Homeward Bound [Merik]

[Nairore]

x x

The first rays of sunlight expanded quickly across the camp, illuminating the burned out fire and catching in the morning dew, causing the ground itself to sparkle. Birds started singing their morning song in the trees above as the sunlight spread across where Nairore sat up against a tree. As the light lit up her face her eyelids fluttered and opened groggily revealing those multi-colored eyes. She blinked away the sleep a few times, then raised her hand to block the sun from blinding her as she looked about the camp and yawned. There was a blanket spread out over her, covering her almost bare torso.

Her shirt lay thrown over their travel bags and her pants were actually clinging to the outstretched branches of some nearby brush. She blinked a few more times and then remembered how they'd gotten there before smiling to herself. She was thankful for the blanket, as her undergarments did little to protect against the morning chill. Her muscles were stiff and the blinding sun caused her head to throb. They were out of the forest now and traveling across Hyrule Field, their current camp tucked away in a small thicket of brush but from her position she could see clear across the expanse.

Nairore remembered why she was sitting there in the first place. Silently she cursed herself. She'd fallen asleep during her turn at watch again, it seemed. This was the third time it had happened in the past week they'd been traveling the field, and it grew more and more risky as they drew closer to Castle Town. Merik never seemed to acknowledge it, but the blanket hadn't been there when she had fallen asleep, so she knew he knew. Rubbing her head against the throb she looked about the camp for her traveling companion, but he wasn't to be found. Not that that was irregular. He had a tendency of disappearing before she woke up and reappearing later that morning.

She groaned as her muscles objected to waking up. After a few tries she managed to climb to her feet and stretch, the moist morning air refreshing against her skin as the blanket fell away. Her next order of business was gathering her clothes and dressing, lest she be seen by some wayward traveler. It was a typical morning ritual, these days, to seek out wherever her clothing might've ended up. She then turned her attention to reviving the fire in order to get some breakfast heated from their supplies, though the thought of it so quickly after waking up made her feel a little sick. Breakfast was important when traveling, however, so she would bear it.

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[Merik Dragmire]

The trip into the poisoned glade had proven completely fruitless for Merik's personal quest and he had quickly found himself back at square one.

Damn the Emperor and his damned Black Land... he thought angrily, and not for the first time since he had left the glade.

Having worked with and against monsters at various times in the past, one important language he had deemed to try and get a passing understanding of was the Bokoblin tongue, seeing as you could find the crafty little bastards almost everywhere in Hyrule. According to the one he had convinced to talk. the river that flowed into the glade and formed a small pond originated at the far southern border of the Black Land and flowed through the mountains. It wasn't ancient, unsealed magic run amok afterall it was simply poison.

The journey had been continuously uneventful, and it had left a quiet unease on the King as they had gotten closer to Castle Town. He found himself waking too easily and it was because of that fact he'd been noticing Nairore's inability to stay awake during watch.

I'll have her take the first watch from now on, should make it easier for her to stay awake...[/i] he had thought once he had awoken early that morning...well still mostly night... and found her asleep.

After making sure to wrap her in one of the blankets beforehand he set off for a hidden cache he had set up nearly a decade ago. Pushing aside the rock that covered the opening, he reached inside and smirked when his hand closed around the top of a sealed bag. Closing his other hand around it as well he hauled it out, grimacing at the loud clanking the bag made as it exited the hole. Sitting it aside he resealed the cache, then set the pack over his shoulder and began the trip back to the campsite.

[Nairore]

x x

By the time Merik got back to camp Nairore had some salted meat and a few slices of almost-stale bread all heating. Toasting would be a bit of a compliment. Nairore wasn't a cook, had never learned to cook. Her father was in such a position that even while they were away on campaigns meals were cooked for them. Granted over the last couple months of traveling with Merik she'd at least learned how to prepare a passable meal by a campfire, mostly stews and other such simple dishes, but this was breakfast made out of rations that were almost at their end since they were nearly at Castle Town.

