#with cairn being the strongest knight ever

[akar0ku]

“Do you think at all before you speak?” Cairn and Gawain, if you feel like it. I know I already sent you one.

“Fallacious”

Gawain had never seen the entirety of the castle in such an exuberant state of celebration. Though parties were by no means a rarity, they were most always reserved affairs. Events for the aristocracy and other such notable people to mingle and flaunt their status. This event was much more akin to the frat parties young recruits would throw in the dungeons. 

Gawain held fast to a neutral expression, not an easy feat considering the rage and disgust roiling within his core. The feeling was not targeted at the party; however, but rather the subject for celebration. He supposed he could let the laymen off easy for celebrating the demise of the water dragon. They hardly knew better and the hidden realities of their world were too complex to try and teach to a species who had long forgotten the past. But Kelvin’s slayer on the other hand.

He definitely had a few words to say to Cairn...That is if he could actually find the man among the throngs of celebrating knights and nobility. Cairn was nowhere to be found in either the ballroom or his quarters. With the easy spots out of the way, Gawain resigned himself checking every room, hall, and stairwell to find him.

After a long and thorough search of the fourth, third, and second floors, Gawain made his way to the smallest of the two towers. Before descending the staircase, Gawain peered down through the center of the spiral. And there was where his search finally ended. There was his long time friend, standing motionless at the bottom and staring at the set of doors opposite of the staircase. Under normal circumstances Gawain may have found the behavior concerning, but now all he could focus on was the barely controlled anger and disappointment for his friends actions.

“Cairn!” He bellowed before he was even half way down, his own voice echoing harshly within the narrow building. Cairn doesn’t move to acknowledge him and now Gawain’s concern is finally starting to override his anger. His descent slows as he reaches the final flight and he comes to a pause on the bottom floor, only a few meters from his friends back..

Cairn doesn’t turn to greet him, only staring steadfast at the doors before him. Gawain approaches Cairn, not quite cautious but still concerned as he circles a wide radius. The look on Cairn’s face is blank, eyes wide as he stares at a fixed spot ahead of him.

Gawain turns to look up at the spot the other man is so fixated on. He scans up and down the doorways expanse but finds nothing out of the ordinary. As he turns back, he opens his mouth to question the odd behavior, but his breath freezes in his lungs when he makes eye contact. Cairn is now staring directly at him, his usual warm dark eyes are now as sharp and cold as an obsidian knife.

Gawain was not a cowardly man by any means. He had fought one on one with green orcs and blood orcs, slayed many a number of frightful beasts, and apprehended some of the most depraved and dangerous criminals. Many times he had put his life on the line, and never once had he feared for it. But now all he could feel was the hammering of his heart against his chest, the roar of blood rushing in his ears, and the adrenaline spike that called for him to fight tooth and nail for his life.

But this couldn’t be right. This was Sir Cairn, his long time friend, his brother in arms. They had always had each other’s back, ever since their trainee days. He absolutely trusted Cairn with his life...but why was he now feeling like this very man could take that life away from him any second?

There was something so disturbingly unnatural in that stare.

“Gawain, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” The abrupt shift in tone and instant softening of facial features left Gawain in a state of mental whiplash. “Are you alright?”

Gawain let out the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. What had that been about? Had he just imagined that? “I...am fine. Just growing tired from the ruckus going on upstairs.”

“Could it be the great Sir Gawain is starting to show his age? Too old to have any fun and in bed by sun down.” Cairn teased in his familiarly upbeat manner, making Gawain question for a moment if that was the case and he was starting to grow senile.

“I’ve plenty of vigor left to keep me going a long while.” Gawain replied curtly, now focusing on the original reason why he was here.. “I’ve searched nearly the whole castle for you. I’ve a mind to beat you senseless on what you’ve done!”

Cairn hummed a confused sound, head tilting to the side ever so slightly as he crossed his arms. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“Do not feign ignorance with me. You know exactly what I speak of.”

Cairn sighed and closed his eyes as he nodded in realization. “The water dragon. I probably should have guessed you wouldn't be very happy about that. You do realize though that I had to follow orders?”

“This is not comparable to dealing with some farm pest! What you’ve done, you’ve disrupted the very balance of our world. Did you not think of the repercussions, of the eventual chaos you’ve inevitably brought onto everyone.”

“The dragon threatened our safety!” Cairn snapped. “I was ordered to take care of it. You know I couldn’t refuse a direct order from the prime minister himself.”

“So then are you going to be hunting down the other dragons?”

“Only if they threaten humanity’s safety and I am ordered to do so.”

“When did you grow to be so selfish? Do you not realize that all you’ve done is prolong the inevitable? Do you not realize how your actions will irreparably damage our relations with the other races? Do you think about your actions at all before you go through with them?!”

“Do YOU think at all before you speak?!” Gawain was taken aback by the outburst. Never before had he heard Cairn yell with such force. “What was I supposed to do? Just sit here as the dragon tore through the countryside, killing innocent people? Should I have waited for the others to join it in it’s rampage? Should I have waited for them to fulfill their part in the cycle and just shrug my shoulders as my family and friends die?”

That look was back in his eyes, cold, sharp, and now laced with killer intent. Instinctively, Gawain reached behind him for his morning-star, only to find with blood chilling realization that he hadn’t brought it. This would not be an easy fight if things escalated...and fleetingly he wondered if he would be walking away at all.

