avalon- drukkari x fem!oc

the morning

  The day starts off as it always does.  The sun seeps through the window of her quarter's in the Domo, lighting her face up.  The sheets pool around her waist as she sits up, gaze moving slowly across the room as she blinks herself awake.  She's always up with the sun, whether she likes it or not.  And this day specifically, she's up early to grow berries for the girls to bring back to the village- even though their next lesson is the day after, she likes to be prepared.  

  Outside, the air is warm- warmer than usual.  It's pleasant, and a small breeze ruffles her hair as she steps away from the Domo.  Her feet take her to the edge of the forest, her wicker basket Claire had made her resting in the crook of her arm.  She kneels on the ground, hands pressed against the earth.  Within seconds, bushes of berries sprout from the ground, rising up from the dirt until they're as tall as the surrounding bushes.  

  She's only been picking the berries from the bush for a few minutes- doing it manually so she has more time to enjoy the day- when a shadow is cast over her.  Druig and Makkari smile down at her, eyes glancing between herself and the bush she's picking from.  

  "You enjoying yourself?"  Makkari inquires, raising a brow in question and pointing in between the bush and Morgana.

  Morgana hums, placing the basket down on the ground.  She looks up at them, squinting against the sun- something Druig takes note of, and quickly shifts to his shadow covers her face.  She smiles at the gesture.  

  "I'd enjoy myself a lot more if you'd join me."  She answers, signing and speaking.  She nods to the ground in front of her.  The other two waste no time sitting down.  Druig sits across from her, so close that their knees touch.  Makkari sits next to her, opposite the bush, and knocks her shoulder against Morgana's playfully.  

  She rolls her eyes, though the smile spreading quickly across her face betrays it, and moves the basket so it sits closer to all of them.  Then she continues picking berries, plucking them from the bush and waiting until she has a handful, upon which she lets them roll of her fingers and into the basket.  

  For a while, all goes well.  Only half an hour after they've started, Druig starts to eat them instead of putting them in the basket, and she leans forward to shove his shoulder playfully. 

  "We're supposed to be gathering, not eating."  She teases lightly.  She ignores the smirk and shrug he throws her way, and continues to pick the berries as he shoves a couple more in his mouth.  

  Only a few minutes after that, the basket is nearly full, and they've gathered enough berries for all the girls.  She places the basket to the side, away from their general vicinity.  The spot of sun that shines down directly on her warms her skin, releasing all the tension from her shoulders.  

  She leans back, slotting herself between Makkari's legs so her head rests on the girl's stomach.  It's a familiar position, one they've found themselves in countless times before, and Makkari- who's back is leaned against a tree- wastes no time tangling her fingers in Morgana's hair.  It's comforting, especially as Makkari's nails scratch her scalp slightly, causing her eyes to shut and head to tilt back farther.  

  Druig watches, a small smile on his face.  He leans against his own tree, right next to the other two.  He picks idly at the berry bush next to him, rustling the leaves as he pops them into his mouth periodically.  

  Makkari's hands move slowly, working their way from Morgana's scalp to the crown of her head, then down to her face.  Her touch is feather light, tracing Morgana's brow bones, then her pronounced cheek bones, until she makes her way to Morgana's jaw and then back up to her scalp quickly.  It's a cycle, one that lulls Morgana more and more towards sleep even though it's barely the afternoon. 

  The moment is as close to perfection as it can get.  She's with the two people she cares most about in the world, with the sun shining down and warming her skin.  She revels in these small moments, unsure of just how many she will get in her long, long life.  She wants to make the most of each one, wants to focus on every little detail, from the bird singing the tree above them, to the feeling of Makkari's skin against her own, to the smell of smoke in the air. 

  ... Smoke?

  That's when the feeling hits her.  She can't think of any way to describe it other than pure dread.  It's a sinking feeling, so violent and sudden that she if she were standing she might have fallen down flat.  It has her eyes snapping open as she shoots up, ignoring the feeling of Makkari's hand leaving her hair as she starts walking towards the Domo, ignoring Druig calling out for her.  The walk turns into a jog, and then a run, and then a dead sprint towards the horses that reside next to the Domo as the feeling of dread multiplies.  

  She feels tears well up in her eyes, the pure feeling of dread now combined with an unexplainable grief.  

  As she approaches the horses, Ajak emerges from the Domo.  Her eyes widen in slight alarm when she catches sight of Morgana's panicked state.  Morgana ignores her completely as she moves to the horses.  

  "Morgana?"  Ajak asks, voice wavering sightly as the rest of the Eternals emerge from the Domo,  concerned in their own right even though they don't know what's happening.  Morgana doesn't know, either.  

  Her hands work quickly, untying the horse's reigns from it's post quicker than she can see.

  "Something's wrong."  She gasps out, suddenly finding it very hard to breathe.  "Something's wrong and I don't know what."  She doesn't know why she says what she does next, but it slips from her lips quicker than she can think.  "Something's wrong with the girls."  

  She steps into the stirrup, quickly pulling herself up and onto the saddle.  Before any of them can speak, she's snapping the reigns, and the horse takes off in a dead sprint towards the village.