Life on the road wasn't all about adventure and conflict, after all. Sometimes the real troubles were the real basics. The rations were pre-cooked to be eaten cold, though they had more flavor when heated, Nairore had discovered, so she had heated them up by the small cooking fire. The bread was browning but without any sort of toasting implement it was much harder to get the process right. She looked up from where she was squatting by the fire when Merik made his way in, cocking an eyebrow at the sack over his shoulder before smirking and shaking her head.

"You're gone when I wake up and you return with a sack full of what?" she asked as she poked the rations and determined they'd been warmed enough. She pulled the pan away from the fire, but since they didn't have any plates with them that was basically how it would be served, directly from the pan. She laid it to the side, then fetched the browned bread and threw it on top of the meat. "Breakfast," she said with a humorless laugh. "If you're feeling kind, anyway. It'll do." She sat back down not far from the campfire and let the heat take the last stiffness from her muscles.

"I'm not sure what to ask first: where that came from or what's in it," she murmured as she rubbed her temple where it still throbbed, turning her gaze to the ground, being that it was the only thing not moving between the waving trees, flickering fire, blowing clouds and so forth. A few deep breaths suppressed the pain, though headaches were always worse than actual physical pain from wounds. They persisted and made it all the harder to concentrate on whatever else you were doing, while wounds could be ignored for a time.

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[Merik Dragmire]

"Quite a while back I had storage caches set up all across the country for the runaway thief in desperate need of supplies. Anyway I called for a runner to deliver this little beauty from my armory and I've been advising her which caches we were near every night. The last few nights I've been heading out before dawn and checking to see if it had arrived and today it was there waiting for me." Merik replied casually as he took a peek at the breakfast and decided to let the pan cool a little more before diving in for the meat.

He did however take a piece of bread and bit off a chunk of the corner before sitting it on his knee and returning to his work. Opening the bag he pulled out the first of its contents, all of which he knew would be easily recognized by Nairore: a helmet. Soon enough a full suit of armor was sitting on the ground, the chest piece bearing the sigil of the Kingdom of Hyrule. Once all the pieces were out he grabbed a piece of meat and popped it in his mouth before he set about cleaning each piece.

"It's been a while since I've had the chance to wear this but it should still fit...and if not I can adjust a little to match I suppose."

[Nairore]

x x

Nairore watched as he helped himself to the breakfast. She was glad he was eating it anyway, as the more she eyed it the more she didn't feel like eating it. She knew she should, really, especially since they had a long day of traveling ahead of them. More often then not it was more apt for them to skip lunch or just eat some rations cold than to stop and prepare something. That mean she wouldn't have anything substantial to eat until it got dark and they set up camp. Yet she just couldn't even entertain the thought; her stomach felt like it would reject it.

So she didn't eat, and turned her attention to Merik as he unpacked the contents of the sack. She recognized the helmet immediately and blinked, then turned her mutli-colored eyes up to him. "Where did you get that?" she asked, though she wondered if she even wanted to know the answer. Granted he probably wouldn't risk her turning on him, would he? To reveal a set of Hylian Knight armor that he may have stolen, he wouldn't be so foolish. Even looting the dead was something she wasn't sure if she would have.

His ability to get it all the way from the desert was remarkable. It was an impressively organized system. She had to wonder how the runner could get a full set of armor from the desert before they'd even traveled half the distance. Sure they had a detour along the way, but it was still good time for the runner to calculate which cache to leave it according to their own pace and, well, she really had nothing further to say on the system.

"Wait, so is your plan to go in disguised as a Hylian Knight? Father would call you out immediately, the armor is somewhat outdated. And even then it would require you to not interact with any of the Knights whatsoever that they mightn't recognize you. New recruits don't--it's a bit of a foolish plan, why not just go in as Bolt Michaels?"

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[Merik Dragmire]

"Yeah it is a little outdated...I probably should have been a bit clearer about which armor to bring..." Merik replied as he lifted the helmet to the morning light to look inside where he had left a mark long before to tell which suit was which. "I call Ganondorf my grandfather, but in truth he's my great-great grandfather; the runner was supposed to bring my father's armor but this suit was my grandfather's...hmmmm I suppose I could go in as a veteran of the war."

He briefly considered Nairore's suggestion to go as Bolt Michaels but quickly shook it off.

