pullmeoutalive | /mashes things together that should not go together

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/mashes things together that should not go together

[ It was a dark and stormy night.

What? It was.

Anyway, the rain was coming down in sheets when a cloaked figure collapsed outside of the gates of Castle Dunbroch. He wasn't injured, at least nothing serious beyond a few scrapes and bruises. Cold, sick, and exhausted? Most certainly. He was brought inside, and it quickly became apparent, thought the insignia on his armor and the papers he carried with him, that he was a Grey Warden. There were only stories about the Wardens this far out, and everyone had to wonder what one was doing so far from his home. Hopefully nothing having to do with the creatures the Wardens were famous for fighting.

But far be it from the king and queen to deny a Grey Warden shelter. He was kept secluded, mostly. Only a few members of the castle staff kept an eye on him, and no matter how much the triplets tried to get a glimpse, they never managed. The castle was buzzing with gossip for over a week, as the exhausted Warden in the tower room rested and healed.

And then, on a relatively quiet day, once the weather had warmed, the Warden emerged. No one was quite sure how he got from his room to the castle's training yard without being noticed. He was just... suddenly there, loosing arrows at a target with deadly accuracy. Obviously, a visit to the king and queen had been first on his list, but since they were both away on some business or other, he contented himself with some exercise.

He feels like he's been in that Andraste-be-damned bed for way too long. ]

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[ One does- it gets brave while Nathaniel is tangling with a rather large hurlock with an axe. It's making a break for a hole in his guard- he sees it, but there's not much he can do about it. ]

[ that, she can handle. It's present in the whistle of an arrow whipping through the air and lodging into the monster's neck. Merida's braced to fire a second strike, another arrow already set to the string. ]

[ There is surprise all around, as Nathaniel's Warden senses tell him that the treat at his back is suddenly gone. The hurlock is shocked too, which gives Nathaniel enough time to break its guard and shove a blade through its throat.

The look he shoots Merida is nothing short of horrified. ] I told you to go!

[ He barely gets it out when a pair of darkspawn erupt from the bushes nearest the princess, moving to drag her from her horse. ]

I-- [ she begins hotly, ready to insist that there was no way she could, he'd been in trouble and--

except that's before the darkspawn launch themselves at her. She has barely enough time to fire off her other arrow, which scores a hit in one eye, but then Angus is rearing in panic and there are blackened arms hauling her down and--

Well, she's pretty sure her horse just kicked one of them in the head, but she's also pretty sure that's a blade in her stomach. ]

[ No. Nononono. He will not let them take her. If nothing else comes of this, he must get her out of here alive. He leaves his blade in the fallen hurlock and takes up his bow again.

The darkspawn with the arrow in its eye has long since fallen and failed to rise. The one that took a hoof to the head looks dazed, but its still standing, and Nathaniel puts an end to that with a well-aimed arrow through the back of its head.

Then he's running, trying to get to her side. There are a few darkspawn left, but now Nathaniel's goal is survival. ]

[ at least the blade itself is lodged not in skin, but the ground, although she vaguely regrets that, because everything hurts a lot more now. Angus has attempted to keep her upright by letting her hold onto his neck, but her knees are weaker than they've ever been and when she tries to take a deep breath, there's a coppery, unpleasantly wet feeling in her throat that she keeps choking on.

This doesn't feel right. ]

[ Nathaniel positions himself between her and the few remaining 'spawn, picking them off quickly. He takes a moment, focusing on his Warden senses. He can't sense any more darkspawn for the moment, and for that he's grateful.

With that he whirls on Merida, steadying her with one hand while his other fishes a roll of bandages from a pouch on his belt. ]

Let me see. How badly are you hurt?

I-it's not so bad. [ except when she moves her hand away from her stomach, that's... quite a bit of blood. ]

Oh, Merida... [ He does sound genuinely worried for her, for what it's worth. He's afraid of what he'll find when he cleans that wound, but it has to be done. ]

Here. [ he helps her away from Angus and to a nearby tree that she can sit back against. ] I'm going to clean it and give it a quick dressing, but we will have got get you back to the castle for proper care.

[ it's probably alarming enough that Merida doesn't even argue, although she does her best not to lean too much until she's got the tree at her back. Angus follows at a close distance behind, more of a worried puppy than a giant horse. ]

Aye. [ it's whispered out through gritted teeth. ]

[ He takes a skein of water from his pack, and douses some of the bandages. ]

This will probably hurt.

