MewMew Is Not Impressed [Gwaine]

[Catalina Regalis]

It had started out like a day like any other for the two druid sisters. "Yes Samara, I know exactly where I am going." The blond haired druidess snapped uneasily as they headed further into the forests of Gwent. A sigh fell from Cat's older sister's lips and she clutched her young son Ramos in her arms. "Are you sure?" Samara was not stupid, she knew full well that questioning her younger sister would further irritate her but considering that they had been walking for what seemed like hours, the fact that they may be lost was becoming increasingly obvious. Yes they were druids and have traveled a great deal but Gwent was one place they didn't visit often so they didn't know the area all that well. That and Catalina didn't exactly have the best sense of direction. "Of course I'm sure, I know exactly where we are." More irritation and frustration on Cat's part, Samara was really not helping...

"Yeah, we're lost. That's where we are." Samara remarked sarcastically as she shifted her son on her hip. Blah blah blah. Cat rolled her eyes as she brushed stepped over a log and than took a seat on it. "Well then you take the lead if you know so much." The two sisters might have bickered more had it not been for Ramos' cries of protest. He was tired and wanted to sleep and he couldn't with the constant traveling as well as the fighting between his mother and aunt. Peering at her nephew, Cat's crankiness lessened and she walked over to her nephew and kissed him on the forehead. "I'm sorry little one, I know you're tired."

Looking up at her sister, she didn't have to verbalize her apology, it was in her eyes and her sister smiled and nodded. "Let's go Cat, I'm going to start crying next if we don't find our encampment soon and he's not as light as he used to be." Catalina couldn't help but laugh as she turned to start walking again. It was no surprise that her nephew would know exactly how to end their bickering. If that wasn't magic than Cat didn't know what was. "Next time we go out walking, we should bring your husband since he has a better sense of direction than either one of us do." Cat wasn't kidding either, Samara's husband always seemed to know exactly where he was regardless of whether he had been to that place or not. It was eerie and so would have been helpful at this time.

Their laughter was abruptly cut off the moment they entered a clearing that was currently being used as a camp for bandits. Oh yeah...definitely the wrong encampment.

The ruffians seemed to be just as shocked that the two women just wandered into their encampment as they sat sharpening their weapons. Catalina's main worry was not for her own safety but that of her sister Samara and her nephew Ramos. "Run!" She yelled and the two headed back into the thick of the woods with the bandits on their tail. Why was it always bandits? Like seriously?! Couldn't they have stumbled into the camp of a bunch of peace-loving minstrels or something like that? But nooo of course not, this was Catalina and that just wasn't her luck. Ramos was crying again though this was more out of fear and the dislike of being jostled around as his mother ran with him. This wasn't going to work... They were going to be overtaken in time unless Catalina did something.

"Keep going Samara, I'll hold them off." Of course Samara wanted to argue but she saw the determination on her sister's face and she nodded. Of course her heart went out to her sister but she had to keep her son safe, he was an innocent and had no way of protecting himself. Catalina did.

Wasting no time, Samara disappeared into the forest, hopefully she would find their encampment. With Samara gone, Catalina stilled herself for a fight and most likely her demise since there had to be at least seven or eight bandits that had been following them and probably more within the small camp. She could handle herself to a certain degree but she wouldn't kill anyone. Her spells would slow them down or incapacitate some of them but she couldn't kill them all. As she thought, it didn't take long before she was surrounded by the bandits. They made rude comments regarding her and what they would do with her. It scared her of course but she tried her hardest not to show her fear as she peered at those gathered around her. All that mattered to Catalina was that her sister and nephew were safe.