"Bolt Michaels really only works getting into the Fairy Palace because Titania KNOWS that it's really me; maybe once I've had a little time to work at living up to my self-proclaimed title it might be able to get me past the Knights but I need to be a little less noticeable to get in this time."

He went back to thinking on it as he resumed eating his bread and grabbed another slice of meat. It was only as he was sitting and thinking that he noticed she had yet to touch any of the food.

"You really should eat Nairore, you know we've got a long day ahead of us and you'll need to keep your strength up if you're looking to keep training."

[Nairore]

x x

Nairore would feel a lump forming in her throat as Merik mentioned that she should eat. She really didn't feel like it, but she didn't want him to press the issue either. Gingerly she reached out and took up the other piece of the toast, figuring the bread would sit easier, and nibbled at it quite idly. Careful bites, small increments, that slowly worked away at the bulk of the bread without overwhelming herself at any point. While she nibbled she examined the armor from her seat and considered how they could make it work. Merik had gone through all the trouble to get it there, after all.

"Father thinks I'm training with Rwaht Orin. Of course that is probably going to become suspect as soon as he sees me. And you can't go disguised as Orin himself, Zenethil will see through that easy enough. But what if you went as another student? Nothing says I'm the only one, and while I've created the illusion that Rwaht is evasive, maybe he would've sent someone along to escort me? It's a stretch, but considering I don't think we're going to be walking out of Castle Town so much as fleeing I suppose it's only necessary to get you in," she reasoned out idly while staring at the armor.

"This is all your domain; you're the criminal, after all," she joked. "Anyway, the student could just as easily be using his grandfather's armor as an heirloom. Not like Rwaht could supply weapons and armor for his students anyway, the guy's been who knows where for years now," she said with a shrug. The headache was making it rather hard to properly concentrate on this plan anyway. She had to rely on Merik to piece together anything she left out or overlooked.

Then she was hit by a sudden wave of nausea. She barely had a chance to move out of her sitting position and fall onto all fours before the contents of her stomach, between their meal the night before and the toast she'd just eaten, all came up in a rush to decorate the ground. She gagged a few more times before it was all over and she stared down at the food she had just eaten. Guess there was no hiding the nausea from Merik now.

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[Merik Dragmire]

Another of Rwaht's students? The idea certainly had merit, though it might not allow him the opening into the castle he was hoping for but it was a definite start. And perhaps with that small opening he could find his way back inside for long enough to take care of business.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden movements of Nairore and acting on instinct and a burst of speed he found himself behind her, keeping her hair from being dyed a much less attractive color. Once it seemed she had finished, and after a few extra seconds to make sure she didn't find anything else to purge, he gently pulled her away from the mess and back towards the blankets.

"Back into bed right now. We'll keep camped here until you're feeling better." he said as he began clearing up things a little more. "Although when you're feeling up to it, you should probably try some bread again...I'd try and make some soup if I had the ingredients and knew how to make soup..."

[Nairore]

x x

Nairore was shaking once it was all said and done, made physically weak by the sickness. As such she was guided back by Merik quite easily and into her bed, her chest heaving as she breathed deep, trying to make sure it was all over and not merely falling into a lull. The last thing she wanted at that moment was a second wave to ruin her blanket. She clenched her fists together until her knuckles were white and tried to stop herself from shaking, to regain her energy.

Her multicolored eyes closed as she took a few more deep breaths before calming herself entirely. The shakes left, followed by any residual nausea. When she was certain everything was fine once more she opened her eyes slowly to look at Merik and crack a smirk. "Seems you're always looking after me," she said meekly. First he'd beaten her and agreed to take her in, then put her in her place as her arrogance had her nearly fighting his queen. Then she had lost herself in the fog and he had to look after her until she collapsed in Titania's palace, and now this.

Though this was mostly his fault anyway.

She grunted and tried to get up, but was overcome by a wave of dizziness from her throbbing head, made worse by the sudden rush of blood that comes with vomiting, and fell back down onto her 'bed'. This time she allowed herself to fall back into a prone position since she was fairly confident the worst of it had passed. Nairore sighed and knew the conversation they were about to have was going to be as painful as just about every conversation they had. Why couldn't good things happen? Things they could joke about and enjoy?

