Jumping At Shadows

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin Aubert hugged her knees closer to her body and rested her head on them as she looked out of the window. All she could see was her reflection, which was a sorry sight at best at the moment, as past that there was just the night which had fallen a lot swifter than usual. It was one of Caitrin’s more unusual days, she didn’t feel particularly like herself. She had not even risen to her Uncle when, earlier in the day, he had come into her complaining once more that he suspected Griff had been sneaking supplies from his wine store. She just really wanted to be left alone for the moment, and hardly anyone could ever know why.

It had been a year since Morgana had fallen, of course this was not the source of Caitrin’s anguish, no quite the opposite. She had been overjoyed when Arthur had returned to Camelot, as she always believed that he would. Even though Morgana’s rule had been short, it had taken its toll on everyone; Caitrin included. She usually wasn’t one for self-pity, and she certainly wasn’t going to make a habit of it but as she placed a hand on her belly she just sat and watched her reflection as she remembered the child which she had lost on this day a year ago.

She shifted her position slightly; she was seated on a window seat in her bedroom with a torch blazing beside her on the wall. She mentally slapped herself, no, it was hers and Griflet’s bedroom, though he was not here at present. Caitrin had retired soon after dinner, leaving her husband and Uncle to do whatever they did when she was not present, which was probably very little. She knew she had a great deal to be happy about, but the events which had taken place a year ago had rather shrouded her judgement about what she should be feeling. It had eaten her up for weeks after she had suffered the miscarriage, perhaps she would have even acted differently towards Morgana if she had realised she was with child at the time. She would have done anything to protect hers and Griff’s child. Only she hadn’t done everything she could to protect the child, she’d put herself in the way of Morgana’s wrath, and in retrospect it had been such a stupid thing to do. The physician had told her the stress of the whole event had caused the miscarriage, which made it harder to comprehend in a way.

Caitrin blinked a few times at her reflection as she tried to get rid of the urge to cry. It just wasn’t her and she didn’t like it one bit. She wasn’t going to cry because she had already wept enough. Instead she ran her sleeve over her eyes and sighed out, mentally telling herself to stop being so stupid. It didn’t feel like she was being stupid, even though she knew she was. Caitrin just needed reassurance now, she needed help just getting past this day and back into the routine of her normal life.

She needed Griflet.

Timeline: During 'The Darkest Hour'; the first night of the Dorocha attack on Camelot
Location: The de Archer Manor
Time of Day: Evening
Tags: Griflet Aubert
Music: Iris- Goo Goo Dolls[/size]

[Griff Aubert]

This was not the first time Griff Aubert thought Caitrin was being selfish for going to bed early. It meant he was left in the company of Rouland de Archer alone. His wife's uncle was probably the most infuriating man in all creation, and that was with Griff fully recognising his own abilities to infuriate even the most stoic of men. In the three months that he and Caitrin had been married he'd already decided he really, really didn't like being left alone with Rouland. It wasn't that he didn't like the man, he just constantly on edge around him. Rouland made him feel uncomfortable, and knew it, and was probably amused by it.

Both men were sat rather awkwardly in Rouland's, having finished their dinner and now obliged to make conversation. It was quite obvious that it was happening out of convention rather than a desire to actually converse with one another. Griff would never have thought Rouland would be one for following convention, especially one as menial has having a drink- oh wait. Of course he followed a convention where drink was involved. It was obvious now.

Having declined a goblet of wine - which in hindsight had been a mistake - Griff was now sat with nothing to distract himself with. Rouland was staring at him. The man had a habit of looking at Griff with a look of disappointment, or that was what it looked like to Griff anyway. He just wanted to leave now. "I erm...I wonder what is wrong with Cait, she seemed fine at dinner-"

And then it him like a punch in the face. How could he have been so stupid, how could he have forgotten? He leant against the door, far too nervous to go in. There was nothing he could say to Caitrin, nothing in the world. While he had been throwing his life away on drink and women she had been locked away in the dungeons, alone and suffering. He couldn't imagine what it had been like. He'd never known anything like what she had been through. Sure, he'd suffered in life, who hadn't? But the point was that she shouldn't have, especially when he was supposed to protect her. He'd known Morgana had taken over Camelot, he'd known that meant Caitrin was probably in danger for her loyalty to the king, and yet he had done nothing. It was further proof of his cowardice. He couldn't do what she had done, he couldn't try and save her. So instead he'd made himself not care again, or tried to at least, and while he was drunk and laughing and ignoring everything, she had lost a child, their child.

He let himself slide down the wall, now sitting on the floor, and ran a hand through his hair and over his face. Just on the other side of the door Caitrin was alone, and feeling God knew what, and he had to go in there and make everything all right. It was his job - he was her husband. Normally he would have just ignored this, pretended nothing was wrong at all and carried on. He was an expert at ignoring his feelings, which was probably what got him into so many messes. This was something he couldn't surpress however. He had lost a child, one he hadn't even been aware could have existed until it was too late. He'd left and let Caitrin deal with everything by herself, and even now he was leaving her to save himself. If he didn't go in the room he didn't have to think about it. He didn't have to see her, he didn't have to feel the loss. If he just walked away he could ignore everything.

And then what would he do? Could he really leave his wife, the woman he loved more than anything in the world just because he could never cope with his emotions? Could he leave her to grieve alone? Of course not. It was true that Griff Aubert had always been a coward, he'd always ran away from things he could ignore, things he didn't like. But he'd lost Caitrin once before because of his own stupidity, he wasn't going to lose her now because of his cowardice. His own suffering didn't matter anymore, not when he was needed.

He stood up and took a deep breath, stared at the door for one second, two seconds and then forced himself to knock. He wasn't running away this time. "Cait? It's me, can I come in?"

