How to save a life -- open

[Sinnihte]

Catching her lower lip between her teeth, the young woman pulled her cloak tighter around herself as she made her way through the crowded streets of Camelot, a shiver running up her spine despite the unseasonably warm weather. She wasn't used to such crowds...such noise. It was overwhelming, and she was sure it would show through her body language. She was akin to a fish out of water, looking entirely lost and alone amongst the crowd. It was incredibly dangerous for her to be here, in the great city of Camelot. For any of her kind, actually. Under the reign of Uther Pendragon, magic of all kinds had been outlawed, under the penalty of death. If anyone so much as suspected her of being a sorcerer...ah, but she didn't even dare think on it. Such thoughts would only detract from her focus and cause her to linger, putting her evermore in harm's way.

Exhaling shakily, Sinnihte reached up to brush a stray strand of dark hair out of her vision, tucking it neatly behind her ear. The bold emerald fabric of her cloak drew a fair bit of attention to her, and the druid found herself wishing she had opted for plainer garb for once. Rounding a corner, she spotted the tailor she had been in search of, releasing some of her pent up tension with an audible sigh of relief. Approaching the woman, she offered a small smile, going about the transaction as quickly as possible. All the time she was in Camelot, she felt countless eyes on her, the pressure of avoiding suspicion weighing heavily on her, as though she was carrying far more than just her small satchel. As soon as the coin and the goods had changed hands -- one of the druids had sustained a grievous injury, and they were in dire need of more cloth to fashion bandages from -- Sinnihte turned, grateful to be on her way out of the city. In her distraction, however, she had turned and walked directly into a guard -- one of the royal guards, by the looks of his brightly shining chainmail, and bold crimson and gold colours.

Gasping slightly as the wind was knocked out of her, she swallowed hard, voice trembling slightly as she begged apologies. Bowing her head in a sign of respect, she looked up at the knight, eyes wide. "Please forgive me, sir. I am a stranger to the city, not used to such crowds." When he demanded her name, she blanched for a moment, nearly slipping up and responding with the truth. "R-rose, sir," she eventually forced out. Her given name would have been sure to attract unwanted attentions, especially since it was from the language of the Old Religion. Perhaps even that would warrant her execution. The next question demanded of her was in regards to her business in the city. Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, she responded with near honesty, explaining that her brother had been injured while hunting, and she had needed to buy more cloth to bandage his wounds.

The guard eyed her for a moment longer, seeming to consider her story, before warning her to watch herself, and departing in a slight huff. "Thank the gods," she murmured under her breath, not even aware of her slip of the tongue. Hands still shaking, the druid tucked the bolt of cloth back into her satchel, making for the gates. She couldn't be away from this damnable city a moment too soon.

Tag: Open!
Words: 600
Notes: Drunken babble. Forgive me xP

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin de Archer was happier than she could remember being in quite a long time. The ring on her finger was still fresh on, and somehow the world seemed a lot brighter today. That probably sounded horribly cheesy, but somehow Caitrin didn’t care for once in her life. She was allowed to be happy, because in the not so distant future, she would be fashioning herself as Lady Caitrin Aubert. It hadn’t been long since Griff had proposed to her, and still she felt the flutter in her stomach from when he had asked her. She hated it in a way that he had this effect on her because no man had ever been able to cause it before. Griff was different though, no matter how cliché it was to say it, he was different, and he just made her feel complete. She’d been blundering through life, not caring about settling down, or even about marriage, but then he’d walked into her life and everything had changed. Not that this was a bad thing of course, Caitrin couldn’t be happier than what she was feeling now, and she didn’t want to come down from this state of euphoria, though she knew she would have to eventually.

At the moment she was collecting herbs for her stocks. She was constantly supplying her Uncle with cures for his headaches at the moment and she was starting to grow tired of it. Caitrin had told him many a time that if he simply stopped drinking then he wouldn’t have such a problem with his headaches. Caitrin knew she was right, even if her Uncle wouldn’t accept it. Stubborn as ever, her Uncle had point blank refused to stop drinking and had sent her out to gather more herbs. She had chosen to get them from the market so that she could pick out some ribbons for her dresses at the same time. After all, she wanted to look her best for her fiancée. It felt strange knowing that now at court she would be known as an engaged woman, rather than a single one. She had been as free as the wind at court for many years now, but she had to show some commitment to her husband to be now, and to mature a little bit. It couldn’t be that hard could it?