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Tags; Gwaine
Word Count; 828
Lyrics; "We Are” Ana Johnnson
Time-frame; Early Afternoon – Just Before 'Gwaine'

[shonz]

Gwaine was grumpily trampling his way through the forest on the way to the nearby village. He had been traveling on foot for a couple of days now, his bag on his back, as he went on his way. Traveling on foot was never easy, but Gwaine have had his good days when he could get himself a horse for long journeys. But he was never always with enough money to care for them that he usually ended up selling them for money and food. He wished someday he would own a horse that he could keep and care for for as long as he lived. He didn’t know if and when that would be possible though. The life of a vagabond is never certain. And vagabonds themselves are almost always destitute, with barely enough provisions to keep themselves alive for life. Gwaine had lived his life one day at a time, and he was always ready to face his death should the Fates will it to be.

He had just come from taking a peek at the castle of Caerleon in Gwent. He didn’t know what had made him decide to do that, but he just found himself being drawn there. While Gwent had been his home growing up, it held nothing but bitter memories for him now. After the King of Gwent had shunned his and his mother’s plea for help when his father, a knight in Caerleon’s army, died in battle, Gwaine had sworn never to acknowledge and forever abhor nobles for thinking of nobody but themselves. He may be a noble himself, but he’d rather be a vagabond if being a noble meant being selfish and greedy. He’d rather starve and wander aimlessly than forever be tainted by the cruelty that is almost often associated with the nobility. Thanks, but no thanks, Gwaine remembered telling his mother on her deathbed when she told him he should go back to Gwent and claim what was rightfully his.

Catching nothing but the turrets of the Caerleon Castle from afar, Gwaine tried but could never get himself to set foot on the city. Watching the walls and the citadels already brought an onslaught of all the memories he had made there, memories that had once been happy but were now diminished to painful ones that he thought he had already cast into oblivion. He was definitely in a sour mood now as he trampled one twig after another under his foot, moving through the forest with determination. He needed to get away from Gwent as fast as he could, and nobody better block his way out of there or delay him. He was not in the mood for fancy chit-chat or anything for that matter.

But like before, Gwaine never always got what he wanted. From ahead, he could hear sinister laughs and taunts but what was unmistakably a camp of bandits. He groaned as he tried to think of another way to get to his destination. He would have to take a detour, find a roundabout path away from the bandits. He was alone, and while he knew he could probably take on a few of them, Gwaine just didn’t feel like putting out a sword or throwing a punch to save his life. Yes, he’d have to find another path that would take him away from the bandits even though it would mean getting to his destination longer.

Just as he turned away from the sounds, he heard the rush of feet running frantically away from the group. His trained ears heard the slow and panicked gasps from a woman, and a small but distinct sob of a little child. Turning around, he saw through the trees the said woman clutching a bundle to her heart, trying to run away but still looking worriedly back at where the voices were coming from. From where he was standing behind a tree, Gwaine could see that no bandits were running after her, but she still looked as frightened as ever as she tried to comfort the child in her arms. Something was wrong here. “She’ll be fine,” he heard her reassure herself before she continued to run away again.

It didn’t take long for Gwaine to know that they had left someone there, with the bandits, someone who probably stayed to distract the scalawags in order for this woman and her baby to get away. Gwaine would have thought it to be the husband, but he knew it wasn’t the case when the woman clearly said “she”. All thoughts of avoiding the bandits left him as Gwaine's chivalrous self won over everything else. Pulling his sword out, Gwaine decided to go and see if he could rescue whoever it was who sacrificed herself for the woman and her baby.

[Catalina Regalis]

She was completely surrounded by the thugs at this point and there really seemed to be no escape for her. All she could be happy about was that Samara and Rhamos had escaped but what did that mean for her now? Would she die by their hands? No! She was a druid and she had magic. She didn’t believe in harming anyone, even if they wished to do harm to her but she was also not going to allow them to hurt her if she could help it. Her heart was racing as she tried to think on what exactly she was going to do as the ruffians surrounded her, grabbing at her and causing her to dodge their dirty hands. They were toying with her, Catalina knew this and in a way that was a good thing because it meant they weren’t planning on running her through with their swords. She had nothing of value and the men surely knew that but they were pigs and the lust that resonated in their eyes and body language was enough cause for concern. How was she going to get out of this situation without killing anyone?