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin was still watching her reflection in a rather idle way. It occurred to her how few moments in the day she got to herself anymore to just set and think. Perhaps in retrospect this had been a bad idea. When she had been with her Uncle and Griflet she had forced herself to put on a brave face, and pretend that nothing was wrong. Now because Caitrin was alone, she didn’t have to adhere to any pretence, so all her feelings were coming to ahead.

One of her hands was still on her belly and she squeezed the flesh slightly with the tips of her fingers. It hurt more knowing that by now, if the child had survived, that he or she would be here with its mother and father rather than occupying nothing more than Caitrin’s occasional thoughts. She pressed her eyes together tightly, no, it wasn’t meant to be. She’d told herself that so many times she had actually lost count. There were many things which she had tried to tell herself in vain, and that was just one of them. Of course another was that it was perfectly normal for her to not have conceived again. In a sense that terrified Caitrin most of all, that she had lost hers and Griflet’s child and she might not be able to conceive again. She was not one for believing in acting like the dutiful wife, but she wanted to be able to one day give Griflet a child, and for them to be like normal families. Why was nothing in her life just normal?

The events of last year were so vivid in Caitrin’s mind that they could have happened yesterday. She had gone to Morgana knowing she was alone; totally alone. Her Uncle had abandoned her to her fate, and Griflet well, he hadn’t been there and that was all that mattered in Caitrin’s eyes. It had taken her a long while to forgive him for not being there when Morgana had taken over Camelot. Caitrin had defended him fiercely to Morgana, and she did not regret that in any way, she just felt like she had needed him there. She had never felt like she had needed anyone, but when she had been on her own in the dungeons, she had needed him then. Of course he had returned just after Morgana’s fall, but by then it was too late. Her Uncle had sent for the physician as soon as Caitrin had keeled over with pains to her belly. He’d been too late to help her, and the only thing he could tell her was what she, by then, already knew; she’d lost a child.

Caitrin jumped as there was a knock at the door and she stared at the door for a moment, almost confused before Griflet spoke. She blinked a few times as her mind worked through the transition from her memories to the present. Caitrin did not shift her position from huddling by the window ledge but did carry on just looking at the door. She hadn’t been sure whether Griff would follow her upstairs eventually or just leave her to it, after all they had enough spare rooms for him to set his head down for the night. She sniffed back and ran a hand through her hair, realising how long she had been silent for. For a moment she didn’t want to let him in, she didn’t want anyone to see her like this; this wasn’t her and it just felt uncomfortable. However he was her husband, and if there was anyone who should see her at her worst, it was him.

“It’s not locked.” She said softly. As Caitrin heard the latch on the door flick open, accompanied with Griflet crossing the threshold into their bedroom; she turned her head once more so that she was just looking at her reflection. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to look at her husband because she was angry, no it was the opposite. She didn’t want to look at him because every time she did she felt a surge of guilt rip through her; it had been his child she had lost as well. It had been her fault, all of it. If she hadn’t been so bloody stubborn she could have been home the same night as the day Morgana’s men had taken her to Camelot and the child would have been unharmed.

Caitrin had done a good job of keeping it together so far today, she’d even sat through both Griflet’s and her Uncle’s complaints about each other. She’d just carried on as normal, as if nothing had ever happened, but now she had granted herself those few moments alone she felt all the emotion from a year ago returning and now she could feel herself struggling to choke back her tears. She forced herself to look up at Griflet, her eyes were red where tears were threatening to fall but none had yielded just yet. “I’m so sorry.” It was more like a whisper than anything else, but she needed to shift this guilt. The miscarriage had been her fault, or at least that was how she felt and she ran a sleeve over her eyes, wiping away the moisture on her cheek. “It was all my fault.”

[Griff Aubert]

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He found Caitrin on huddled on the bed, much like he had expected. Biting his lip he walked forward and sat next to her, immediately putting an arm around her and drawing her closer. She wasn’t looking at him, and Griff couldn’t quite figure out why. Was she angry with him? It would be perfectly reasonable; she had every right to be angry at the man who had abandoned her.

They just sat for a few minutes, Griff desperately trying to think of something, anything to say which would make everything better. He hated seeing her like this, so vulnerable and unlike herself. In his naivety he had thought Caitrin to be a much harder individual than her. She was always so strong and in control and nothing bothered her and she was always, always alright in the end. It was only recently he had realised just how stupid an assumption that was to make. They were both bumbling through life, ignoring and hiding their emotions which was all very well and good until something like this happened.

Well, for the moment at least, that was exactly what Griff was going to do. He couldn’t help Caitrin if he was a mess himself, so he swallowed hard and repressed everything other than the desire to comfort his wife. He ran a hand through her hair, still holding her close to him and wishing the right words would come to him.

She spoke first, however, and her words cut right through him. For a moment all he could do was stare incredulously back at her. How could she possibly think any of this was her fault? If anything it was his, he was supposed to protect her, not let her suffer because he was scared. His hand moved to cup her face, thumb brushing against her cheek. He just looked at her, trying to understand why she thought it was her doing. “Nothing is your fault.” He said eventually, pulling her into a full embrace. “Understand? Nothing.”

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin could not recall having felt anything like this since she had suffered the miscarriage. It wasn’t like her to sit by herself and to want to be as far away from society as possible. She was usually so good at keeping everything inside. She’d never shown her anguish from being unable to practice her gifts, she’d never told anyone about what had happened in the inn between her and Vortigern and in her general day to day life she could usually pretend nothing was wrong, and that she was her usual stubborn, free spirited self. In this matter however, she just couldn’t pretend to Griff that she was alright because she was anything but.