[ And he sets about cleaning the wound. ]

[ hurt is an understatement. It's more like sting and throb and make you try not to make any agonized noises, so the entire time, she's white-knuckling her skirt and paler than the driven snow, if it was snowing.

But it's not. ]

[ Nathaniel sets about his work with grim-faced efficiency. It's not his first foray onto the field without a healer handy, nor will it be his last.

When he clears the blood away, he actually swears under his breath. There are dark veins spreading from the wound already. Maker help her, she's been tainted. This is not how this was supposed to go. ]

I told you to run. You should have listened.

Wee bit late to be lecturin' me now, isn't it? [ she looks down at the wound, eyes growing dark at the sight of what definitely shouldn't be there. She has a faint suspicion of what that means. ]

You have the taint, Merida. [ Nathaniel has never been one to mince words or pull punches, at least. ] Even if your wound heals, you will die.

[ ... oh.

Oh.

Wait, she probably shouldn't get angry over hearing that when she's the one who didn't listen, but-- ]

Just... just like that? Are you saying there's no hope?

[ He fixes her with a glare usually reserved for shutting up young Warden recruits when they decide it would be funny to start making "Howe" puns. (Usually it's Oghren's fault.)

His expression softens quickly, though. He can't blame her for being upset. And there is an option, one he would prefer not to have to take, but it's the only chance of saving her life. ]

I could make you a Warden. The Joining might as soon kill you as save you, but at least with would be a quick death.

[ it's really no different from the look her mother gives her when she's caught neglecting her princessly duties, though maybe she'd feel a little more chastened if she wasn't so focused on dying.

How ironic, she'd think, if she was the type to enjoy irony, that after all that insistence about wanting to be a Warden, he was offering her the chance only when it was the only way to maybe possibly save her life. ]

If I'm to die either way, I'd rather do it on my feet, fighting. I'll do it.

I'm still going to have to bandage you up. There won't be any fighting if you bleed out. [ And he starts to do so, wrapping bandages around the wound. ]

We will also have to return to the castle. I have to talk to your parents about what this will mean for you.

... [ she's not looking forward to that part, judging from the way she goes silent and worries her lower lip. Her mother would have been angry either way, but Merida joining the Wardens' ranks because she'd die otherwise...

oh, this won't be pleasant. ]

I'm not looking forward to it any more than you are, believe me.

Now come on. [ he offers her a hand ] Let's get you back on your horse and to the castle.

[ she accepts, rising to her feet with kind of a piteous stumble and a wince that she tries to disguise with a grim, determined expression. Something like the one her father wore during a fight, except that was Fergus, and this was Merida, and she didn't have the king's countenance to pull it off correctly.

Not today, anyway.

Angus is already waiting, shifting anxiously, but he holds still to let Merida ease herself gingerly onto his back-- likely with some help. ]

[ He does help her onto her horse, and then takes a moment to retrieve his fallen weapons. He gingerly guides the horse back towards the castle.

That Taint is not a quick death. It's as slow as it is painful, but even so, something about this walk feels like a funeral procession.

As they approach the castle gates, Nathaniel steels himself for what is probably the hardest conversation he will ever have to have. ]

[ it'll be hard on both of them, and Merida would have willingly put herself through dragging herself back into the castle without letting on that she carried grave news as heavily as she bore a wound--

Well, she would have done that ten times over, because the look on Elinor's face when she sees the pair of them is enough to make Merida's blood freeze in her veins. She feels like a little girl again. ]

[ For what it's worth, Nathaniel decides to take charge of the situation. He sweeps into a polite bow, and tells them that their daughter is injured, and requires medical attention.

When both parents surge forward, Nathaniel stops them with a raised arm and a grave expression. ]

There is more to it, than that, I am afraid. I must speak to the two of you privately.

[ As Merida is taken away, the Grey Warden heads with the king and queen to a separate location. He's going to try and put this as gingerly as possible, but there's no escaping the fact. Merida has been Tainted. There is no cure, apart from participating in the Joining, and even that can be just as deadly. Merida has been informed, and she has requested to be made a Warden, or die trying.

He is so, so sorry. This was never supposed to happen. They gave him so much, and he never wished to take away their only daughter. ]

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