Natural Duty

[Arthur Pendragon]

Such a day was not a common for the young prince. It wasn't the sunny weather -- for that was not unusual for the beautiful kingdom -- nor was it the fact that he was outside the city on a hunting trip. It was the fact that he was alone. Such a status was seemingly impossible. As a prince, he was expected to almost always be protected or at least not targeted by keeping the company of others. But sometimes, he just needed to get away from it all. He had told his servant that he was going on a hunting trip, telling him to use whatever excuse was necessary should anyone be looking for him. Clad in his hunting attire -- that which consisted of dark colored trousers, a red shirt, dark brown leather vest, and gloves -- he looked like an ordinary citizen. Which was what he wanted. True, he acted his arrogant self at times, but in reality, he cherished moments like these where he didn't have to be a prince. Just a man.

He had been riding for who knows how long. It was late morning and the weather was extremely agreeable. He slowed his horse to a halt as they approached a nearby stream, to give his companion a moment to take a drink and have a rest. Dismounting, he took hold of the reins and let his horse closer to the stream. The animal was trained enough so that it did not make a run for it, but Arthur stayed close, patting the stead's neck as it drank the refreshing liquid. Suddenly, a sound disrupted the peaceful silence. The sound of men. Arthur's head jerked in the general direction of these sounds, for they were not too far, but far enough that Arthur could not see the source of them. Quickly tying the reins on a nearby tree. he then pulled his sword from the holder on the saddle and slid it into his sheath.

Quietly and cautiously, he began to move toward the sounds. As he drew closer, he could hear a group of men, laughing about something. Taking the concealment of a tree so that he was hidden from view, Arthur could now finally see what was happening, and it did not make him hide for long. There was a group of men indeed, but they were standing around a young woman, who was dressed in a poor state and evidently afraid. Not wasting another moment, Arthur revealed himself, pulling his sword out and holding it up as he approached the scene. "Unhand her," Arthur stated, a natural authoritative tone to his voice. It didn't matter whether any of them recognized him or not. He refused to let these men torment her any longer.

_{Setting: In the woods
Time of Day: Morning
Timeline: Sometime between Season 1 and Season 2
Tag: Freya}

[morgana0pendragon]

It had been about a year sense the Druids kicked her out, because of her 'curse'. They had been nice enough to give her a horse and enough money for a couple meals, but sense then she had lost her horse and used up all her money. She had soled the last of her belongings a few days ago for her last meal, and her cloths had been warn down to threads. She didn't even know where her shoes went, Maybe she sold them for a nights rest? She couldn't remember.

Freya had been walking on the same trail sense dawn and thought it would be safer to pick a new one. She saw a small one that seemed to not get so much use, and decided to take it. It a beautiful morning and it seemed to get prettier the further she walked. For the first time in a long time Freya had forgotten her troubles. But she quickly found new ones when a man in a brown leather jacket holding a sword calmly stepped in front of her. Freya quickly looked behind her in hopes that he was alone, her hopes were quickly bashed. Two more of these men were emerging from there hiding places and began surrounding her. She then thought that she might be able to push past the man in front of her, but those hopes didn't last long either. Two more men were standing next to what seemed to be their leader.

Look what we have here men, a little Doe! The men that were surrounding Freya, immediately boomed with laughter. At that moment Freya was kicking herself for not learning any defensive spells from the Druids. Un hand her. The bandits stopped laughing and looked towards the trees where a young man with golden blonde hair, wearing dark trousers, red shirt with a brown leather vest, gloves, and holding a sword, was standing.I said Un hand her. It appeared that he was about to do something either incredibly stupid, or incredibly herioc. Sadly Freya would never now.
No, please just go away. She said with a quiver in her voice.

[Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur kept his ground. Unphased by the men's reactions of amusement at Arthur's command. Their underestimation of him however would most certainly work to his advantage. And as expected, the taunts began. The very cliche question from the leader of "And what are you going to do if I don't?" It mattered not being outnumbered, for he knew the way these kind of men fought. Without rule, without strategy. They aimlessly swung their sword with the hopes of hitting something. And that was why Arthur was confident. Because he had faced such men coutness times and he was still here, while they were not. What was unsual about this was the young woman's words. She told him to leave, seeming rather genuine. Did she fear the risk he was taking? Regardless, his mind did not even consider the possibility of complying. How could he possibly leave the woman at the mercy of these crude looking men? What kind of person would Arthur be if he did such a dreadful thing?

"I will not ask again," Arthur said, keeping his voice strong and confident. Unchanged by the man's threat. The one who seemed like the leader of the pack, chuckled, and uttered the words that Arthur had expected. "Kill him." With that, two of the men charged toward him. As predicted: aimless and unskilled in the way they fought. It took only a few swings of his own sword to unsword them and using the hilt of his sword, knocked them both unconscious. If he could avoid killing, he would. But he also would not hesitate if it was the only way to free this woman. The leader seemed agitated, and thus sent the remainder of his men at him. They proved to be a bit more of a fight, but not much of a formidable challenge. When they were dealt with, all that was left was the leader. Having kept a solid grip on the girl, he tossed her to the side and pulled his sword. Seemed they saved the most 'skillled' for last. If one could even call it skill.

He did prove to be more of a challenge, as the clanging of their swords filled the otherwise silent air. But it did not take too long for him to fall, only this time, Arthur pushed the sword into the man's chest, so when he fell, he would never rise. Arthur glanced around, catching his breath from the unexpected combat he had just faced. But seeing the woman, it was all well worth it. He put the sword back in his sheath and slowly walked toward the young woman. "It's alright," he said, crouching on the ground in front of her. "I'm not going to hurt you," he added. He proceeded to take off his vest, wanting to give her some additional warmth and comfort. He slowly reached out to give it to her, unsure if she would let him drape it around her shoulders himself. "What's your name?" He asked in a soft voice, his eyes quickly searching her face to see if there was any sign that she was severely injured.