The silence which followed her words really wasn’t helping and she covered her eyes for a moment with her sleeve, trying to prevent herself dissolving into tears. He knew she wasn’t usually like this, which made it easier to show her emotions to him on this occasion. Griff hadn’t been there when she’d lost the child, no one had. She had never felt so alone than she had in those hours. However, with him now holding her close she knew that he was here now, and that he would understand her grief.

As Griff cupped her face, she locked her glossy eyes with his. His touch was warm and comforting, and it just reiterated the point that he was here now. Caitrin had never, at any point in her life prior to meeting Griff, believed in love, but she was a true convert to the topic. The thoughts of their child, the one she had lost, was still at the forefront of her mind and the fact that she loved Griff as she did made it harder to accept what had happened. She wouldn’t have cared it was out of wedlock, she would have carried the child full term and delivered them into the arms of their father. Of course that was all a distant day dream for her, but she felt safer now that Griff was here too. Nothing could harm her when she was wrapped up in his embrace.

Caitrin faltered as Griff spoke, she went to reply but she just couldn’t find the words. Tears were choking the back of her throat so she pressed her lips together to stop them flooding out. As he pulled her into a full embrace she just let herself fall into it. She moved her hands so that she was hugging his middle and placed her head on his shoulder. She needed this, she just needed some stability and to know that everything was going to be alright. Caitrin buried her head into his shoulder and closed her eyes for a few moments. She had managed to convince herself so wholly that the miscarriage had been her fault that any other explanation was hard to comprehend. Caitrin held him slightly tighter than she probably usually would but she just wanted him to stay there.

Something stirred within the pit of Caitrin’s stomach, and she felt her tears begin to roll down her pale cheeks. Caitrin still had her head buried into Griff’s shoulder so consequently she was slowly dampening the shoulder of his shirt. Her tears weren’t just dedicated to their lost child, they were driven as well by her simple desire to bear a healthy child to complete their family. In reply to his words, Caitrin nodded her head slowly into his shoulder. She knew she could not have prevented the miscarriage, at the back of her mind she knew it was not her fault, but that didn’t stop her being upset about it. After some time of them sitting in silence Caitrin finally cleared her throat, though tears were still rolling down her cheeks. “It was our child.” She whispered rather helplessly, she wasn’t even sure why she was saying it. Perhaps she was just trying to justify her grief to them both, and with a hint of fear in her voice and features she continued, “What if I can’t bear children anymore?”

[Griff Aubert]

Griff was at a complete loss as to how to answer her. He had no medical knowledge and was therefore in no position to tell her whether conceiving another child would be possible or not. Simply telling her everything was going to be alright was hardly going to be reassuring, they both knew there was no way of knowing that.

He bit his lip in an attempt to repress his own emotions. It was true he had lost a child too, one that he had not even known could have existed until it was lost. He was in no way prepared to be a father, he could barely look after himself, and if Morgana's rule had taught him anything it was that he couldn't look after Caitrin either. Even so, he couldn't ignore the pain he felt when he thought about the baby, not only for Caitrin, but for himself as well. He bit down harder, managing to draw blood, but that didn't matter. He wanted everything to go away, the guilt, the pain, the loss, he wanted to block it all out and focus on Caitrin. She'd suffered enough because of him before, he wasn't going to let her continue to suffer now because he was too absorbed in his own feelings.

"We'll be alright, Cait." His words were a lot more convincing than he thought they would be, but he didn't need to convince himself, he needed to reassure Cait. He needed her to know that no matter what happened he would always be there for her. "Whatever happens, I promise you, we'll be alright."

[Caitrin de Archer]

Griflet’s words were more comforting than Caitrin would have ever thought them to be. They were said in such a convincing way that she was inclined to believe him in those few moments. She’d been so lost in her grief she hadn’t really considered that they could still one day have the family she envisioned, and that they would all be fine. She was still holding onto Griflet and she settled herself inside his embrace and just stayed there as her grief ran its course. She wanted to just stay like this for as long as she could, just wrapped up in her husband’s arms because she felt safer somehow. However she knew she could not, she knew she had to show him that she was feeling slightly better somehow.

Caitrin eventually pulled back from Griflet and began to wipe her eyes on the cuff of her sleeve. She wasn’t going to cry anymore, she’d already made her feelings known and it wasn’t going to bring back her baby so there was no more use in them. In retrospect, she wasn’t even sure if she was ready to be a mother. True, she had grown up a lot in the last few years and she was certainly more mature than when she had first met Griflet but was she ready yet to actually be responsible for another little life? She was sure she would know when the time came, but she did not have to face it yet.

After all, Caitrin still had her husband, Griff was still here with her. When her eyes were dry she finally set them back up at him, he probably didn’t know how much she appreciated him just being here for her. He had made her feel better, she had got herself into such a state over losing their child that she hadn’t really been thinking about much else. She raised herself to Griff’s level and gave him a small kiss before just resting her forehead against his tenderly before she spoke. “We will be alright, won’t we?” She asked him gently, even giving him a small smile, just to show how much he really was appreciated.

At that moment there was a shrill scream from outside and Caitrin jumped, her eyes widening and she looked across at Griflet, not really sure what to say. Were they under attack? Was someone in the house? She was struck for a moment with fear, what if it was Morgana’s men again? That would be all she needed, to come under attack by that witch again. “Did you hear that?” She asked him quickly, just to make sure she actually wasn’t going crazy and hearing people screaming. How fantastically convenient that they were both also completely unarmed, they never really thought this through did they? Well, Caitrin wasn’t completely unarmed, but Griflet didn’t know that; nor could he ever really.