It would figure her brilliant sense of direction would have led her to stumble across a camp of bandits, if she lived through this than Samara would never let her forget this. The ‘if’ was definitely the operative word at this point as she dodged yet another grimey hand that sought to snag hold of her wrist. They were closing in on her and it seemed that help was not coming over the hills in the form of her Uncle or the other druids. A spell, she needed a spell but even with a well-placed spell she wouldn’t be able to immobilize them all. If she could take down a few of them than she’d hopefully be able to run away and escape them. She surely knew the forest better than them… Well, one would think except it had been her lack of knowledge of the area that had placed her in this mess in the first place so perhaps that was a rather bold and foolish statement to make. Still, she was quick and would be able to escape if she got a lead on them. The question was how to get that lead. All in all, the distraction worked cause Samara had gotten away so at least that was good.

“We’ll take good care of ya.” One of them cooed at her as he reached forward to brush his hand against her face. She flinched back and he laughed, his black teeth showing as he did. He was disgusting, they all were. “Don’t touch me,” she snapped as she shrunk back from the lot of them. There was more behind her but she had already decided that if she was going to go down, she was going to go down fighting. Magic was not meant to harm others but she would use it to protect herself. “hrycg áhrisian.” She whispered, her hand extending towards the one who had tried to touch her. Her eyes flashed gold and she felt the spell take affect, blowing back three of the men who stood in her way. The look of surprise on their faces was absolutely priceless as they landed hard on their backs. It wasn’t a particularly powerful spell but it did it’s job. The ruffians surrounding her seemed to be completely taken aback at what she had just done. Foolish men just thought her to be a little lost girl. Their mistake.

Taking very little time to give them a time to react, Catalina took her chance and moved through the gap she had made as the others stood around as though unsure how to react. If only they could have remained in such a status but the moment their leader, whoever he was since Catalina didn’t look back to see, shouted for them to run after her, she could hear them behind her. “fealdan.” She yelled out as she ran, trying to concentrate as well as keep her pace constant. It wasn’t easy, running and casting a spell especially when she had to have such focus when using her magic but it seemed to do the job as vines grew forth from the ground to catch the legs of some of the men running after her, lessening the numbers that were still running after her. She had absolutely no idea where she was running to, all she knew was that she had to get a safe distance from the men or she’d be overtaken.

Avoiding tree branches and jumping over fallen logs was definitely not easy but she was lucky she was small and able to move quickly while those behind her were quite cumbersome. She could hear the sound of running water not too far off in the distance and hoped that it wasn’t a fast moving river so she could wade across it. Perhaps a creak or something like that but what she found caused her heart to sink. Breaking through the edge of the forest into a clearing, Cat found the river but it was beneath her, about a fifteen-foot drop for she now stood at the top of a cliff. She had led herself into a trap for the bandits who remained behind her. This was worse than having just been surrounded in the forest, now they had a cliff that she could fall off of if they felt the wish to push her off it. How was she going to escape this now? She wouldn’t beg, she wouldn’t plead for them to spare her life cause she knew full well how that ended. No, she’d keep silent and hope that she could think up another spell that her uncle taught her. Why did her mind seem to go blank at the worst time?

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Tags; Gwaine
Word Count; 1000
Lyrics; "We Are” Ana Johnnson
Time-frame; Early Afternoon – Just Before 'Gwaine'

[shonz]

The scene before him made Gwaine’s gut twist with disgust. He was now peering through a thick undergrowth just a few meters away from where the bandits were crowded around someone. It seems they were having the time of their lives toying with whoever it was who had offered to stay to protect the woman and the baby. Not the best of decision for a girl to be left all alone and defenseless in a crowd of rowdy bandits, Gwaine told himself. With a sigh, he mustered up enough courage and told himself that to stay and help was the right thing to do. Despite the rather large number of the bandits, Gwaine knew there was nothing to do but help her save the day, if he could.

