ourselves under pressure - raoul!

[Katherine Seton]

TERROR OF KNOWING WHAT THIS WORLD IS ABOUT TERROR OF KNOWING WHAT
watchin' some good friends screaming
- - - - - - - - L E T M E O U T !

How had Kate gotten here? She couldn't help but think that her past life must have been some sort of twisted dream. There was no possible way anyone could go from hosting fantastic balls in pretty gowns, draped with elegant jewels, to some wretched little urchin scurring across the streets. Once she had had a tutor. She'd lived in a fine palace, had dined with the finest royals in all of Archenland. Her cousin was the bloody king of the country. And yet she was currently standing in the torn dress Yasmin had bought her, covered in dirt and too exhausted to care. Her dull blue eyes gazed into fierce river with a impassive exhaustion. Once she had jumped across this river and nearly gotten swept away, but she had been young and sturdy, healthy and well fed, and she had fought it and won. But Kate couldn't make it across in her current condition.The child was malnourished, and the dress that had fit her well once upon a time fit loosely upon her frame. Somehow she had lasted a year running throughout Narnia and Archenland, avoiding being caught by those who wished her harm. But there was really no sense in wandering anymore.

She closed her eyes, picturing the scene that had awaited her at home. A small tear trickled down her cheek, and the grime washed away, forming a small white path. She hadn't been able to sleep since she had seen the stained floors, the splattered walls, the spoiled clothing. It seemed blood was all she dreamed about. Arthur's body was not found among the wreckage, and Kate hadn't the faintest idea what had happened to him, but she assumed (and rightly) that he was dead. In a short year, a girl who had been on top of the world was now orphaned at the very bottom. She was staring at the river again, at the stream she knew she shouldn't go anywhere near. But Raoul's castle was on the other side. It was a place she had ventured once before. It had no blood inside, no horrifying, decomposing bodies of long lost parents. She had decided she would live there until she could find someone. She was perfectly capable of raising herself, or so Kate assumed, and she planned on living in a deserted castle. The year she had spent in the forest had strengthened the girl's knowledge of what she could eat, and what made her ill. Good fortune had kept her away from poisonous berries and mushrooms. Kate could live on her own.

But crossing the river was another matter. Recent rains had caused it to swell in size, and the pace was rapid. But Kate had no where else to turn, and perhaps mild insanity and shock caused her to start to step into the river. The girl who prided herself on being logical was now staring at the water her mind warned her against. She took a single step in it, shaking at the temperature. But for the moment she felt sturdy and had good balance. The knapsack she had been given from her parents she now tightened on her back, making sure it wouldn't slide off when she entered the water. A few more steps, and Kate was up to her knees. She kept her hands out for balance, but it was the next step she took that send her reeling into the water. When Kate's left foot came down, she found a large rock where there should have been sand. She stepped down, but the rock caused her balance to shift, and before she knew it she had fallen in the water. She had underestimated the current, and found herself being dragged away. Water started to pour over her face, seeping into her eyes while her fingers scrambled to find something to hold on to. She was parallel to the floor now, trying her best to swim upstream but failing. She started to cry out, screams drowned out by the sound of rushing water. Kate found herself being dragged further and further along the river. Finally her body slammed into a large rock jutting out from the stream, and she grabbed on to it helplessly, looking for a way out.

tagged; raoul!
words; don't careeeee.
lyrics; under pressure by queen
credit; to brook from caution

[King Raoul II]

I've run out of answers
I've run out of time

[/u]

It was over. This war had taken everything from Raoul. His home and country now belonged to the Calormenes. He had no doubts his family was all gone, as he'd just finished burying his mother. The archenlander hadn't felt more stupid in his life, walking into his country thinking everything would go back to the way it was. Waling into Anvard, Raoul found it was a land occupied by not only his own people, but people from Calormen as well. He'd found his mother on the streets; cold, starving, and sick. Raoul knew there wasn't too much time left, so the man quickly took her to the woods and she'd passed away peacefully there in his arms. For what seemed like hours, Raoul cried and grieved over her still body, before putting her in the ground. There wasn't too much, so he marked the tomb with a stone and set a bunch of snap dragons on it; her favorite flower. Pulling himself away from the grave, Raoul considered going to the Setons' home not far away, but he was afraid of what he would find. Kate...burying a child would make him break down.

For a while, Raoul sat by the rivers edge, just thinking. The man knew not what to do with himself; he could not go back to the army, for the war was over, and he had no job. He only possessed the clothes on his back, his trademark sword, and a chestnut mare. Perhaps there could be work for him in Narnia or Telmar...it was his chance for a fresh start. Life would be so different..Raoul had once eaten off plates of silver and gold, with women at his feet. Maybe this was his chance to finally settle down and find that person...that girl he'd been wishing would come along and pull him out of misery. Raoul flinched a little when he felt a nudging on his neck and turned to see it was the mare. He chuckled a little and petted the top of her head..at least there was someone who hadn't forgotten about him. The man didn't mind if that someone was an animal; at this point, companionship was his ultimate essential. At last in a long time, Raoul was at peace. For once, no running, fighting or sleeping in a tree hollow, but a chance for him to be calm.

