The White Rider and the Future King {Arthur}

[Deleted]

Gandalf was sorely missing Shadowfax. The Prince of Horses hadn't transferred to this fine land with Gandalf, and it wasn't as if the wizard could simply open up a portal and go fetch his steed whenever he wanted. The portals had been working on essentially a one-way basis for some time, which had been part of the impetus for Gandalf assigning portal theory to the more research oriented of his apprentices.

So Gandalf was looking for a steed to make do. Call it a personal preference, but the steed had to be white, preferably of a relatively pure kind, and obviously fit. Since Gandalf had no qualms about small details like ownership given the present circumstances, it was simply a matter of picking the best of the lot.

This explained why he was pacing the stables, looking over the horses. It also explained, to a lessor degree, why he'd invited Prince Arthur here.

Gandalf knew he'd thrust a lot of responsibility upon the young man. The rousing speech had been rousing, and it had done its part. Gandalf had set the wheels in motion, and now he was hoping to ride ahead and smooth out pitfalls and potholes. Still, he knew he needed to at least inform Arthur, the de jure leader of this whole mess; hence the contact sent via text message (which Gandalf had recently discovered). The wizard was sincerely hoping the prince agreed, because this would be rather difficult to explain otherwise.

[Arthur]

It felt like he hadn’t stopped since he spoke with them all in the square, like he hadn’t slept, and yet he pressed on. The important part was securing the area, making sure that the city was ready should it come down to siege. Most importantly however was organising for the god Hermes to be transported safely to the enemy camp. The statement itself seemed ridiculous, the man was an immortal with unlimited power of course he could take care of himself…but they didn’t know what this invading army had, what if they had something that could outsmart, out power another immortal. No, it was best to send someone with him, if even to be a witness to what happened.

Slowing his horse down as he entered the stable courtyard he spotted the wizard immediately and smiled. He didn’t know why the other man had called upon him but he was glad to note that the wizard was still showing his support, still standing by his side. It wasn’t that Arthur thought he wasn’t capable of taking on the roll he had acquired, it was just nice to know that he had a legend like Gandalf to back him up when things went wrong.

Holding a hand out for the man to shake he said, “Aren’t you supposed to be locked in a tower by a once friend at this point? I’m sure I’m supposed to be meeting some haflings in a seedy bar around about now.”

[Deleted]

If it was one thing Gandalf appreciated, it was a healthy sense of humor. So he managed a chuckle as he extended his hand to the future king, seizing it in a firm grip. "Yes, well, it was actually the dwarf who tried to keep my locked up in the office this time, but I was rather insistent."

Really, there hadn't been much Doc could have done or said to discourage Gandalf. If the well meaning intellectual had accomplished anything, it was that Gandalf was perhaps a little more cautious than he would have been otherwise. he'd also made certain that others knew of his plans, which was, of course, part of the reason he'd called Arthur here.

"I don't suppose you've time for a ride?" he asked, looking to Arthur. "I was hoping for an escort for a little while. You look like you could use the chance to relax."

Though Gandalf knew full well the pressures around preparing for war. He couldn't recall if he'd ever really relaxed when he'd been preparing Minas Tirith for the onslaught that would befall it. Then again, he'd been a wizard who'd only recently been resurrected; some vitality was to be expected. Things were... different now, in many, many ways.

[Arthur]

Time? He was rapidly running out of he felt but if the wizard thought that there was enough of it then who was he to disagree? Arthur nodded his head and said, “of course, no doubt you have important wisdom to bestow upon me. I’m warning you now though, I don’t have a sword that was broken that needs to be fixed.” Motioning to the sword that hung at his side, “I keep mine in excellent condition.”

Waiting for the man to join him he thought about how he had not left his home without some sort of weapon since the meeting in the courtyard. All that talk of peace and negotiating, it’s not that he didn’t believe it was the right course of action…he just didn’t think it would work. Some people could not be reasoned with, he knew this, and yet he was still trying. He hoped no one else had picked up on his cynicism, the last thing they needed right now was widespread panic when ever their sort of leader thought it wouldn’t work.

The talks would fail, they would lose that battle. But not the war.

“Also,” he said, his mind picking up one something else the man had said, “does this dwarf make a habit of locking you up in rooms? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

[Deleted]

"I said tried, not succeeded," said Gandalf, giving Arthur a professorial look. He was quickly moving through the preparations of his horse. While the animal was not Shadowfax, she was certainly an impressive enough creature, with snowy white mane on a white body. Her hooves were black, as was some distance up her legs, making it look as though she'd stepped into mud. Gandalf, enjoying the symbolism that provided, had found it quite fitting. He easily leaped into the saddle now, taking only a few moments to adjust to the situation.

"Your sword is something I wish to discuss, however," said Gandalf, looking to the prince's blade, "because I'm sure you know full well how powerful a symbol a king's blade can be. But let's move to a more pleasant location for our darker talks."

He gave his horse a kick and the reins a flick. The mare leaped into action, heading out of the stable at a trot. Gandalf didn't feel a need to wait for Arthur, whom he suspected of being an impressive enough horseman, and certainly capable of keeping up. Besides, it was the wizard's duty to unsettle things and make certain he had control of the situation, after all.

That was politics.

[Arthur]

His sword?

As Gandalf prepared his horse Arthur looked down at the weapon by his side. It was a perfectly good sword, the finest made in Camelot, it would make a perfectly good symbol. Was it because it didn’t have a name? Swords tended to have names, didn’t they? And this particular sword well it was just called…sword…or sometimes ‘where is that damn weapon’, not very regal but it wasn’t the name that was important. It was what the person that was holding it, did with it.

Arthur tried desperately not to think about the double entendre in all of this and then desperately tried to stop himself from smirking. Yes, even under the mature and regal appearance of Prince Arthur was a thirteen year old boy who just wanted to giggle.

As Gandalf set off Arthur moved his horse after him, calling out, “Darker talks? Don’t tell me you have more bad news.”

[Deleted]

Gandalf looked askance at the young man. "Surely you didn't think that a war was going to be sunshine and roses? The bards will sing of us if we win, but it's not until we get that victory that we're going to hear their tunes," Gandalf encouraged his horse to keep going. He knew he had to get to the edges, and the sooner the better. The information and commands had already gone around to his various connections; things were in motion.

They galloped for some time before Gandalf reined his horse in. They were technically just within the boundaries of the school, right around the area where forest and road were about to meet. Gandalf stared into the distance, his mind thinking over the myriad possibilities. He looked over to Arthur again.

"How would you feel about taking up another blade?" he asked, returning to the earlier conversation as easily as if they'd never left it. "I'm not convinced we need to retrieve your old blade, and I'm not certain we can. However, if you were to wield a sword of equal acclaim, then it might just be another push. at this point, we need all the pushes we can achieve..."