Don't Look Back [open]

[freyanyneve]

Freya was breathing raggedly through her teeth, the pounding of her heart nearly drowning out her footsteps on the soft forest floor. Though the knight that had been riding after her had had to give up his chase long ago because of the closing in of underbrush and jagged stones protruding from the ground, Freya was still running from the destroyed campsite of her druid friends. The knights had surprised them in the early morning hours and had tried to take as many prisoners as they could, ripping their tents and smashing their food as they went.

A chirping of a night-bird reminded Freya that she had long since needed to rest her bloody feet. The first large root she came to she collapsed upon, leaning her head back against the tree and propping her feet up. She felt sleep creep up on her as soon as she sat, and her head lolled to the side. The cares of her day and the fears of being caught slipped away from her and she fell into sleep.

[Keagan]

Keagan was running as fast as his two legs could take him. He did not trust strangers...Wait...That was a lie. He was far too trusting of anyone. But when men who bore the symbol of some sort of kingdom that thy represented and fought for, well Keagan would not stop to ask questions. While he doubted that Mercian soldiers had traveled this far from their home just to search for him, the idea of getting caught, and executed still terrified him. And so he fled. He would run and he would hide, but he would not give himself up. It was not bravery or irrational stubbornness; it was just an intense fear of being tortured or killed that made him run.

He was flying through the woods, pumped on adrenaline which was always an advantage. He was the one running for his life and they... well... he wasn't quiet sure what they were doing. In fact, he didn't even know if anyone was following, but did not stop long enough to find out. As he ran forward he turned his head to look behind him. To not watch where he was going was a very dangerous thing for an already clumsy person to do, and his clumsiness caught up to. He tripped over something, sending him flying to the ground face first and with the speed he had been running at, it was a rather hard fall.

He lay there for a few moments, face down in the dirt, trying to get over the shock of what just happened. He slowly dragged one hand through the ground to give him the strength and means to push himself up. When his face was lifted, he spit out a bit of dirt that had made its way in there. Goodness! His whole face was probably covered with dirt too! Oh well. This wasn't the first time. He turned his head to see what he had tripped over and that was when he saw it was not something ...but rather... someone!

[freyanyneve]

Freya woke up with a start, something knocking into her as she slept. After a moment of blind panic, she found the source of her rude awakening. A young boy with an extremely dirty face, although he looked around her age she still thought he was a boy, was lying on his belly in front of her, looking up at her with the same bewildered expression she was sure she had. She gulped, and slowly shuffling, backed away.

This day...it had been so long and tiring, that she could barely think about any of the important things, like the fact that he too, seemed out of breath and harried. Instead, she saw another person to run from, another reason to fly over the ground, as if the devil himself was after her. Though to her, it was nearly the same thing. As she was moving across the root of her tree, she tumbled over a protrusion, and fell back wards.

"Ungh," She grunted as her body hit the ground, "Oh -" Freya bit off a nasty word as it was part way up her throat, surprised and embarrassed all in the same second.

[Keagan]

Keagan watched her carefully as she stirred awake. He wasn't surprised. The impact after all had been enough to make him fly forward...it was most certainly enough to wake her up. She shared his alarm though and the two just looked at each other for a few moments. He noticed her begin to back up.... and then trip on a root. Keagan's eyes widened even more. Oh no! He had made her trip...twice! Now he felt even worse. Keagan was not sure what to do, so he began to crawl towards her a bit, but paused at a significant distance, not wanting to intrude her personal space.

He wiped the dirt from his eyes so he could see clearly. Now he had a nice clear line around his eyes and the rest of his face still stained with soot. "Are you...alright?" He inquired nervously, not sure what else to say before asking if she was alright. Oh! Maybe he should apologize. Yes. That was a good idea. "I am so sorry, I was not looking and running. Well first I was running and then not looking where I should have. I did not see you lying here, or sitting here, because you were sitting." He paused, still looking carefully at her. "Are you alright?" He asked again, deciding that was the most important thing right now.

[freyanyneve]

Freya sat up and grimaced at her scratched, dirty hands, which she quickly dragged down the front of her ragged brown dress to clean them. Standing cautiously, still watching him, she shook all of the leaves and dry dirt of her dress. Freya listened to him apologize and repeat things, and talk in a roundabout way. Now she was confused, he was doing most of the confusing himself, but the whole day was not much better. How had the knights found her camp, and why hadn't they followed her?

Once he had finished, she licked her lips in preparation of speaking, "I'm...fine." Was she fine? She did not think so, but a little lie would not hurt, especially if it got her away quicker. "It is alright, I was not watching where I was going earlier either." She had just spoken to a complete stranger, and had talked about herself! She must have hit her head somewhere on her journey, though she could not remember, not that she would if she had.

[Keagan]

When she stood, up, Keagan followed her actions, also rising to his feet for it would feel far too strange for him to just be sitting there peering up at her. That was when he got a good look at her. She looked like she had been wandering in the woods just as long as he had! For she too had dirt stained on her face and ragged clothing. Perhaps they had more in common than Keagan initially though! Or perhaps it was just his desperate state of mind to find a friend...somewhere in these vast woods. Either way they seemed to be having a conversation and Keagan was not about to discourage it. It had been days since he had talked to someone!

