her captor's disgusting hands. Moving from the bare stone room into the cage hadn't been much of a difference. Only now, she had to worry about killing again. They stopped riding outside of an inn. The captor checked the locks and made a face at her before heading inside, leaving Freya in the rain. The locks won't matter, though, she thought. A few metal bars wouldn't stop the Bastet from hunting for the first time in weeks.
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Oct 7, 2011 20:25:46 GMT -5
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Post by pie on Dec 23, 2010 17:59:41 GMT -5
 Merlin stood off to the side as Gaius checked up on the man laying in the bed. He had caught some kind of fever or something, he wasn't quite sure, but he knew he was sick. Gaius had given him some kind of remedy to help him pass through whatever was wrong, and finished talking with the man's wife that was also in the room. It was raining outside, which only darkened the night's already grim setting.
He looked back as Gaius checked the sick man one last time before backing up, ready to leave. Merlin, who was holding Gaius' over-jacket, slipped it over the man's arms helpfully so he could wear it, then turned around to grab the Physician's supplies bag. "If he's not better in the morning, let me know," Gaius informed the woman as they headed for the door. He opened it and held it open for the man, who took the bag from him. Shrugging, Merlin closed the door behind them.
They walked at a decent pace, heading back for Gaius' chambers to get out of the rain. Taking a route that would lead them past The Rising Sun inn, which would take them back quicker, Merlin noticed a cage sitting out front of it. He glanced at it once, then continued to follow Gaius, who didn't seem curious at all. He must know what it was for, he decided. He looked away and began to walk past it, not noticing the girl inside just yet. . .
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Post by dotdotdot on Dec 24, 2010 5:42:00 GMT -5
The more she began to think about it, the more her heart rate sped up. The panic began to set in. She didn't know how the Bastet would react to being secluded for weeks and then suddenly in a place of high population. She had to get out before midnight, and run back into the forest, at least try to get away. The cage wouldn't hold the Bastet and there was no telling what it would do -- what she would do. If she was left in the cage, someone would definitely die. If she could get out of the cage before that, the chances were somewhat better.
But how was she going to get out? She hadn't practiced magic for over a year now -- she had found that it seemed to encourage the monster inside her, and nothing was worth that. She looked at her arms, bruised with the weight of the shackles she had been wearing all day. She couldn't even get close to the lock on the other side of the cage before being held back by the chains. She laid down, feeling her fingers along the bars and pushing outwards, trying to find a weak point.
She heard a pair of footsteps approaching and watched two figures approach the cage, not noticing her. Freya sat up suddenly, holding the bars at the side of the cage, watching them. She had to get out. She didn't know what to do. If someone noticed her... no, what was she thinking? She was a possession to be sold, and she couldn't think of a reason why somebody would cross her bounty hunter just to help her.
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Post by pie on Dec 28, 2010 16:09:52 GMT -5
As Merlin walked past the cage, he was immediately surprised as someone sat up suddenly inside of it. He pulled back quickly, a natural reflex as he hadn't noticed the person before... It was a girl! She was bruised, and in shackles... He turned his head towards the Physician and exclaimed, "Gaius!" Why was she in a cage?
"She's fallen prey to a Bounty Hunter."
A Bounty Hunter was going after her? But... Why? She wasn't that old, couldn't have been that far from his age. Why would someone hunt her, and what did they plan to do with her? This was wrong, he told himself. She should be back with her family, or wherever she had been before she was captured!
"She's only a girl," he protested, looking back at her with worried eyes.
"She'll still fetch a good price, though."
"Someone's going to pay for her??" he asked with disbelief, snapping his head back to face him. To pay for someone, as if their life wasn't theirs... To be in such a situation had to be hard on the person, on this girl. He would never wish that on anyone...
"Uther offers a handsome reward for anyone with magic."
Of course, Uther. He should have suspected as much, that this girl had magic. Magic was treated as a curse, but it was not so. It was a gift, and yet people weren't allowed to practice it because the King outlawed it. One day, it would be allowed to return, but while Uther was King, anyone possessing it that was caught would be murdered... He couldn't allow this girl to die! He knew how it felt to have to hide your magic, to keep it secret in fear that someone would catch you. Looking at her was like... Looking in a mirror.
"There must be something we can do."
"Merlin! Bounty Hunters are dangerous men, they are not to be meddled with. You of all people should understand that." And with that, Gaius turned away and began to leave, as if the matter was settled.
He should know him better than that, Merlin wouldn't let this girl die, wouldn't let someone get money for such a vile act! He would save her, he would...