There was almost an eerie silence following the scream and Caitrin just stayed very still, almost expecting something to happen but nothing did. She breathed out slowly, then looking back to her husband, “Should we go and see what it was?” Really it could have been anything, she had been so caught up in her grief that anyone could have rode to the house and she wouldn’t have heard a thing.

[Griff Aubert]

Of course he'd heard that, it would have been impossible for him not to have heard that. It sounded suspiciously like something not good. In his experience, those sorts of things usually sounded like something not good because that was exactly what they were. He'd been in Camelot long enough to know that it wasn't the safest of places, and when people started screaming that was a good indicator of when you should leave. This logic, however, was not going to satisfy Caitrin. "No." He lied, not thinking for a moment that she was going to believe him.

“Should we go and see what it was?”

No, no we shouldn't, Griff thought. No one should ever knowingly travel towards a scream, especially not one such as the one they had just heard. He sighed. What Caitrin meant to say was "I want you to go and see what that was." This wasn't going to end well, that much was obvious. Pulling himself up he slowly walked to the door, convinced that this was going to be a bad move. But he was there now, and it wouldn't do to back down now. Besides, if he didn't open the door Caitrin would.

He paused before putting his hand on the handle, trying to convince himself that nothing was going to happen. It wasn't working. Oh to hell with it. His hand grabbed onto the handle, a little too tightly and he pulled it open, almost hitting himself in the face with it in the process.

Right. That explains the screaming. His first reaction was to slam the door shut and try to pretend he'd just been imagining or hallucinating or something. Whatever he'd seen...that wasn't...right. He had no idea what it was, he hadn't given it a good enough look. Only a few seconds was enough to convince Griff that the...aparition?...was something he didn't want to be staring at. "Let's stay in here. For a long time. A very long time."

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin had lived in Camelot long enough to know that the City was usually under attack from one thing or another. But that was it, it was usually the City. There had only been a few times that her estate had been under personal attack; Morgana’s takeover of course being the more distressing of the lot. She rolled her eyes as Griff replied, saying that he had not heard the scream. She nudged his arm with a small fist, as if almost urging him to go and see what it was. She knew that really she should be the one checking if someone was in the house, but he was her husband and he was supposed to protect her, even if she did end up stepping in to help.

She felt quite smug as he took the hint and actually got off the bed to go and check what had made the scream. As he moved slowly towards the door she shifted so she was at the end of the bed, watching almost like an eager child to see what was on the other side of the door. Only she wasn’t eager at all, she was completely full of dread. The scream had been so horrible it couldn’t be put down to anything else than them being under attack from something, but what it was remained to be seen just yet. There was complete silence between them and her hands were resting on the foot of their bed, as if she was just waiting to leap up to help.

The wait for him to open the door was almost unbearable, but by the time he was at the door she almost didn’t want him to open it. As he did, her eyes widened and she was just transfixed with watching Griff as he then slammed the door after him. As he did she leapt off the bed and ran forwards so she was standing in front of him, “What happened? What was it?” He was blocking the entrance to the door which really wasn’t useful but they couldn’t just hide in here. They were sitting ducks; the only way in and out of the room was the door he was currently blocking.

Silence had followed her words but she couldn’t hear anyone on the other side of the door, so there weren’t guards or even a thief; they’d have broken in by now, or fled. She strode over to grab the torch from the bedside, taking a sharp intake of breath, there were some weapons in the cupboard at the end of the corridor; they were spares from the ones her Uncle’s men used to defend themselves with. Well that was the best bet if they really were under attack. After all, Caitrin could not use her magic. “We need to arm ourselves, we’re no good in here.” She said in a rather stern tone, but if it was something like Morgana’s men attacking them she wasn’t taking it lying down. This was her home and she would protect it.

Griff was still standing in front of the door, but nothing was trying to get in and it was rather irritating her. She would have folded her arms at him but she was still holding the torch. “The store cupboard is only at the end of the corner.” She reasoned with him and ran a hand through her hair, she wanted him to just get out of the way, they couldn’t just stay in here waiting for whatever it was out there to get them could they?

[Griff Aubert]

Oh. Well. It was all very well and good Caitrin rolling her eyes at him, she wasn't the one who would be risking life and limb (Griff had never understood that saying, why would you lose life before a limb? Anyway) being forced to investigate. No, she would be staying in relative safety, watching as he probably walked to his death. Typical Caitrin.

In reponse to her question he let out an awkward laugh, hand held up and pointing a finger in the general direction of the door behind him. "It was a...thing." That was a fantastically informative reply, but it was the best he could come up with, having no idea in the world what he had just seen. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't good. That much was obvious.

Why was she getting off the bed? After being told that staying in the room was probably the best thing to do, who would then try and leave the room? Well, obviously Caitrin would. Of course she would. He automatically leant against the door, because clearly his leaning on it would prevent her from getting past. He gestured with his hands for her to step back, waving them at her. "We're not going out there, or, perhaps more importantly I'm not going out there." To him, that seemed like the obvious course of action, which was clearly why Caitrin was so determined to do the exact opposite. Women.

He stared at her in confusion, half of his top lip being pulled up slightly, arm themselves? Arm themselves with what? Pillows? They were going to have a pillow fight with The Things? "Cait, we don't keep weapons in our bedroom." He thought about this for a moment. Actually, they could very well keep weapons in their bedroom, or at least she could. "Do we?" He was sure he would have noticed, hmm, thinking about that too he probably wouldn't. Alright, he had no idea what was in their bedroom.

Obviously nothing, it turned out, as she was suggesting they went to the store cupboard, which he thought was a ridiculous thing to do. "The store cupboard? Cait, that's outside. Where the bad things are. We're not going out there."