"It'll pass in a few minutes. At least that's how it went yesterday and the day before," she said flatly. He had, thankfully, been at his cache when the brunt of the nausea had hit. This was the first time she had actually been overcome by it to the point of vomiting, though she wouldn't admit that to him. She draped her arm over her eyes to block out the sunlight and tried to collect herself for the upcoming chat.

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[Merik Dragmire]

"Well you know you made it look so fun when you took care of yourself I figured I'd give it a try." Merik retorted with a quiet chuckle before dropping back into seriousness as Nairore tried, and failed, to rise back up. "Easy, easy...we can afford another day on the road."

As she finally lay down he moved and knelt beside her, working to block out as much of the sunlight as he could with his body.

"You've been sick for days and you haven't told me? I thought you weren't going to hide when you weren't feeling well after you collapsed at the Palace? ...Wait...you've been sick the last few mornings..." he trailed off as the truth dawned on him about what was going on here. "...How long have you known?"

He felt a little bit of dread attached to the whole matter. Here he was on his way back home to his waiting Queen...and his student was pregnant...and he just KNEW that Kotone would jump to the solution that it was his child (the fact that it was his child wasn't the point, she should have a little more faith in him).

"I suppose it's moot to ask if it's mine...?" he asked, a very lame joke on his part as he knew she hadn't been around anyone else since they left the Palace.

[Nairore]

x x

She watched as the realization dawned over her face. At least Merik wasn't an idiot and was able to come to the obvious conclusion right away. Nairore had been afraid she might have to outline the painful details to him, but he figured it out on his own and he could see the dread on his face. That was pleasing, to find out the father of your child was dreading her birth. Her simply because they were both Gerudo and, being that he was this century's male, the chances of a second male were practically impossible. She raised an eyebrow at the attempt at humor and gave him a pity smile.

"I've only been feeling nauseated for the last few days, but I've been having strange, claustrophobic dreams and if they're anything to go by I'd say it's been just over a week," she said, feeling small in the whole situation. One down, thirty five to go. Her father was definitely not going to find out about this little turn of events when she spoke to him. She goes away for two months and comes back knocked up with the spawn of his mortal enemy, pregnant with perhaps the only pure-blood Gerudo there would be for another century.

If she was still included among the Gerudo in this case. Her blood was Gerudo, but her upbringing was Hylian. She even still had one blue eye. She wondered if the enchantment on her might affect development, though there was no real point in worrying. Her father had wanted it to be as permanent as possible and had paid for it. Nothing could dispel it, except, it seemed, her own conscious mind. Which was strange. Those multi-colored eyes watched Merik with a bit of disbelief of their own.

"I had hoped it was just a sickness, but, well, I guess all the signs come together to say otherwise, huh?" She groaned as she sat back up. "It's gone now, I just have to be careful not to move too fast or my headache gets the best of me. From what I know of . . . well it's going to be a fairly regular thing. We won't be making any progress if we stop every day like this to rest," she grunted as she managed her way to her feet and moved away from him to start packing up camp.

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[Merik Dragmire]

Merik was still a little struck dumb by the whole situation; between Titania's use of magic to keep from getting pregnant and his, as of the moment, lack of success with Kotone he had forgotten how easily a child could come about.

"Starting a little later and ending a little earlier won't kill us on time though." he said as he stood and started helping her clear things up. Once they were packed and nearly ready to go he walked over and pulled her against him in a gentle hug. "I don't know what we're going to do but I'll make sure you're both taken care of if I can't be around."

He held her a little longer before kissing her forehead and finished loading up the horses. He was silent for a short time before casually throwing out.

"And of course we'll have to start cutting back on the training."

[Nairore]

x x

It really helped raise Nairore's spirits about the ordeal when Merik got his senses about him and assured her that he would look after both her and the child. She honestly wasn't sure if she was ready to be a mother yet, but it seemed like she would have to be ready in nine months time. The thought made her afraid, but she decided it wasn't time yet to think about that. First thing was first she had to get to Castle Town and clean up this whole business. The quicker the better, now that they had a growing time limit. His embrace was comforting, too, and she wished it didn't have to end when he went to finish packing up.