The peace was over when screams came into Raoul's head. Was he hearing things? The man stood up, a sharp pain in his leg. It was a wound he'd received in the fighting healed, but he occasionally had pain from it. Looking closer, Raoul saw a child going downstream toward him. No..he could not let another life be wasted. The current was fast..it would have been stupid for him to jump in after her. Raoul started to panic, until he saw the child holding onto a rock. Careful not to slip in, the man stepped a little over the rivers edge, taking both his hands into the child's and pulling her to the safety of the shore. Raoul pushed his hands onto her chest in an attempt to get the water of her lungs. The man came back to his senses, and looking closer at the child, nearly cried with rejoice. It was Kate...his beloved cousin. She was drenched and thin, but alive. Raoul would not be alone after all! "Kate...its Raoul, your cousin. Can you hear me? Kate? Please be all right..."

Lyrics: "I need an Angel" ~ Ruben Studdard

[Katherine Seton]

TERROR OF KNOWING WHAT THIS WORLD IS ABOUT TERROR OF KNOWING WHAT
watchin' some good friends screaming
- - - - - - - - L E T M E O U T !

She was still holding on to the jagged rock, feeling the water tear at her knapsack. It was tugging on her shoulders, but at least it was still secure. It seemed like hours passed by, though it must have been only seconds. This is it. This is where I die. Kate thought miserably, panting over the gushing water. Just when her arms couldn't take it any more, when she expected to fall below the surface and drown, she felt a pair of hands wrap around her waist and drag her from the water. She gasped for air as the unknown figure pulled her from the river, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Her vision seemed blurred from the river water, and she blinked rapidly to clear them. In the mean time, she felt a heavy push on her chest, and began to cough up water. Kate sat up, leaning over to spit out the water she had swallowed and inhaled. Immediately she began to sob, considering just how close she had come to drowning. Her eyes went to the river once before looking up at the person who had dragged her out of it.

She didn't recognize him, not at first. Her eyes narrowed with confusion and alarm when he said her name aloud, and her heart started to race, wondering if she should run. But the moment he said Raoul, she took a second glance. Her hands started to tremble, and she stared up at him uncertainly. She seemed convinced it was a dream, but when she started to cough again and felt her body aching with pain, she realized reality for what it was. "R-Raoul?" Kate stammered, in between gasps of air and coughing fits. At first she started to smile, but the smile quivered and turned into a gasp, which transfered into crying again. She threw herself at him, arms wrapped tightly around his neck once more while she cried on his shoulder. His face was so warm, so welcoming, and the exact face Kate wanted to see just then. She had missed him so much, and now that he was her only family left, he was the perfect person for her to run into. Tears fell down her cheeks, and before she knew what she was saying she was blurting out "Raoul, everyone is gone. Everyone is dead. They killed my parents." Her voice was shaking, and she buried her head in his shoulder. Her hands let loose of his neck to find his hands and grab them, as if she were convinced he was going to take off now that he had saved her. She clutched them with a strength that could only come from partial insanity, and the child began to shake.

tagged; raoul!
words; don't careeeee.
lyrics; under pressure by queen
credit; to brook from caution

[King Raoul II]

Just take my hand. Hold it tight.

Tears streamed from Raoul's eyes. These tear were a mix of joy and sorrow, for he'd found someone, but starting over would be a challenge. He'd have to be a parent now. Food would need to go in her mouth. She'd need a warm place to stay and someone to educate her. He'd need money for a doctor when she got sick, and to pay an apothecary. Whatever it took, Raoul made a promise to himself that little Kate would live in comfort. It would never be the same as her life as a lady, but he'd also have some getting used to. Nothing would ever be the same, but hopefully time would push away the past.

Raoul's eyes were finally beginning to open, to see the true faults life had. The man was educated about these things during his years in the palace, but experiencing it was a completely different thing. Or perhaps it was karma punishing him for terrorizing all those nannies as a child. Not at all that Kate was a bad girl, but she could be difficult at times. No..Raoul would not be a babysitter to Kate, he'd be her father. The man was not intending to replace her now-deceased father, but to repair the damage done in her heart by these events.

As she came to her senses, Kate recognized Raoul and jumped into his arms. He held her close, a denote that he was there, and would always be. At this moment, it was all she needed; arms to shelter her, and proof that she had a caretaker. Raoul's heart sank when she sobbed about the death of her family, making him think of his own mother. Kissing her on the forehead, Raoul, in a subtle voice, said, "I know, child, I know. I was just done filling your Aunt's grave before finding you." Normally, the man would have told her crying was for weaklings, but as tears of his own fell, Raoul realized that it could be therapeutic rather than weak. He allowed her to cry, as it was better for grief to come out rather than build up inside.