[Caitrin de Archer]

A thing? Well wasn’t that incredibly helpful. Caitrin rolled her eyes at him and just stood in front of him, waiting for him to elaborate on his description. When he didn’t she sighed softly and wondered what to do next. She was taken aback that he would even try to suggest that she stepped back, had he so quickly forgotten his wife’s temperament? “What sort of…thing?” She now asked, furrowing her brow at him. No one saw something and was unable to describe it, surely he had a better description than that for her?

Raising her eye brows, one hand went on her hip, “So are you saying it’s not alright for you to go out there, but its fine for me to go and face whatever it is?” Wasn’t he supposed to be the one who was supposed to protect her, not the other way around? Then again, Caitrin had multiple experiences under her belt which showed she could look after herself and this was probably going to be another to add to them; presuming they both survived whatever it was attacking them. She of course would be lying if she said she wasn’t scared, but she couldn’t let fear take over, not this time.

At Griff’s next words she raised her eye brows, just what was he insinuating? “I don’t keep weapons in our bedroom!” She replied, almost insulted. To be honest, it had never crossed her mind that she would be attacked in her bed. Anyway, she knew she was always armed, even if Griff remained ignorant of this, so to her mind there had never been any need to keep a weapon by her bedside.

Why was he being like this? Couldn’t he see the logic in arming themselves against whatever was attacking them? Caitrin had let someone attack her home before, and she was never letting it happen again. She was probably taking it in a more personal way than she should, but she didn’t care, this was her home; their home, and she would protect it. “It’s only down the hall.” She pointed out; gesturing to it with the torch she was still holding. When he still didn’t move she rolled her eyes and looked at him almost exasperatedly, why couldn’t he just do what she wanted him to for once? “Or would you rather wait for whatever it is to get us in here?” She now asked him, raising an eye brow at him.

Caitrin knew that nothing she could say would budge Griff from where he was standing and she pressed her lips together. Well, when words didn’t work, there was always the last resort. Using her shoulder, she heavily pushed Griff out of the way, and once she had cleared the door she quickly opened it and put the torch out in front of her, so that it lit the hallway. Caitrin had been holding her breath, expecting to see something, she wasn’t sure what as Griff was hardly helpful with his descriptions, but she had still expected to see something. Silently she stepped out of the bedroom into the hallway and breathed out slowly, spinning round on her heels; the hallway was empty.

Furrowing her brows she kept looking round at her surroundings, expecting something to jump out at her. Nothing did, and she waited a few moments in the silence before settling herself and grinning slightly. She wondered if Griff had just made up that he had seen something to make her worry. “You can come out, there’s nothing here.” She called back into the room and took a few steps towards the store cupboard. She turned around; sure she had seen something move in the flicker of her torchlight. Before Griff joined her she whispered to the flames, her eyes flashed and the flame increased slightly in size. “I thought you said you saw something?”

[Griff Aubert]

Griff shrugged, an almost exasperated shrug. What did it matter what sort of thing it was, all she needed to know was that they should probably keep away from it. That was enough information for him, if she wanted anymore surely she should be the one to procure it? "I don't know, a not good thing." Why was this not enough? Alright, Caitrin was curious and he accepted that, but the phrase "curiosity killed the cat" had sprung to mind, and it was something he would rather not test.

She was just being frustrating now, and for no reason that Griff could make sense of. "That's not what I'm saying at all." He replied, probably with more of a tone than he wanted. It sounded like he was angry at her, he wasn't, he was just not sure what to do, and not understanding why she wanted to put them both into more danger. She was the most frustrating person in the world when she wanted to be, which just so happened to be most of the time. He wasn't saying it was fine for her to go out there, he'd just been making the point that he wasn't going to, and he was trying to protect her, something made impossible by her attitude towards everything. "Please, just stay here."

Well he hadn't known there weren't any weapons in the bedroom. For all he knew there could have been - he really wouldn't put it past her. Part of him was actually surprised that there wasn't. When all this was over (assuming they didn't die horribly, of course) he would have to remember to hide some somewhere, just in case something like this happened again - which, as they lived in Camelot was quite likely.

He let out an exasperated sigh. His instincts were telling him to remain where he was, and make Caitrin stay too. Logic, however, was telling him that she was right, and they really did need to arm themselves against whatever was out there. Usually, he would be all in favour of listening to his instincts, but Caitrin had a torch in her hand, which made him favour logic. "Alright, but I'm going first." Only Caitrin could make him say those words, usually his own desire of self-preservation kicked in, but there was no way he was letting her put herself in danger if he could do so first.

She shoved him out of the way. Alright, maybe he wasn't going first. That was fine too. He stood in the doorway, anxious to find out if the thing was still there, and ready to pull Caitrin back inside if it was. It did occur to him how ridiculous the situation was - he should be the one with the torch not her, but at the moment arguing would be futile, so he just waited and bit his lip.

"You can come out, there's nothing here. I thought you said you saw something?"

Now he was just confused. He had seen something, he was sure of it. It was white and freaky and definitely something he didn't want to see again. He joined her in the corridor, almost annoyed that the thing wasn't still there. At least then his nerves would be justifiable. This was just embarrassing. He scratched his neck. "I did see something. I told you, it was a thing."

[Caitrin de Archer]

Not a good thing, as a description, was hardly going to satisfy Caitrin really, and surely Griff knew that already? This was really getting them nowhere. What worried Caitrin slightly was that Griff could not describe what he had seen. It couldn’t just be a warrior because he would have said so; even the immortal army had a human shell to define them. She furrowed her brow, living in Camelot certainly kept you on your guard. In all the time that she and Griff had been courting, they had always managed to create situations where they argued ferociously with one another; it was just one dimension to their relationship really. Irritatingly, Griff always looked rather attractive whilst arguing with her and it rather ruined the effect of some of their previous arguments as one thing always led to another.