It was hard to see through the back of the bandits what the girl looked like, but he knew she was there. As much as he wanted to rush out there and drag her away, Gwaine knew they’d be easily run over and captured. So he stayed where he was hunched behind the bushes, waiting for a perfect timing. His face turned into a grimace when a few men parted, and gave him a view of one of them reaching out to brush the girl’s face. He was glad that she was no whimpering maiden, and that she stood staunch and brave. Hopefully, helping her escape wouldn’t be such a difficult thing.

Gwaine was still trying to figure out the right move to make, when he suddenly heard a crash and saw three men being blown away from her. His head whipped back towards the cloaked girl and saw that she had extended her hand at them. Gwaine couldn’t help the small hoot issuing from his lips as if cheering for the girl. She has magic. She was definitely not that helpless at all. And then she ran.

Gwaine was immediately on his feet, too. As she increased her distance from the men, Gwaine took the opportunity to jump out of his hiding place and try to cripple as much of them as he possibly could. While half of the bandits had already ran after her, the ones who were trailing behind were too stunned to see Gwaine jumping out of nowhere. As Gwaine fought the men, he could hear shouts and some explosions in the direction where the girl had ran off too. Looks like she’s holding up on her own, Gwaine told himself. He didn’t know whether her magic was powerful enough to help her defeat these men on her own, but at least Gwaine had done his part in making her load a tad bit lighter.

Finally demolishing the bandits on his end of the fight, Gwaine rushed to where she was headed hoping to help her fight off whoever remained. She may have magic, but these men were cunning. He knew they would never let the girl go off the hook that easily. Gwaine wanted to make sure she was safe and sound just the same. As he trudged on towards her direction, he saw quite a few men all knocked down to the ground with vines around their feet. Neat trick.

He squatted down to inspect her handiwork when suddenly he heard a shout out of nowhere. He turned to see a thug brandish his sword at him, pointing it at his throat. “Who are you?” asked the thug. With a blade pointed at him, Gwaine thought it was best to fake it. “I’m one of the new guys. Just wanted to check if this one here’s okay,” he told the thug. Much to Gwaine’s luck, the clueless thug believed his little lie, and pulled his sword away. The moment he did, Gwaine was on his feet, and he immediately drove his own blade at the man. Before he could put his sword away, however, a couple more appeared, and Gwaine had to battle them off as well.

When he had finally subdued them, Gwaine wasted no more time and left the bandits cringing in pain behind him as he followed the remaining path towards where the girl had gone off to. He stepped over fallen logs and dodged a few low-lying branches before stepping through a couple of undergrowth to finally find her standing by a cliff. Gwaine heaved a relieved sigh to see her all safe. He looked around and listened to make sure there were no more bandits in pursuit, then he turned to her with a chuckle. “You’ve got quite a good grasp of your magic,” Gwaine remarked as he casually made his way towards her.

[Catalina Regalis]

It was no surprise that even in the midst of her own ordeal Catalina’s mind wandered to her sister and nephew. She had done this for them, to ensure that they would be safe. It wasn’t that Catalina had been so secure in her magic and control that she thought she could take the whole band of evil bastards herself, she was young but she wasn’t that stupid. It had been for them. To make sure no harm came to her innocent little nephew. The fact that may die because of that decision of course came to mind but she didn’t regret it either, she’d do it again if she had to. Not that one was given the option to die twice. Her relief that they had escaped last for a few moments before it was eclipsed with the fear that one of the swords that the bandits held so tightly would find it’s way into her back as she ran. She had her magic and she did well to protect herself but she could only do so much. The more worked up she got the less control she had on her magic and therefore the more danger she was in.