She had a woven basket which she was carrying along down the market stalls with her. She had picked out some rather expensive looking scarlet ribbons to match one of her dresses. She’d got some blue ribbons as well for her hair, and overall she figured that it would all compliment her looks. Caitrin was quite happy with her purchases on the whole, and now she had got the herbs as well she was even happier. Perhaps if her Uncle’s headache was beaten off for a few hours then his temperament would be a little sweeter than it usually was. Caitrin lived in hope that one day that would be true. Running her hand through her hair with her free hand, she smiled and began to step away from the market stalls, towards the main gate so she could make her way home. She hadn’t brought her horse today, instead she’d decided to just enjoy the walk. As she began to make her way away from the main city, Caitrin was nearly out of the main gate before she clumsily bumped into another woman. Caitrin flew to her feet, her basket spilling out it’s contents in the process. She sat up quickly, and rubbed the arm she had fallen on, it was bruised, nothing more. Her attention quickly turned to the woman she had knocked into, “Are you alright? I’m so sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

[Sinnihte]

Keeping her head down, gaze focused intently on the ground, Sinnihte pulled her cloak ever tighter around herself, taking special care to cover her dark tattoo. A quick glance up revealed she had nearly made the gates, was almost out of the damned city, nearly safe. A soft sigh of relief escaped her lips as her gaze fell back downwards, her posture relaxing as freedom seemed imminent. Of course, no sooner had this thought occurred to her, than she found herself on the ground, knocked over. In her haste to escape, it seemed she had run straight into someone. Eyes widening, she scrambled to her feet, a bit shakily, hurriedly gathering up the supplies the other woman had dropped. Once the items had all been returned to the woven basket, she finally chanced a glance upwards.

Her breath caught in her throat as she laid eyes on the other woman for the first time. Her skin was pale as moonlight, and just as flawless, and her copper hair shone brilliantly in the sun. In short, she was gorgeous, and beauty like that was rarely seen outside of noble families... Neither was the distinct combination of red hair and green eyes. Hand instinctively covering her tattoo, she forced a smile, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry," she rushed out, trying not to appear too panicked. "It's entirely my fault," the Druid assured the other woman, casting a quick glance around to see if any of the guards had noticed the commotion. She was fairly certain that she as already on thin ice as far as they were concerned.

Shifting her gaze back to the woman in question, she caught her lower lip between her teeth, brow furrowing in concern as she noticed the way the woman touched her arm -- the one she had fallen on. Cocking her head to the side, she set her own satchel on the ground, rummaging around in it for a moment, before grabbing a few bunches of herbs. "Your arm...are you hurt?" she asked softly, eyeing the elder woman up and down, searching for any other possible injuries. "I can help the healing process along, if you'll allow me," Sinnihte offered, small smile spreading across her features. If she had caused the injury, it was her place to do what she could to mend it. Within reason, of course. There was no way she would be foolish enough to use her magic on a noble, even if it was in their best interest. "I'm a healer at my camp," she elaborated, reaching her hand out, but stopping a few inches short of actually touching Caitrin, silently requesting permission. "My name is Sinnihte."

It seemed as though she couldn't stop the babble of words that rushed from her mouth even if she had wanted to, and before she knew it, she'd thrown out two potential clues towards who she really was. Putting her life on the line in the process. This is why she didn't like the city. It made her nervous. Flashing another small smile, she rolled on her heels, shifting her weight as she waited with baited breath for the woman's response.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin couldn’t believe she had been so clumsy she had just walked into the woman while she had been in her own little world. It wasn’t like her to be so distracted, usually she was quite down to earth and used to being aware of her surroundings. However, she was finding it hard to come down from this euphoria that her husband to be had given to her. Knowing she would one day be his wife, and be by his side was enough to warm her heart in a way that it could never be cooled. Once again she was getting distracted, but she blinked and started to collect the items that had spilt out of her baskets. It was only a few different herbs and ribbons, but still she wanted to keep firm hold of them. Caitrin shoved her ribbons back in the basket, and looked up as she saw the woman was helping her to gather her supplies.

She waved away the woman’s apology, it wasn’t her fault, it was Caitrin’s for not paying attention. She hadn’t been paying attention to anything around her and she had run into the woman. “No, I should have been looking where I was going.” Caitrin excused herself with a soft smile and sat down next to her basket, making sure she had gathered everything off the floor before she thought to move. No one passing seemed to pay them much heed, but everyone was caught up in their own worlds as well, and it was clear neither woman was hurt anyway. “I’m sorry, are you alright?” She asked brightly as she began to start to stand up, she couldn’t just sit on the floor anyway. She didn’t pick up her basket right away though, she was too busy nursing her arm. It was stinging, but it was little more than a bruise so Caitrin wasn’t that concerned about it. Standing up allowed her to look over the woman properly. She had quite dark hair and eyes to match, to most men she would be seen as quite the catch in Caitrin’s opinion. Her eyes almost drew you in, and the way she spoke told Caitrin she wasn’t speaking to one who would bring her harm, or perhaps she was being too trusting.

Caitrin watched the woman looking at her arm, and bit her lip slightly, “I think it’s just bruised.” She said rather hopefully but as she tried to stretch it it continued to hurt. Maybe she’d pulled one of the muscles in her arm in the fall, “But you can have a look at it if you want?” She asked gently, inclining her head as the woman introduced herself. “My names Lady Caitrin.” She said rather mildly and just smiled at the woman, “Camp?” She repeated rather curiously, “Why, where are you from?”