She still had one hand on her hip, and she was still quite unimpressed at how she interpreted his words. “Well that’s what it sounded like.” She replied sharply. As husbands go, Griff was quite unconventional, but then again Caitrin was hardly a dutiful wife so they slotted together quite nicely. However, for the moment Caitrin was slightly annoyed at the tone of voice he had used towards her, she flinched slightly and ignored his later plea for them to stay in the room. She turned away from him for a moment, resisting the urge to unleash her temper on him. No, that wasn’t the way to go forwards. Once she had composed herself she turned back to face him and just looked up at him, half pleading with him to see that she was right, and they needed to arm themselves. “I’m not waiting in here for that thing to get me,” She faltered slightly, “Or to get you.” Now that was said in a softer tone and Caitrin just looked up at her husband for a moment and took his hand in her spare one and squeezed it softly. “I wouldn’t know what to do if anything happened to you.” This was what it came down to, she wanted to protect her home yes but she wanted to protect him from any harm. She wanted him to be safe.

Caitrin let go of Griff’s hand as she stepped outside the door, once again ignoring his words that he was going first. She had the torch; she was going first and that was the end of that. She was still confused to why the corridor was so quiet, there weren’t even any servants to be heard bustling about. There was just...nothing. She breathed out slowly before telling Griff to join her, and that there was nothing in sight. When he did join her she put the torch about so that it lit different aspects of the corridor, showing him that indeed there was nothing there. She did however grin at him as he scratched his neck; he always did that when he was nervous, even though he would never admit it of course.

Well, despite the fact there was nothing here now, there had certainly been something outside because she did believe Griff, and no one could have faked that blood chilling scream they had both heard. Because of this, Caitrin wanted to get to and from the store cupboard as quickly as possible. Caitrin wasn’t even sure why her Uncle called it the store cupboard, it was basically a guest room, but as they had few guest rooms it now housed her Uncle’s mens weapons when they were not in use. She slipped her hand into Griff’s and began to stride quite quickly to the store cupboard which it turned out, thankfully, was unlocked.

As she waited for Griff to open the door, as she was still holding the torch, she could have sworn she saw another odd shape move in the corridor. For a moment she forgot about Griff opening the door, slipped her hand out of his and took a few steps forwards and lifted the torch so that she had a better view of the corridor. She felt like she was going crazy, maybe she was, living with her Uncle and Griff was probably having that effect on her. It looked like there was a shape moving again and she took a step backwards so she was standing quite close to Griff again; her heart thudding in her chest. “Griff?” She said softly, trying to find his hand with hers but failing as she kept her eyes on the shape which was getting bigger somehow. Suddenly there was a scream again and the shape changed into some sort of white smoke. Her eyes widened as the shape advanced on them both, as she kept the torch high, still trying to entwine her hand with her husband’s.

Notes: I love the fact that Caitrin is kind of angry/arguing with both your OC’s at the moment at some point in my posts hehe
Oh you can god mod for your reply, or whatever, Idk where you want to take this, or I'll edit *shrugs*

[Griff Aubert]

Sectiony poooooooost. I haven't really moved this along, if you want me to edit something when I get home just say. In other news, Griff is all caught up. Go me! (You are not allowed to reply, I like this feeling).

This really wasn't the time to start an argument, especially one with Caitrin, so Griff ignored her comment. If she thought he was angry with her, that was fine, he would rather apologise later then try and put her right and end up being killed by some supernatural being. But ignoring her comment meant going with her to the store cupboard, which had been something he had been quite adament about not doing. In his logic, leaving the room was a decidedly unsafe option. Then again, she was probably right about needing some way to arm themselves. The store cupboard it was then. Excellent.

Not that he was going to say something, firstly it would be embarrassing and secondly Caitrin would simply ignore it, but he was starting to feel rather uncomfortable just standing here, in such an open and easily attacked corridor. If they were going to go to the store cupboard, well, that was not-fine-but-sort-of-fine-because-Caitrin-said, but just standing here seemed like a stupid thing to do. At least at the store cupboard, while they would be easy targets they would also have access to weapons. All they had at the moment was a torch, which, yes, it could burn things, but Griff wasn’t entirely convinced whatever he said was flammable…or stab-able, thinking about it.

He was about to make such a point before Caitrin grabbed him and pulled him off to the store cupboard. She really did enjoy being in control…not that that was important right now. He needed to focus, not engage in some inner commentary about his wife’s psyche. On reaching the room he fumbled about with the lock – why on earth was it locked? How was that a good thing to do? – before triumphantly opening it. Rather irritatingly, there wasn’t enough time for them both to appreciate just how brilliant he had just been.

“Griff?”

He froze immediately, that wasn’t a good tone there. He would go as far as to say it was a scared tone, Caitrin was never scared, so this was definitely something bad. From where he was stood in the almost pitch-black he couldn’t see anything, except the flame from the torch and Caitrin’s silhouette against it. “Is there something there?” He whispered, stepping forward and squeezing Caitrin’s hand. Why couldn’t they have just stayed in their room?

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin was starting to feel quite uneasy with the situation. In a way, she would have been happier if they had been being attacked by soldiers or even just bandits because at least they would know what they were facing then, or even how to defeat them. Caitrin wasn’t sure if any of the weapons would work on whatever Griff had seen, but they had to try. If they did not, she could always use her gifts to aid them, and deal with the consequences of that later. She had never got around to telling Griff she was a sorceress, mainly as she wasn’t particularly sure how he would take it, but perhaps they would find out tonight if everything went wrong.