The fact that a handsome chivalrous stranger had been tromping around the forest as well and had decided to try and come to her aid escaped her notice completely. Not that he had made himself known until after she was running. She didn’t hear the commotion behind her, didn’t know of the blood being spilled in her beloved forest. Being a pacifist by nature, Catalina didn’t like anyone dying. Hence why her spells were more for her defense than used offensively. She didn’t want to really hurt anyone, even if they were evil men that wanted nothing more than to hurt her in terrible ways and then kill her. Regardless of that rather obvious fact, Catalina wouldn’t kill them. Not that she had to because it seemed that Gwaine was all too capable at doing that. Her panic was not helping her sense of direction or lack thereof at this point. She was so sure that she would be caught if she paused even for a moment to see where she was and so she simply ran blindly.

If only her Uncle were here, he would have known what to do. He would have been able to take care of these bandits without having to run like a coward. Actually, he wouldn’t have gotten himself into that situation in the first place. It was as Aldriv often said about his niece, trouble always seemed to have a way of finding her despite her best efforts to keep out of trouble. Tears brimmed in her blue eyes as she ran, wondering if she’d ever seem them again. She doubted it at this point. Especially when she came to the cliff. It was called a dead end for a reason…

Turning, she waited to meet with her end. Not that she’d make it easy for them of course but given her current position, there was no telling how it was going to end. Catalina expected them to all come at once, well the ones that hadn’t been caught in her spell with the vines but after a moment, no one appeared. Had they given up on catching her? Had her show of magic scared them all off? She hoped that was the case but it was highly doubtful. Still, not that she was complaining but where were they? Were they simply taunting her? Making her feel as though she had escaped them before swooping down on her all at once? Hell the anticipation was worse than them actually being there at this point.

Maybe she had escaped them… The hope that this was true was dashed when Gwaine made his entrance. One? Did they really underestimate her that much or was he canon fodder? It wasn’t as though she had seen all the bandits so it wouldn’t surprise her if she hadn’t seen him while she was running for her life. But the question was, where were the rest of them? He was quite handsome… No! He’s an evil bandit who wants to hurt her, he’s not attractive! She had to inwardly scold herself as she backed away from Gwaine. Perhaps he didn’t realize that she didn’t know he was an ally, all she saw was a bandit that wished to hurt her.

She was backed into a corner right now, in an almost literal sense and she had nowhere to go but through him. “You’ve got quite a good grasp of your magic,” His remark caused her stomach to tighten slightly and she looked over her shoulder at the water belong and than overheard at an outstretched tree branch hanging overhead. This was Gwent, not Camelot but some places might choose to follow suit after Camelot to get in their good graces and she didn’t need to be executed cause the bandits knew of her magic. Not like they wouldn’t know considering some had a nasty taste of it. Speaking of which… “Don’t come any closer.” She didn’t want to hurt him but she wouldn’t let him hurt her either. It was just one, she could handle one, especially when she wasn’t running. Focusing on the vine hanging loosely around the branch overhead, she whispered ancient words under her breath, her eyes flashing gold. Her spell took hold on the vine and caused it to drop down behind Gwaine, mostly likely without him noticing before it slithered around his handsom—no! Not handsome…. Bad! Around his ‘bad’ self like a snake that coils around it’s next meal. It wouldn’t squeeze him because Catalina didn’t wish to harm him but he would find it near impossible to escape from it.

In one sharp jerk, he would find his feet being jerked from beneath him and poor Gwaine would find himself hanging upside down in a vine-like cocoon, his head untouched by the vine…for now. “I already told your friends that I don’t intend on going with them.” He was so lucky she wasn’t the violent type though he most likely wasn’t feeling too lucky right at that moment.

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Tags; Gwaine
Word Count; 1034
Lyrics; "We Are” Ana Johnnson
Time-frame; Early Afternoon – Just Before 'Gwaine'
Comments; Hope you dun mind the slight god mod, lemme know if I have to edit.