-- our kind of love. [Lancelot]

[Marina Tertius]

Marina had been gone the past few days, off riding the trails with a group of trainees. She had heard a few rumors that the Saxons had attacked and raided villages in the north, and she wanted to go and make sure everything was okay. So naturally, she rounded up a group, and told the fellow knights where they were heading, before going on their merry little way. Instead of riding with haste, Marina lead her group nice and steady as they maneuvered they're way through snow, ice, and numerous cities. About two days or so had passed before they finally arrived at the first city. The rumors had been true; the Saxons had ransacked it, and then burnt it, destroying it completely. Instead of leaving, she made the group search for survivors, but the only thing they found were remnants of different households, and a few bodies.

Once they had left the village, and headed towards the next, things began to get interesting. The Saxon's had already raided Brenin, and were waiting for Arthur's men. The trainee's had managed to run the Saxon's off, after a squirmish. No one had been hurt badly, but Marina had already come to decision that they were going to head back to Hadrian's Wall. The last thing Marina wanted or needed was to lose valuable lives. Leading the men, Marina urged Alcarius forward through the snow, before glancing back at the trainees. They were tired, cold, and needed some rest. The next thing she saw, was an arrow fly through the air, only to pierce on of trainee's chest. Reaching down, she grabbed her sword, pulling it out of the sheath, before turning around. The same Saxons that had attacked them at Brenin were back, and ready to fight once more.

Instead of telling the trainee's to stick together, she yelled for them to split up. They were outnumbered and outflanked, and that was the only way they were going to stay alive. Before she had even realized it, one of the Saxon leaders knocked her off Alcarius, before engaging in combat with the young woman. After what seemed like hours, Marina finally scrambled away from the Saxon, before jumping onto her stud. Grabbing her bow, she released the arrow, watching as the man slumped over. At least she had gotten away, but not without injury. The man had managed to cut her cheek and toreso, and stab her forearm numerous times. Marina hadn't realized how bad the Saxon had gotten ahold of her – she was focused on if the trainee's were safe. Little did she know they had arrived at the wall, safe and sound. Nor did they know she was still out there.


An hour or so had passed, before Marina pulled her dark blue cloak closer to her body, and finally slumped over Alcarius, passed out. The young war horse was nearing Hadrian's Wall, before Marina rolled off into the snow, sending him into a full out gallop. Her blood had stained the horses side red, causing a few people to look around widly whenever the horse ran into the training field, riderless.

Alcarius.
PS: I recycled this post.

[Lancelot du Lac]

What a dull morning, Lancelot thought as he walked the streets (as the were,) of Hadrian, taking his dear sweet time getting to the training pitch. With Marina out on watch, the older knight had been taking over some of the training of the younger pupils, as it were, and everyone was suffering for it. Lancelot was impatient and not necessarily a good teacher, pushing the students too far until they were practically pleading that Marina come back at any minute.

Lancelot couldn't agree more.

Granted, his motivations for the return of the female knight were quite different from the others. The first time Arthur had admitted the girl into their ranks he had raised his brows, but she had more than proved her worth and her place at Hadrian's wall, and also proved herself a more than equal match for Arthur's first knight. At first, he had simply admired her- she was smart, good with weapons, and could hold her own among the men- but as time progressed, his admiration turned into affection, then to love. He had been put out by it when the feeling first crept upon him- love was a distraction, and distractions often meant death- but he had made his peace with it. Love was a natural state of things, he supposed, and it was about time he thought about settling down and actually doing something productive with his life that didn't involve his sword.

The only problem was, Marina didn't seem interested, and Lancelot never pushed himself where he wasn't wanted. Sure, he would flirt and tease with anyone (the rise he often got out of Vanora was well worth being slapped over,) but everyone involved knew it was just superficial- no real intention of ever going through with it was there. His intentions with Marina, well, that wasn't necessarily the case. He was sure she had some sort of feeling for him, but until she figured out what it was exactly, he was more than willing to sit it out and wait.

For a while, anyway.

A commotion by the city's gate made him take pause, and frowning, he weaved his way through the small crowd that had gathered, taking in the blood covered horse. Marina's horse. Alcarius.

He grabbed the reins and the arm of the nearest boy. "You! See that this horse is cleaned and stabled!" He snapped, shoving the reins into the boy's hand. He took off at a run towards the stables and his own horse, saddling him in record time and spurring him out of the city. It never occured to him that he might need backup, just that Marina was hurt. She needed him.