Then he made his comment about training. Naurlambe was off of her back quicker than it had ever been drawn before and pointed straight at him, raw determination dancing in her eyes. "No. My movement isn't restricted yet and we can still train. And I don't want you going easy on me, either. I need to become better now, I have something to protect and if I don't learn to protect it then . . . you and I both know my current fighting style would endanger a child. That has to be adjusted." She had a point, too. Her current fighting style when battling against him, as a tougher opponent, was strategically trading smaller blows for large ones, taking a hit to land a more effective one on him. More than once this had led to wounds across her stomach.

She kept her scimitar leveled on him for a moment before lowering it. She'd made her statement, so the sword went back to its sheath on her back and she busied herself by packing up all that remained while letting Merik mull over what she had said. She wasn't going to take no for an answer, and she had aimed to make that quite clear. Training was what had gotten her into this position, it would be a waste to stop it now. Her head throbbed as she worked, the sudden outburst had caused her blood to rush which worsened her headache, but she gave no sign that it affected her.

Once the horses were packed she mounted up smoothly and considered the action. She was a week in and her body was already getting stiff. She could still move like she used to, but it was going to grow more and more taxing. And when she started to actually show her pregnancy, then things would change all together. Her hand found its way on top of her exposed naval, where the swelling would be, and she looked down at it thoughtfully. She was with child. It was a thought she still found hard to accept.

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[Merik Dragmire]

Merik scarcely acknowledged the fact that he had a sword in his face when Nairore's fairly good mood suddenly jumped ship for a slightly more vicious one. Unfortunately she had really only seen his good side in their time together and hadn't yet had a chance to learn that the one thing he'd slaughter millions for was the protection of his family.

"THIS IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE NAIRORE! I WILL NOT ENDANGER MY DAUGHTER BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN INSATIABLE NEED TO BE BETTER!" he roared as his rage flew to the surface almost as fast as it had for her. He closed his eyes, breathing heavily as he forced it back down.

He remained silent as he regained his composure, eventually opening his eyes and unclenching his fists. He took a few more calming breaths before mounting up. He didn't tell her that he agreed with her, that she did need to change her fighting to account for her pregnancy, but he certainly wasn't the best choice for training her in her current condition.

Silence reigned a little longer as he started moving before he added.

"Your training won't stop but you're essentially back at square one and it's going to take time to figure things out. More likely than not I'll have you train with some of my guards when we reach the desert, they have a special training program for when any of them become pregnant."

[Nairore]

x x

Nairore had never seen this side of Merik before, but she had suspected it was there. He was a leader, he ruled a race that was notorious for banditry and had caused more than enough trouble for the Hylian Knights. Such a ruler couldn't be made of sugar, and when his voice raise and he started shouting she simply stared, not even phased by the shouting. The determination stayed in her eyes as her hand lay over her stomach and she glared at him. She wasn't going to have him shouting at her either, especially over such trivial matters.

"She's not just your daughter, either. My own needs are going to be put the side right now, for obvious reasons. Do not assume I am self-absorbed. Nor assume that I was even try to debate the matter with you, Merik. From what I know of you, trouble seems to follow you around, and if I'm going to bear your child I want to make sure this child sees sunlight, and I will protect it," she said with a calm and collected manner, her voice cold and forward. She had her victory, Merik agreed to continue the training. The thought of a special training program in the desert was a little daunting, though.

"You're my trainer, you gave your word that you would train me. This is your child as well as mine and you'll see to it that she's safe as well. I won't have any part of a training program with other women unless you are directly involved," she said and spurred her horse on. Merik's anger was not what she was afraid of. She was bearing his child and she knew no matter how angry he got he would do nothing to hurt her. For the first time in their traveling together she was in charge, she had the hand, and she was not going to allow Merik to take that from her.

Though the thought of stopping into Castle Town became more and more daunting. Her father was not going to be pleased with her change, and she had no idea how he would react. Whenever Merik caught up to her, she sighed. "Maybe stopping into Castle Town isn't such a good idea, given the change in circumstances. But I've already sent word of my arrival ahead and Lori's looking forward to my coming. And, frankly, I could use one of her massages," she said, realizing she was rambling somewhat about her concerns.

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