“You know this is how it has to be.” Gawain’s voice came low and raspy, hoping that somehow he would get logic through whatever fog had possessed his friend. “If family and friends are your biggest concern, then why not go be with them? Instead of running off on a pointless mission that will only wind up with you dead.”

“You might be fine with sitting back and waiting for the end. But I will not allow us to be sacrificed without a fight.” Gawain shook his head at Cairn’s words. They had known this day was likely coming, Nogueria and Zane had both explained the old legends with them. He had thought Cairn was of the same understanding as he was on the matter.

“What is it that has changed your perspective on this?”

Or had Cairn been harboring such reservations and denial this whole time, Gawain wondered.

A flash of quick movement had Gawain instantly falling into fight mode. He saw both of Cairn’s hands fall to the sword at his hip, one grasping the scabbard and the other the hilt. On instinct, Gawain pressed forward, knowing at this point that his best bet for survival was to be too close for a sword to be effective and rely on grappling his way out of here.

Both men remained in close proximity, staring intently at one another and waiting for the first move.

“Father?” Gawain could feel the color draining from his face as he recognized his son’s voice.

Cairn also took notice of their new visitor, slowly turning to look over his shoulder and also leaving enough of an opening for Gawain to look past him. There; at the base of the stairway, stood his twelve year old son with the uncomfortable look of someone who knew they had interrupted something but weren’t sure exactly what that something was.

“Ganz…” Gawain breathed, his adrenaline now spiking higher as his concerns shifted from self preservation to doing whatever it would take to ensure the safety of his own child.

“Ganz! Look at you, I feel like you’ve grown since the last time I saw you!” Cairn’s shift in mood once again left Gawain with a sense of whiplash and unease.

“I saw you last week. I uh, I don’t think I could grow so notably in such a short amount of time Sir.” Ganz replied sheepishly.

“Ganz, I’ve already told you, you don’t need to call me Sir.” Cairn chided lightheartedly.

Gawain bristled as he watched the taller knight begin to approach Ganz.

“Ah, right Sir. My apologies.” Ganz laughed with nervous innocence.

Cairn let out a breathy chuckle and shook his head. He reached out a hand to ruffle the stocky boy’s blond hair, but was smacked away before he could reach his mark. Cairn recoiled, staring at Gawain with a look of hurt in his eyes. 

Gawain only glared up at him, a protective anger radiating from every point on his body.

“Gawain, what’s gotten into you. You’re acting like I murdered an entire orphanage” Cairn accused, sounding a mixture of hurt, confused, and indignant.

“I will speak with you more on it later.” Gawain gritted between clenched teeth. He had no clue what was going on with his friend's mood swings, but he wasn’t about to linger here with his son and no weapons with which to protect them with just to find out.

Gawain nudged his son back towards the stairs with his elbow, feeling the boy hesitate for only a moment before obeying. He followed after the boy, never once taking his eyes off Cairn until said man eventually exited through one of the doorways.

“Father,” Gawain looked at his son, finding he had paused several steps above him. “What was that about?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with.” He replied, feeling a slight pull of guilt in his chest when the boy gave him a disappointed look. “What are you doing down here? Where’s your mother?”

“She’s upstairs saying her goodbye’s. She wants to go home but I wanted to find you and ask if perhaps I could stay here with you at the castle for a few days.” Gawain was at a loss for how to answer. Things between him and Cairn had escalated concerningly fast, and no matter what, he couldn’t shake that sense of endangerment he was feeling towards his long time friend right now.

He must have taken too long to think of his answer, since Ganz started back peddling his request and apologizing.

“I’m sorry my boy. Something’s come up that I need to look into.” He couldn’t risk taking his attention off of Cairn right now. Not until he’d figured out what was going on.

“I see…” Ganz mumbled, the look of disappointment on his face pulled at Gawain’s heart but it was better off this way. Father and son made the rest of the trip up the stairs in silence.

When they reached the third floor, Gawain stopped his son from leaving with a hand on his shoulder. That boy stared him at him expectantly, but Gawain only took the moment to take in the site of him. His mind wanders back to Cairn’s words and for a moment he wonders if maybe he was the one who was misguided in blindly swallowing humanity’s fate without question.

“This matter should only take me a few days. Once it’s resolved, I’ll take time off to come home. Will that make it up to you?”

A smile instantly breaks across Ganz’ face and the boy agrees eagerly. It’s the least he can do for the boy at this point.

Gawain watches his son leave until the boy is long out of site. His mind is heavy with the weight of processing everything that is going on and tangential thoughts on how to rectify them. For now, the only place he can think to start is to speak with both of the elven leaders.

Satisfied with his next step, he retreats to his chambers with the intent to write to Nogueira about his impending arrival and to put in his request of personal leave.

---

A/N: While writing this I got the idea to actually try and make this into a multi part series. I have a couple other ideas based around Cairn’s Algandars and in writing this I kinda want to better explore a few thing. This one would probably take place somewhere in the middle of that project so I’ll probably be re-posting this with edits that make it better fit in with the others. Especially where I’ve kinda come to the idea that Cairn and Gawain are both aware of the Gold and Silver dragon cycles but the both of them have different views on it that are kinda not quite wrong or right in their own ways. Also thanks Henry!