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Post by dotdotdot on Dec 28, 2010 19:01:34 GMT -5
The two men stopped, and Freya watched the young one when he spoke. The man called Gaius explained her circumstances in a tone of sincerity, but one with out hope. Freya dropped her eyes when he mentioned the handsome reward her bounty hunter would be given. That would be the end of it. If she had any hope of this dark haired young man helping her, it was gone when the other mentioned magic. She was going to be killed for magic, of course the people of the kingdom couldn't think too highly of it --
"There must be something we can do." Freya's eyes snapped up again at this, surprised at his continued concern. Merlin, she heard the old man call him. Freya wondered about him as they watched each other. She was still, but she knew the chaos and panic would show in her eyes. Just as clearly as the unexplainable worry showed in his, she thought.
The man called Gaius walked away after his warning and Merlin stayed for a few more moments before following him. Freya watched them go until they rounded a corner, and then returned to making sure it was impossible for her to escape. She pushed and prodded at the metal bars as far as she could reach and pounded on the wooden floor, strewn with straw, that she was sitting on. Nothing.
She sat back in the corner and lifted her shackled hands up to her mouth. Her heart was racing with the panic again as soon as she lost sight of Merlin, and she had no other choice, but -- could she do it? She hadn't used magic in so long, and she had never really been good at it. She closed her eyes and muttered something she thought was right, but no. Her chains didn't break, or move, or do anything at all. She tried again. Twice more. Four tries -- It was no use. She rested her hands on the ground in front of her with a blank face. Freya wasn't even sure if she was crying or not; the rain thundered on all around her, but it still wasn't enough to drown out the noises pouring from the tavern.
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Post by pie on Dec 30, 2010 17:18:58 GMT -5
He wasn't going to let her die.
Merlin waited impatiently after going to his room, standing by the door and listening silently for the noises that would let him know that Gaius was in bed. Finally he was convinced that the man was asleep, and he silently opened his door and creeped downstairs. He had to pause once as the physician groaned and rolled over, but when there were no signs that he would wake, Merlin left the room.
He wasn't too sure of why he was doing this; it was dangerous, he was suppose to keep his magic a secret, and he didn't know this girl. But then, that was the way Merlin was. He did what he believed was right, and damned the consequences -- he'd worry about those when they came. And right now, he wasn't convinced that this girl deserved to die just because she was a Druid and had magic. The Druids were peaceful people, why would someone purposefully go out to capture them and kill them? Surely this girl meant no harm, whatever had happened...
He quickly headed back towards where he saw the girl earlier, outside of The Rising Sun tavern, avoiding any guards that he crossed. Much to his relief, she was still there, and the Bounty Hunter hadn't left with her. There was still time to save her. Stepping lightly, he peered into the tavern door to make sure that no one was coming. He was instantly able to pick out which guy was the Bounty Hunter despite not having seen him before -- he just had that appearance about him.
Shutting the door, he walked over to the cage, wrapping his fingers around the bars as he stared at her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," he said. Hurrying to the other side, where the door to the cage was, he said, "Tospringe!" his eyes glowing gold before the cage door swung open. Wasting no time climbing into the cage to get to the frightened girl, he knelt before her. He reached out for her hands in a way that wouldn't frighten her, or, at least, let her know that he was trying to help her. Closing his eyes to concentrate, he mumbled, "Unspanne thas maegth!" and the cuffs fell off...
*Tospringe - Burst open/spring asunder
*Unspanne thas maegth! - Unfasten this maiden.
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Jan 18, 2011 5:37:48 GMT -5
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Post by dotdotdot on Jan 13, 2011 12:36:47 GMT -5
It was another half hour before she looked up and saw him there, walking quickly towards her cage. Freya absolutely couldn't believe her eyes as she saw him checking inside the tavern before returning to speak to her. Her heart raced when he said he wasn't going to hurt her. She was going to escape. She had to run back along the road until the very end, until midnight. She had to stop thinking about Camelot, to trick the Bastet to keep going away from Camelot. The distance she would be able to run as Freya was nothing compared to how quickly the Bastet would be able to run straight back.
In the seconds it took for him to reach the door of the cage, she was determined to thank him and disappear. But he had used magic to release her, and her thoughts swirled further into chaos. He had magic and he was using it to help her. She stayed still with wide eyes as he approached her. "Magic," she whispered, astounded. She hadn't seen proper magic almost since she herself had been able to perform it. Although she couldn't bring herself to smile, the beauty she found in the task took her breath away, even if only for a moment.
She watched his eyes turn golden as he unfastened her chains. She didn't know what to do anymore; the uncertainty and indecision in the middle of the panic allowed her only to do one thing. Freya followed this inexplicably kind person as he led her out of the cage. He helped her down from the cage and took her hand, leading her around and down to a crouching position. Although she thought it was impossible, her panic reached a new level when her bounty hunter stepped out of the tavern.
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