A/N: Hey there everybody! Before I get accused of copying a story allow me to explain, the account CoolCat15 is migrating to this account. I apologize for any inconvenience that this might cause, I just feel as though it's something that has to be done.
Moving on, this is a story that I have been working on for about two years. Two years ago I was not the writer that I am today and because of that I am revising this story and updating it. So, given that fact I hope that you enjoy it and please let me know if you see any errors that I need to remedy.
Thank you in advance for reading and please review and let me know what you think! I am also open to suggestions to where this story needs to go. Thanks again and my God bless!
I watched closely as Samantha carefully flipped through the channels. Truthfully, I had no desire to watch anything, but the flicker of the television was too enamoring to look away from. I was so deep in thought that it took a moment to register that Samantha was talking to me. I looked over at her and noticed the incredulous look on her face as she awaited my reply.
"I'm sorry, what?" I said. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head.
"You need to relax, Ally." She said as she returned to her task of finding a suitable show to watch. "What's wrong with you?" She asked when I did not respond.
"There's nothing wrong." I lied. Truth be told there were several nerve wracking thoughts echoing through my mind, but there was no need to worry Samantha with them.
The terrifying truth of the situation in which I found myself is that my life as I knew it was about to change forever. Within a week Samantha and I were going to start taking classes at university. We had decided to take a trip to France as a sort of farewell to freedom and hello to looming responsibilities and the pressure of being on our own. In all honesty, the concept of starting school frightened me for a reason that I could not quite pin down.
I hid my suspicion from Aleya. She had always had a tendency to be secretive so I knocked her current state down to nerves. After a moment of silence I stared back at Aleya who had now occupied herself with one of the pamphlets that had been littered across the hotel room when we had arrived.
"What's that?" I asked. She looked up and then back down at her reading.
"It's an advert for a castle that's near here." She said. She squinted her eyes at the pamphlet and said, "Château de Pierrefonds." She held the pamphlet over to me as evidence.
"Sounds boring." I said as I read the line historically inspired tours. I had to admit, that was not how I had intended to spend my time here.
"Come on, a day of seeing the sights! It sounds fun." Aleya said with a sort of enthusiasm in her voice that made me wonder about her sanity.
"Nerd" I muttered under my breath.
"What?" she asked sounding hurt.
"You are a nerd." I said pausing after every word.
"Sam, that's what you do in a foreign place. You see the sights." She said. "You immerse yourself in the rich cultural history that France has to offer." She finished reading from the pamphlet with a smile as though her words would convince me.
"They consider a worn down castle a 'sight'?" I asked using air quotations at the word sight.
"Coincidentally, yes" she said.
"Fine, but after that we are going shopping." I said.
"Deal" She said looking rather pleased with herself.
We walked up to the castle and I took in the beauty of the immense stone structure. I had to give Aleya credit, it certainly was breathtaking. It looked like somewhere that the TARDIS would land and sweep the Doctor and Amy into an adventure.
We walked in silence when I felt the ground slip out from under me. I grasped for anything I could find, to keep me upright, which in this case was Aleya's arm. I felt her give way too before everything went black.
I opened my eyes to see a rather attractive blonde haired man leaning over me. He looked relieved when I began to sit up. I tried to take in my surroundings, but confusion was all that came.
"Are you alright?" he said. I looked down at myself and saw that everything was intact before looking back into his blue eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said. "How did I get here?" I looked around. We were in the middle of the woods. I looked him over and saw that he was wearing chainmail and a red cloak.
"I was hoping you could tell me that." He said. "I'm Arthur by the way."
"Samantha. Have you seen my friend?" I asked. I rubbed my eyes suddenly feeling very droggy.
"She's with Merlin." Arthur said. My eyes went wide.
"Merlin?" I said. He nodded. "Is that a fact." I said. It was obvious by my tone of voice that I was shocked.
"Yeah. Merlin." He said.
"And…and you're Arthur?" I asked.
"I think you may have hit your head." Arthur said.
"I feel like it." I said.
I opened my eyes to see a pale black headed boy leaning over me. I looked into his blue eyes. I immediately felt my pulse quicken.
"Hello." He said. It took me a moment to find my voice but finally I managed to speak. I looked around and noticed that I was in the middle of a forest.
"Hello." I said. He wasn't bad looking. His ears were a bit large but I liked them.
"Are you alright?" he said. I sat up rubbing my head.
"I think so. How did I get here?" I asked. One moment I was on a history tour and the next I was in the woods.
"Arthur and I just found you here." He said.
"My friend, is she here?" I asked remembering Samantha.
"Yeah, Arthur was working on getting her awake." He said.
"Alright. Who are you?" I asked.
"I'm Merlin." He said.
"Aleya…Wait…Merlin?" I asked.
"Yes." He said.
"And Arthur?"
"Yes."
"I'm going mad." I said. I heard someone walking up being me. I turned my head and saw Samantha being led by a blonde man whom I deduced was Arthur.
"Aleya!" She said seeming glad to see me. I stood up a bit shakily. "We're not in Kansas anymore."
"I noticed." I said.
"So are you guys LARPing or something?" Samantha asked. Arthur and Merlin exchanged confused looks before looking back at us.
"I am afraid that I do not know what that means." Arthur finally said. We were definitely miles south of Kansas.
"Where were you two heading?" Arthur asked. I looked at him and then to Aleya.
"I'm not sure." I said.
"Well Merlin and I need to get back to Camelot before night fall so you will just have to come with us there until we can get you two sorted." Arthur said in an authoritative tone.
"Camelot. Sounds like as good of a place as any." Aleya said.
"Merlin fetch the horses." Arthur said.
"Horses?" I turned to Aleya who did not seem to be concerned by the revelation that we would have to ride on horses.
"Sam. How else do you think that we are supposed to travel?" she asked.
"Anything but horses." I said. I had a bad experience which involved me falling off of one when I was a child. That was not a road I wanted to go down again. "To quote Sherlock they are dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle."
"Sam, just suck it up." Aleya said. I stuck my tongue out at her. At this time Merlin returned with the horses. I walked towards Arthur who was already on his horse.
"Do you need help getting on?" he asked me. I stared at the creature which stood before me. Yes. I thought but I would give it a try.
"I can manage." I said. I put one foot in the stirrup and used my arms to pull me shakily up. The moment I was up I wrapped my arms around Arthur.
"Are you scared of horses?" he asked.
"A bit." I said.
"Don't worry you'll be fine." He said. Aleya had already taken her place on the horse with Merlin. She looked over at me and mouthed Just play along. I nodded and then looked to the trail before us.