The corridor was possibly not the best place for them both to be standing, but it was the only way to get to the store cupboard, so uneasiness aside, it had to be endured for the time being. Was it Caitrin’s imagination, or had things suddenly just become a lot colder? She shivered slightly as she waited for Griff to finish with the lock. She let him deal with fumbling about with the lock, he had more patience with things like that. After all, the keys for it were in her Uncle’s study, and if the pair had been spooked just coming down the hallway to the store cupboard, there was no way they were venturing to the study.

Caitrin was trying to focus, to see if she could see what on earth she had seen. Had she just imagined the white smoke? Maybe she was so desperate to see something that her imagination was now messing with her head to spook her. However, she couldn’t ignore the odd shapes that were moving in the torchlight, and it scared her.

She nodded slowly at Griff’s words and took another step backwards. She didn’t like this, and she was regretting her boldness at having suggested the store cupboard right away. You could attack what was little more than white smoke with swords and daggers; she’d put them both in danger. Squeezing Griff’s hand back she kept her eyes on the corridor in front of her. For a moment she held her breath, she couldn’t remember feeling this scared in a long time and it unnerved her in a way; she didn’t like it one bit.

There was just silence, and it felt like the calm before the storm in a way but she was determined to protect them both; no matter of the costs. She loved Griff and would see no harm done to him if she could prevent it. There was a ripple of wind through the air, why was there wind? They weren’t near a window. Then, in front of her eyes, and she hoped Griff could see it to, the white shape was back, but this time it had a more solid sort of form, it looked like a skull of some sort. Caitrin just froze for a moment but then her head kicked into gear. She swung at the white smoke with her flame, hitting it directly as it flew towards her and Griff. Without waiting to see whether she had actually stopped it, she half pushed Griff in the direction of the store cupboard, surely they would be safe in there? “Quick, get in there.”

She pushed Griff towards the store cupboard before he had time to protest. The torch she was holding was slowly dying out and she put it out of its misery with a flash of her eyes and a small whisper. Throwing the now extinguished torch to one side she quickly joined Griff in the room, slamming the door shut behind them. Well she’d thought this one out hadn’t she? Now they were in total darkness and that thing could still be out there! Backing away from the door, she half tripped over her own feet and spun around as she was falling, which was just enough time to grab Griff and pull him down with her; so she had fallen on top of him. Taking a moment to compose herself, she could just about make out Griff’s face and whispered, “Sorry,” down at him.

Caitrin could see no reason from moving from her current position on top of her husband for the time being but she did remain still for a few moments and breathed out slowly. “Do you think it’s gone?”

Notes: Because clearly this won’t lead *anywhere* with these two If I’ve moved it along too quickly let me knooooow. Also slight god mod, will edit if you don’t like

[Griff Aubert]

I'm skipping to the end because I have prefecting in about twenty minutes and otherwise you wouldn't have a reply until after nine. So deal,

Before Griff was entirely sure what was going on - which, he would later think on reflection, was an increasingly common state of mind for him - Caitrin had grabbed him and pushed him into the store cupboard. Griff, not really being anything more than a mass of limbs that didn't always like to behave, completely lost his balance and ended up on the floor. It was alright though, as it seemed Caitrin had lost hers as well, and was now on top of him. Well this was a pleasant turn of events.

For some reason, she felt the need to apologise for her current state, as if he would mind. Was he missing something? Well, apart from the obvious. There was still some unknown...thing out there, probably just knocking about for a bit with their impending doom. But that didn't seem like such a bad thing at the moment, because he was currently lying on the floor and Caitrin was on top of him. He grinned. "No need to apologise."

He was expecting her to get up and declare that they needed to do something stupid, like try and fight whatever was out there.
Surprisingly, she didn't. Now Griff was just confused. He knew he always thought about this sort of thing in inappropriate situations. It seemed Caitrin did too. They may be about to face their deaths, but ah well, this was quite pleasant.

"Probably not." He answered, he didn't know either way, but if it was she'd only get up and leave. This way, they'd have to stay in here. In this position. "I think it's best we stay here...and don't move..." He had been trying to think of some kind of explanation for why not moving would be their best best at survivial. So far, his brain was giving him: the thing might sense movement. Not very helpful, so he just left the explanation for the moment. "At all."

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin was glad at the fact she hadn’t appeared to have hurt anything during her fall, well she had landed on Griff so any damage would be suffered by him; not her. It wasn’t in the slightest an uncommon occurrence for the pair of them to be in such a position, but in the context it had not been something she had been expecting tonight. Although she could only make out the outline of his features from the moonlight peeking through the shutters on the other side of the room, she matched his grin. She then shifted herself into a more comfortable position, though she was still lying on top of him which was quite an enjoyable situation all round. They had known each other intimately for over a year, but the thrill of keeping him being so close still filled her with excitement.

Now however she was forced to remember that the thing, whatever it was, was probably still out there. She then started to worry about her Uncle, but he wasn’t stupid and he could certainly look after himself. In fact the last thing in the world that he would probably want would be his niece and her husband running in to try and help him. Therefore she abandoned all thoughts of it. Instead she tried to focus down on Griff, and brushed some hair back off his face gently, having to concentrate so she could actually see what she was doing.

His reply was exactly what she had expected it to be, and for the moment she completely agreed with him for two reasons. The first of these was the fact whatever it was that was out there had just scared her, and she wasn’t about to face it again in a hurry. The second reason of course lay with her current position. “Staying here is fine with me.” She said in a slightly flirty voice, which felt really out of place in the current situation but oh well.

Her heart was still racing in her chest, the adrenalin from switching from her grief to fighting for her life was just kicking in. She carried on looking down at her husband, and as her eyes adjusted to the light she could make out his full facial features and, with the rush of her head just telling her to go for it, she closed the gap between their lips softly, and left him with a tender kiss. She knew the situation called for anything but what she was currently doing, but if they were facing certain death then what was the problem of making it a bit sweeter?