[Sinnihte]

A small smile tugged upwards at the corners of the young woman's lips as the woman insisted on shouldering the blame herself, saying she hadn't been paying enough attention to where she was going. Although, the exact same thing could be said of Sinnihte herself, so she allowed herself a soft laugh, shaking her head, before responding. "Perhaps we should agree to share the blame," she suggested, eyes alight with mirth, "otherwise we'll be here quite awhile." She was still rather wary of this unfamiliar woman, but there was something about the way she spoke and acted that went miles towards putting the druid at ease, and as continued to speak, Sinnihte found herself relaxing. "I'm fine," she assured the red haired woman with a soft smile, "there's no need to apologize."

She caught the other woman's eyes briefly, before shifting her gaze slightly, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she was seemingly inspected, fingers still hovering over the spot where her tattoo lay beneath her cloak. A nervous habit, but one that had served her well in the past. The druid cocked her head to the side slightly, her own gaze traveling the length of the other woman's figure, habitually trying to glean any information she could. The soft smile that had dominated her features faltered as she watched the redhead attempt to stretch her arm, insisting that it was merely bruised, but her expression betrayed the fact that she was still in pain.

"I'd be more than happy to, of course," she replied, just as gently, nodding as if to affirm her words. Her eyes widened slightly as the other woman introduced herself -- it turned out that her suspicions about the woman being of the nobility proved true. "I-it's an honor to meet you, my lady," she murmured, bowing her head in respect. She may not put much stock in the nobility and hierarchy herself, but she knew better than to go around disrespecting anyone of status. Not that she made a habit of being disrespectful to anyone, really.

Pausing for a moment, Sinnihte chose her words carefully before answering. "I can't really say that I'm 'from' anywhere," she offered, with a bit of a wry smile. "My...family. We've always traveled. Ever since I was young..." she trailed off, eyes staring off into the distance as she was momentarily lost in thought. Coming back to the present, she shook her head, "forgive me, I digress." Fingers finding their way to the hem of her cloak, she picked idly at a stray thread for a moment, "at the moment, we've made camp in the forests just outside of Camelot," she explained with a nod, not quite sure what else to say. "Is there...somewhere a bit less busy we could go?" she questioned, biting her lower lip once more, a bit nervous if truth be told. "So that I can make sure you're not injured?"

[Caitrin de Archer]

Sharing the blame sounded like the most logical option. Caitrin was quite stubborn, so no doubt unless they shared the blame they would just be sat here all afternoon about who was actually to blame. It was an amusing thought, and no doubt in doing so they would attract quite a lot of attention. Caitrin smiled to herself but nodded all the same, “I think that is wise.” She replied to the young woman who she had bumped into. Well, at least the woman was unharmed, and excepting what Caitrin assumed was a bruise on her elbow, she believed she would be fine as well. She had suffered worse before, and she was sure she would suffer worse in her future, after all, there always seemed to be something around the corner in Camelot. “Well at least you are unharmed my Lady.” Caitrin replied brightly and politely, she wasn’t sure what sort of birth the woman was yet, so addressing her formally seemed like the right thing to do.

Though Caitrin noticed the woman holding her arm, she didn’t say anything about it, because if there was something troubling her she doubted the woman would want to tell her anyway. Caitrin did try and shift her arm again, and though she could move the bone it still ached, maybe she was just in shock or something. The last thing she needed was to injure it, she had too much to do to have her arm slung up for a week or so. She was a busy woman, and she had thing to sort out. There was a wedding to plan after all. Her ring was still on her finger, so at least she hadn’t lost that in the fall, that was the most important thing for the moment in Caitrin’s head, despite the pain in her arm.

She wasn’t sure what to think of the woman helping her, she supposed she felt a duty to as they had collided with each other. She wasn’t going to protest because if she could offer her some counsel it would save her a trip to the physician, and that was time she could spend doing other things. Caitrin bowed her head at the woman, she sometimes didn’t mind being called just Caitrin, but perhaps for now she would retain her title. “It is a pleasure to meet you too.” Though the woman hadn’t actually introduced herself, hmm, that was slightly irritating. “What may I call you?” She asked gently, not wanting to scare the woman or make her feel uncomfortable.

A camp? Caitrin had only heard of vagabonds and of course Druids who kept camps. She didn’t want to label the young woman as either, as both were incredibly dangerous labels in Camelot. She held her breath for a moment as she nodded. Caitrin would never seek to see harm come to anyone else who held sorcery, as she was a sorceress herself, though no one could ever know that. Not even her fiancée knew she had sorcery. The latter question was the one Caitrin chose to focus on, “We could just step out into the fields? The city is too busy to find a spot of respite, but outside the walls it is quite quiet.”