fandomhighdorms | Just Outside the Main Gate, Friday Morning

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Just Outside the Main Gate, Friday Morning

He'd been assessing people resources for most of the previous day. Since there had yet to be word from Lady Zoe, Arthur took the opportunity today to scope out how much space there would be for a barricade - if one could even be feasible.

This brought him to the area just outside the gates, wearing full armor and backed by Merlin-the-idiot-sorcerer, his eyes shooting towards the road in front of them from time to time.

[[ open, especially to merlin, and zombie-ok as well! ]]

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The idiot-sorcerer did not look particularly pleased by this whole barricade idea. It reminded him too strongly of Ealdor.

"How many people are ready to fight?"

Well, that was strategy for you.

"It's hard to tell," Arthur said. "If radio is to be believed, we've been losing warriors in droves." He paced up to the line of one wall.

Ronan had decided that gearing up and heading out for a patrol would be a good idea; he was one of the many, after all, who had some experience with threats like this, and it wouldn't hurt to put his experience and skills to good use.

As he was leaving, he happened to spy Arthur. Ronan closed his eyes, sent a silent prayer for strength to the powers, and approached. "Good day," he said. "Going zombie-hunting?"

Best to try for politeness, to start.

Merlin nodded, looking down the road as well. His tactics may not be the best, but put him in a corner and you'd have one hell of a fight.

"We'll find a way."

More sorcerers. That was exactly what Arthur had needed. "No," he said, "We're assessing the defensibility of the castle." This really wasn't a time for outright hostility. "You were planning to do so on your own?"

"Of course we will," he said, with forced blase arrogance that was so well-practiced it sounded like the regular breed. "We'll need to establish a credible line of defense." Not that he expected Merlin to understand any of that.

He... understood the defense bit. "What do we need first?" Why yes, yes he was offering his powers for this.

Ronan nodded. "I'd not object to company," he said, "but a number of my more powerful abilities are... wide-range in scope, and I'd rather not risk people unfamiliar with them."

"We'll need to set up that barricade," he replied, his eyes shooting from one end of the gates to the other. "First, we'll have to gain the Lady Zoe's permission." He wasn't touching on Merlin's powers just yet, and his words implied a keen sense of distance. "This is her castle. We can't presume she hasn't deployed her own measures."

Tahiri was in no way about to sit around the dorms doing nothing, but she also didn't trust herself to just go out and kick some zombie butt right now. Riina enjoyed it a little too much. Which didn't mean she didn't have her lightsaber clipped to her belt when she ventured out, of course.

Of course, it would be Arthur out by the gates, and she rolled her eyes a little bit but headed down anyway. "Is there a plan yet?" she asked.

"We could ask today," Merlin offered hopefully. "Perhaps?"

Well, far be it from him to contradict a wizard's opinion of his own powers. "It's too dangerous out there for a lone warrior," Arthur said, neutrally, "But if this magic of yours is as 'wide-ranged' as you claim, I'm sure you'll come to no harm."

He even managed to reign in some of the sarcasm-slash-pride on that last one.

Ronan reigned in his temper. After his last encounter with the person who -- he continued to assume, thanks to his conversation with Tony -- was Arthur, he'd been thoroughly embarrassed by how he'd flounced away.

"May I ask," he said, as calmly as he could, "exactly why it is that you have such disdain of wizards? I can only assume that it has to do with something from your own home."

"No, Merlin, let's wait a week and see what happens."

"I've heard nothing from the Lady Zoe," Arthur supplied. He could have rolled his eyes at her in return, but that wouldn't accomplish anything right now. "If we get permission, however, it'd be best if we set up a barricade, added a fire trap, closed the gates, and set up our best long-range fighters behind them."

Also, it'd be nice if people stopped wandering off.

"Magic is forbidden by law in Camelot," Arthur spoke, with a false idleness. He glanced back at Ronan, and took a new, careful stock of the man.

Merlin just shot him a foul look. "You're the one with the bright ideas."

"... Yeah, but this isn't Camelot," Ronan pointed out. "In fact, I'm from a world without Camelot. What makes you assume that whatever the reasons it's outlawed there are consistent from world to world?"

"And I'm happy you finally choose to recognize that," Arthur said, dryly. "By far better than yours. But yes. I see no reason to postpone it."

"Do we have time to ask for permission?" Tahiri asked dubiously. (Thank you, Anakin Solo, for that posthumous bad influence.) "I know the zombies move slow, but red tape can be such a pain and more people could get eaten by the time we get the okay."

"Of course, sire."

Arthur turned a little to consider him. Merlin and magic. "You really can't make them dissappear?" He was choosing to avoid the m-word this time.

For one, Arthur still had trouble wrapping his mind around this different worlds business, after all this time. For two, he had massive issues regarding his father. For three, he'd given in to the sad fact that he was going to have to work together with magic users no matter what, and any other long slew of points had flown into his head and they weren't leaving.

"I asked you not to use any around me," he said, displaying a vast ocean of control, "That's hardly burning you at the stake."

"We don't want our efforts to intervene with what Lady Zoe has planned," Arthur said, businesslike, even if he quite frankly was somewhat of the same persuasion as Tahiri in this. Protocol demanded otherwise. "I'm sure it won't take long."

Arthur was unaware of how red tape procedures had worsened over the years.

"I'd have done it already if I could," Merlin said, thinking of Francine.

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Just Outside the Main Gate, Friday Morning

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