Well, a human anyway. he had a tendency to talk to the random wildlife in the forest. Mostly squirrels as they were the only ones to came remotely close enough to him. The rest were too fearful for being killed for food. Pulling himself out of this ramble in his head, he focused his attention back on the girl. "The fault is mine. You...weren't awake. I'm sorry to have changed that." He paused for a second, knowing his curiosity was going to get the better of him, yet again. "Why...are you in the woods all alone?" It was a sad thing to be alone and Keagan did not wish his similar lonely situation on anybody!

[freyanyneve]

Freya was a little taken aback by his question, she had hoped to avoid any personal ones. She twined her fingers about each other and twisted them in each other, nervous about her situation. "W-why?" She hesitated before going on, "Soldiers, knights- attacked our camp, and they were chasing me. I can't even remember how I got here."

Freya looked down at her bare feet, only just keeping her tears from running down her face. She wasn't usually an emotional person, but she had looked back as she was leaving the clearing. Shuddering, she sank back down onto her root, the thoughts would haunt her forever, she was sure. "I don't know if anyone else got away." She whispered softly. "I didn't think I would get away."

Freya looked back up to the boy, "Sorry, I'm Freya. You are?" Attempting a short and friendly conversation was sounding good to her. Now that she didn't have anyone to talk to, but she had to get away soon...

[Keagan]

Now Keagan was not the best at reading people, but she seemed very uneasy and he felt a bit bad for causing such discomfort. Had it been him? Had it been because he tripped over her and jolted her from her sleep? No wait... it probably had something to do with the fact that soldiers had attacked her camp. Oh. Oh dear! That was horrible! This shock was evident on Keagan's face, for he was not the best at concealing his emotions. "That's horrible! Why would they chase you? I mean, I know why they would. Or well...they shouldn't, but...I'm so very sorry to hear that!" It was horrible indeed! He had lost his family but not in terms of their death. It was why he carried the hope that one day, he would be able to return home..for he knew they would still be there.

But to hear the poor girl's story, well, Keagan knew how it felt all too well to be alone. He took a couple of cautious steps towards her, moving a bit slowly for he did not cause her further uneasiness. He then seated himself on the ground, across from her but still maintaining a significant distance between them. "My name is Keagan," he said with a bit of a smile, finding it hard to smile after hearing something so dreadfully sad. "Its a relief you managed to get away...but I'm sorry to hear about the others. Why...why would knights attack your camp?" He wondered. Weren't knights supposed to serve the crown and kingdom? Why would they attack a random seemingly innocent camp of people?

[freyanyneve]

Freya looked at the other's face, frightened for a moment of what she could tell him, and what her words could cause. After a moment of thought, however, her body relaxed, if he was here, on the run, then surely he was in a situation like hers...

"Why? Because...I have magic." Freya stated simply, now slightly less worried of her predicament. "My friends and I are...were, Druids. And the king doesn't like magic and its users, does he?" Freya twisted her lips ruefully, the king of Camelot wasn't really her king, just someone who ruled the lands she traveled on.

She rubbed a patch of dirt off her leg with an absent-minded look in her eyes, until she remembered that she wasn't alone. "So what is your story? I'm sure it's far more interesting than mine, I hope less unhappy?" She looked at him expectingly, really wanting a story that wasn't as mournful or depressing as hers was.

[Keagan]

Magic?! She had magic?! Now ordinarily that should not excite him as much...but she was a druid! While he had not practiced magic in his village, he knew that his parents were Druids. Just druids who had settled and hid their magic from most. So to hear that she was one, and that she openly admitted this, made him automatically trust. While Keagan did not have the sharpest instincts, he felt in this case, it was the right thing to do. Yes. He trusted her completely. At times that would be a mistake, but in this particular instance it would only make him be more open with her. "I have magic too!" He exclaimed a bit too excited about it perhaps. But he could not hide the thrill in his tone, nor the bright smile that formed on his lips. "Magic should not be punished. Its just...so very wrong for anyone to try to hurt you, or your friends!" He quickly added, not wanting to sound suggestive in anyway.

His story. Oh if only it were indeed a happy one. He wanted to tell her something to cheer her up and he figured blurting out 'I killed a man' was not the best way to do this! Still. She had just clearly been through something so traumatic and he did not want to tell her something that was less than happy! At the same time, he was a terrible liar. "I'm a druid too. Well, sort of. My parents were....are druids, since they aren't dead or anything. They are just back home in my village. I had to leave for," he said as he thought back to those few moments that forever changed his life. If she asked, he would gladly offer the information. If not, then he would keep things upbeat. "I have no destination in mind though. I'm just freely exploring the world! Where are you headed now?" He wondered. Even as he spoke, he kept smiling, trying to do what he could to bring the mood up a bit. Of course, the death of friends was not an easy thing to deal with. It would probably take a lot more than a smile and friendly words to help her move past the mourning process.

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