OOC: Sorry this wasn't my best, I'm still getting the feel for Lancelot.

[Marina Tertius]

The last thing Lady Marina had been expecting was to come face to face against the same Saxons that had participated in the squirmish at Brenin. They had already defeated them once, so why on earth would they come back for more? Marina didn’t understand the way the Saxons thought; they were unpredictable. Which in the end, only caused her to hate them with an even bigger passion. Saxons were undoubtedly, up to no good. They were the only reason the young lady warrior found herself out in the wildness, going against the bad weather with a group of young soldiers. If the Saxons hadn’t attacked the towns, Marina could have been home, in the inn where it was nice and warm. So, yes you could say that whenever she watched the arrow pierce one of the trainee’s chest, she was taken by surprise. A few seconds later, Marina instinctively grabbed the hilt of her sword, pulling it out of the leather sheath. She did a quick survey of their surrounding, figuring out a plan so that they could all get out of this mess, safe and sound. There were a few trails, moving away from the main one, and at the moment that seemed like their best bet. They were outnumbered and outflanked by long shot. If they stayed and fought, they would lose soldiers. If the split up, then that also meant the Saxons would have to split up.

”Split up, and meet back at Hadrian’s Wall.” Marina yelled, turning Alcarius in a tight circle, watching as they all split up. Once she had made sure they had all gotten out of there, Marina gave the steed a swift kick, sending him lurching forward. The horse had a good taste of battle, seeing how they had both participated in many together. After a while, the horse and woman had bonded, and Alcarius almost always knew what Marina wanted just by a flick of the reins. Turning her head to the side, Marina glanced over her shoulder, watching as a few Saxon on horseback fell in pursuit. Sliding her sword into the sheath, she grabbed her bow and a few arrows, turning around in her seat. Releasing the arrow, Marina watched one of the Saxon fell off his horse, leaving only one more. Turning back around in the saddle, Marina gave the reins a yank to the left, just in time for a Saxon perched in a tree to lunge, pushing her off the side of her horse. They had been expecting her to come this way – was that what they wanted? Herself? Rolling across the ground, Marina caught her breath within seconds, before lunging towards Alcarius, pulling her sword out and turning around just in time to stab the Saxon that knocked her off her horse.

A few seconds later, she felt the sting of his hand across her face, before turning around, stabbing him once more. Before she knew it, she was being wrestled to ground by the remaining Saxon, watching as he lifted his hand, before making a cut across her cheek, an even deeper cut across her side, and then began to work on her arm. Yelling out in pain, Marina watched as Alcarius came up from behind, rearing, kicking the male in the back. That was chance. Slipping in the snow and mud, Marina finally scrambled to her knees, crawling towards Alcarius. Grabbing her bow, and turned around just in time to release the arrow and watch as the Saxon slumped over in a heap. Placing the bow back, Marina crawled to her sword, pulling herself up against it, before climbing on top of Alcarius with a groan. She was exhausted, and in more pain than she had ever imagined possible. The only thing Marina thought about on the ride back to Hadrian’s Wall was the soldiers? Were they safe, or had they suffered a worse fate than her? That was the last thing to cross her mind, before she finally slumped over Alcarius’s neck.

The horse and rider weren’t to far from Hadrian’s Wall, and yes, she was thankful to have a horse that knew its way back home. Marina’s grasp against the horse had loosened, causing her to slide off, and into the snow. Even the jar of the fall didn’t drag her out of her unconscious state. Instead, she was in the middle of a ‘dream’ if that was what you wanted to call them, about the same Saxons attacking her once again, and the fact that she couldn’t do anything about it. Instead, she didn’t have any weapons and was unable to move. Marina watched as the Saxon’s came closer and closer to her, with an evil smirk, but then all of the sudden she felt heard her name, and felt warm hands run across her face. Opening her eyes with a gasp, Marina found herself staring up at Lancelot. As badly as she wanted to say this was just a bad dream, and that she had fallen of Alcarius and bumped her head, she just couldn’t. The pain in her body proved her wrong. Marina felt she had been beaten over and over again. Her arms, torso, face, and well, her whole body hurt.

Alcarius.
PS: Haha, it’s fine.