It would be a while before they moved on. Now was a time to rest, to think. Perhaps one day, Raoul would make his revenge on those damned Calormenes and take what was his. He most certainly did not like the them, but Raoul could not hate them. Not now at least. The hate would eat him inside and right now, that was the last thing he needed.

~"You'll be in Heart" - Phil Collins

[Katherine Seton]

TERROR OF KNOWING WHAT THIS WORLD IS ABOUT TERROR OF KNOWING WHAT
watchin' some good friends screaming
- - - - - - - - L E T M E O U T !

It was the warm kiss on the forehead, the way he held her close that forced her sobs to quiet down and her body to relax. He was fitting the role Kate needed- a guardian and a caregiver, but a friend most of all. The child was extremely self reliant, and had been since a young age, but nothing in the world could have prepared her for this. She was stripped of her titles, her privileges and money, of almost everyone who had cared for her. But, in her mind, Raoul could change all that. He couldn't get her parents back, but he was still King, right? She could still live in a castle, have her old lifestyle back, or so she assumed- she had no idea what had happened with Raoul. In time she would come to accept death as a natural course. But for now, Kate wasn't thinking about any of that. She was thinking of the mess she had come home to. She wasn't used to having tears streaming down her face, for the child was as stern and logical as the King himself. But the moment she pictured her mother's face covered with dirt, she couldn't resist shedding another series of tears.

Get a grip. Her less compassionate mind told her, trying to shove her back into some sense of dignity. Kate gradually stopped crying, but not because her pain has lessened, or because she was gradually getting over the shock. Her mind had started to numb her, trying to force her into a more logical role until she could be left alone to mourn. The night would take hold of her emotions and release them again, but for now she hastily wiped away her tears and shoved her fists into her eyes like an infant. She rubbed away any remaining liquid before she turned her reddened eyes to Raoul. She gave the man a curious look, coughing up a bit more water before she asked. "I'm not dead, am I?" She didn't think she was, after all, her mother and father would be there to greet her if the river had swallowed her whole. But she had to ask, because of all of her relatives she had never expected to see Raoul again.

She gradually loosened her hold on him, and her attention shifted to her few belongings. Her knapsack had remained on her back, and she pulled it off, squeezing the fabric to get rid of the excess water. Once it was no longer dripping, she dove inside to recover the items within. There were a few remaining coins from selling the dress she had run away in for something more reasonable. Most of the money had been traded to recieve food, or shelter for the night. There was one almost spoiled biscuit that had been reduced to water-logged crumbs, and she pulled them out with a wince and threw them away on the ground. But what she was really looking for gleamed out at her, and she pulled out a rather long knife wrapped in a damp cloth. Though it was only a year old, Kate had poor cleaning skills, and the thing was beat up and a bit rusted. There were bloodstains on the handle from previous uses. But she wiped the blade tenderly on her dress before rewrapping it and placing it back in her knapsack. "I was going to come looking for you. I went to your castle once... a year ago..." She mumbled, talking to Raoul while wringing out the clothes she was wearing, "but you weren't there. What happened, where were you?" There was, perhaps, a tone of accusation in her voice, a child wondering why he hadn't come to find her. But Kate was too tired to blame anyone at the moment, and she didn't ask why he had left. Her selfish mind, unchanged after a year's worth of wandering, still put herself above others, and she assumed everyone else did too.

tagged; raoul!
words; haha, sorry, muse explosion for kate. you don't have to write as much if you don't want to. i don't mind. (;
lyrics; under pressure by queen
credit; to brook from caution

[King Raoul II]

Honestly, Raoul was a little dissapointed in Kate. Hadn't the past year made her strong like himself? Despite the events, it seemed as if she still thought of gold-spun dresses and filet mignon. He had no idea how to tell this poor child that Archenland was no longer under his control, now just another territory of Calormen. Even for Raoul, it was still hard to come to terms with. How could he let the country his dynasty dominated for hundreds of years fall out of his grip? It was because he'd run. When the Calormenes invaded, Raoul had fled like a coward. He should have stayed, should have let them kill him. But then who would Kate have been able to turn to when she came home to find her family dead? Thinking of the day he bolted put a pit in Raoul's stomach, but thinking of Kate all alone added a queasy feeling in his head.

The man didn't know how he'd tell the child the truth. It wasn't something he could hide, and at this point Raoul felt it would be easier to clean his teeth with a pickaxe. He could not snap at her, not now. For Kate was but a child, and most did not understand reality, how life wasn't like the stories they'd been read. Raoul didn't like doing this, and he knew the output wouldn't be smooth. The man foreshadowed this when his attempt to speak felt like chewing on arrowheads. Speaking in a mix of stutters and word paces, Raoul said, "Kate....they chased me....I fled the country. Calormen has the authority here now." The man hoped Kate understood now. She might have been a child, but the girl really wasn't that young.

Gazing at the river, Raoul said, "What did you do this past year? Were you on your own?"

OOC ~ Sorry if its short.