Parting from him, slightly regretfully she just looked down at him with a grin on her lips. “Still think we should be staying here?” She asked him playfully, though she already knew the answer, she just loved hearing him say it sometimes. As lovely as this situation was, and Caitrin wouldn’t change it if it were up to her, whatever had attacked them was still out there and they were in here without any light. She bit her lip, the temptation to use her sorcery was burning but Griff didn’t know her secret, she’d never got around to telling him that little fact so she thought better of it.

“At least we can arm ourselves now.” She said rather triumphantly, though this was quickly replaced with annoyance. They were in a store cupboard full of weapons, and she couldn’t see a thing, she couldn’t even tell which weapon was where. Oh wasn’t this great!

[Griff Aubert]

To him, Caitrin’s question was a rather foolish one. Did he think they should stay in their current position and continue with her lying on top of him? Yes, yes he did. It might not be the greatest idea in terms of survival, but right now his libido was more important. Caitrin should know this. He quickly nodded, as though Caitrin would just leave if he didn’t answer in time. There was actually a rather slim chance of her doing that; she’d never just leave, well, unless they happened to be in a situation where their lives were endangered. Oh look.

Regretfully, he had to listen to his survival instinct – joy-killer that it was – and remind himself that now probably wasn’t the time. Well, it wasn’t even probably not the time. As not-the-times went, this was a fairly prominent one. That was annoying. Now he had to break the news to Caitrin. It wasn’t going to be easy. “I think, if we want to survive – and this is something we really ought to consider, I don’t mind either way, making that clear now – we should move from this position.”

At Caitrin’s next words he managed to resist the temptation to make some euphemistic comment or other, which he thought was quite impressive and deserved some recognition. Instead he decided to at least try and take the situations seriously. After all, they were still in quite a lot of danger and really, now was not the time to be inappropriate. He would just have to save all his comments until after they hadn’t died. That would be a struggle, but it was probably better than death.

Now that she was no longer lying on top of him he found himself being able to focus on the situation properly. She was right. They needed to arm themselves, which was rather handy considering where they were. Then again, that had been the point of them going there. He wasn’t exactly sure what to arm himself with, of course he’d had training in swordplay and archery as a child, but he wouldn’t include them on a list of his skills. Normally he just ran away or said whatever popped into his head and hoped it worked. “Right...so what exactly are we arming ourselves with?”

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin wasn’t particularly happy with Griff’s suggestion of them moving out of their current position. She knew he was right, but that didn’t mean that she had to be happy about it. To be honest, with the prospect of death over them it was hardly the most romantic setting ever. They could always make up for lost time later anyway. Caitrin frowned down at him and then nodded and shifted her body off his, so that she was now sat to the side of him rather than lay on top of him. Her eyes shifted about the room, and she was surprised with how well adjusted her eyes already were to her surroundings. She could just about make out the glint of a sword in the corner, accompanied by a store of dagger. Caitrin was not a practised swordswoman. She had practised with wooden swords as a child and that was it. Jesu, it had been hard enough getting her father to let her practice with wooden swords without the prospect of real metal ones crossing her thoughts.

The bow and arrow was where Caitrin’s talents lay in terms of defending herself, but she was sure it would be little use against that ghost thing anyway. Would anything be any use against it? In truth Caitrin had no idea, but she wasn’t going to die hiding away like a scared child; she knew that much. Caitrin looked across at her husband quite at a loss and ran her hand through her hair nervously. She knew magic might work against that thing, but that wasn’t a possibility was it? Her heart thudded in her chest and she mentally slapped herself, no, she couldn’t use her magic here.

“Can you use a sword?” Caitrin asked him, it had just occurred to her that she had never really asked Griff what he was practised in. Then again, she had never had reason to in the past. He knew she had a good shot on the archery field, but apart from that Caitrin was only practised in magic. They had been the only two defences Caitrin had ever needed. “Because I can’t. I can use a dagger though.” That sounded like a plan, it they had two different weapons, though they were of similar design, that could help them somewhat.

Hauling herself up off the floor Caitrin slowly walked back towards the door, she didn’t open it; Lord no she wasn’t that stupid. Instead she just pressed her ear up against the wood and began to listen. She couldn’t hear anything shifting behind the door and that worried her more than hearing something. At least if it was making a noise she would have known where it was. “Should we stay in here or go back to our bedroom?” She whispered to Griff, slightly nervous. Although Caitrin wasn’t fond of the prospect of going back out and facing whatever was out there, she didn’t like the idea of staying here all night either.

[Griff Aubert]

This was would be one of the few times that Griff actually told the truth, with no hint of exaggeration. Corneous would never have allowed a son of his to grow up without knowledge in swordplay, something Griff had never much cared for, but had endured anyway and ended up not being too bad at it. Of course had he known that one day he would stuck in a room with his wife hiding from...whatever those things were supposed to be, then he probably would have put in a lot more effort. He was at least competent, and that was the main thing. "I know how to use one...just haven't for a while." He knew the basic principles of using such a weapon, and was now regretting not having had any practice since...actually he couldn't remember. Well, if all else fails he would just wave it around and hope for the best.

He stayed where he was on the floor, just watching as Caitrin walked over towards the door. To him, it didn't seem like there was a lot of difference between staying where they were or trying to get back to their room. Whatever it was that was out there, he highly doubted they would be stopped by a wooden door. At some point they were going to have to face it, it didn't matter to Griff where that was. "If you think we should." He replied with a shrug, still sat on the floor. There was no point standing up unless they were going to go back to their bedroom. "We're in danger wherever we are."