All quests begin with a call. The first one he remembers is when he was about five. He had boasted to Gwen that he could easily do anything, such as, say ride his tricycle off the roof. Gwen had immediately told him what a stupid dolt he was and how it wasn't nice to lie. She absolutely forbade him from doing it. Then he absolutely had to do it.
"You'll break your legs!" She warned in a huff. Arthur just stuck out his tongue, and proceeded to do it anyways. He proved that he could in fact ride his trike off the roof, and he didn't break his legs in the process. He broke his arm.
The howls of pain brought the startled servants running in fear. They thought a bear or some such vicious animal had mauled him. Rushing to the scene, they found him clutching his arm next to a twisted heap of rubble that once was his bike. Gwen knelt on the pavement next to him, crying in shock. They where unable to get a single word out of her. How on earth had a 5 year old hauled his tiny body up to the roof?
His second most memorable adventure was when the woods beckoned him. He had been playing in the garden, when he had heard a whispery voice. He had no idea what it was saying, and he was the only on there. Obviously, this meant it had to be talking to him. So, equipped with his sword and shield, the noble knight strode into the forest glade. (The shield being the lid of the bin and sword in fact being a deadly dagger that had been in his family for centuries). The game of knights however quickly grew far too dull for him. He had yet to find whatever had been making the strange tinkling noise. And it was getting dark. And he had lost his sword. And he had lost himself. Bother.
He did whatever a sensible knight would do in this situation. Crawling up into a tree, he promptly fell asleep while waiting for rescue. His father, an actual knight had come to his save him. He had been searching the forest with the servants for hours, calling until his throat was hoarse. Uther had found him lying in the tree, and only because the bin lid had slipped out from Arthur's grasp and smacked him in the head. Not saying a word, Uther just scooped up Arthur and hugged him to his chest, slowly making his way home. Late the next day Arthur woke happy and refreshed, not at all questioning how he had come to fall asleep in the woods and wake up in his room. That is, until Uther reminded him. His bottom ached for weeks afterwards.
His last great adventure had happened just a few months later. Autumn was chasing away the summer warmth, and Arthur was bored out of his mind. Strategically placed in an empty container in the intersection of several busy streets, he could hear the coming and goings of the day without being seen. Tom, the local blacksmith, happened to be one of his targets. Earlier that day, he had overheard him talking in hushed tones to some hooded man about a sword. Arthur had decided at the ripe age of 7, it was high time he got a sword of his own. The second Tom was out of sight; he leaped out of the barrel. This was going to require some sort of skill, some sort of plan. He couldn't dash after Tom helter-skelter like some hooligan. This was going to be what he went down in history for. Dashing back home, he grabbed out his red crayon (which was his favorite colour), and began to work out the details of the great heist.
Later that night, just after his father had said goodnight to him, Arthur carefully pulled out his rope. The rope was merely a contraption made of many silken sheets tied together. It had taken him a while to slip them out without the maids noticing. Gliding out the French door, he tied it to one of the posts on his balcony. It had worked plenty of times in the movies, so why wouldn't it work now? It didn't. He tumbled with a bump into a hedge, but no worse for the wear. That wasn't the hardest part either. The grounds where generally patrolled by guards. Despite being generally sneaky and quick, it was hard to avoid such trained eyes. Once a guard was alerted to his presence, but he was able to sneak into his regular container in the street. Which was now full of fish. It was all part of the experience he supposed.
Finally, The son of Uther, scratched and bruised, covered in dirt, and smelling of fish arrived at Tom's humble abode. He tiptoed up to the door, carefully turning the nob. It was locked. Darn. What an unexpected turn of events. He hadn't planned for this. Arthur was contemplating just knocking when he saw a glow from the window. Of course he couldn't force it open, but a window is always better then a door. Standing on his tiptoes, Arthur griped the windowsill and peered through the dark glass. Tom was hunched over a sword, and a beautiful one at that. It however wasn't what attracted Arthur's gaze. Carefully, Tom picked up a small orb. It seemed like it was made of glass, and somehow had captured the morning mist in it. A strange blue light pulsed from it, swirling across the plain interior of the home. It was then of course, when Tom decided to turn around. Arthur's dawning look of horror was mirrored by Tom. Tom was at his side in seconds, gently but firmly wrapping his large hand around Arthur's thin wrist. Falling onto his knees in the dust, he gazed up into Arthur's eyes.
"Arthur. What did you see?" He demanded, his deep voice was laced with a touch of urgency.
"Nothing! I promise I saw nothing!" Arthur panicked slightly.
"Arthur…" Tom cut himself off, almost as if he was afraid to say anything else.
"I saw the blue thing, I'm sorry Tom!" Arthur burst, dropping his eyes ashamedly from Tom's intense gaze. He had gotten in trouble before, but somehow this time it felt five times worse. For what seemed like an eternity, Tom was silent. Arthur was almost tempted to lift his eyes off the ground, but dared not to.
"Its okay Arthur, but its… a gift, so you cant tell anyone about it." Tom finally broke the crystalline silence. Arthur nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay," Arthur couldn't help himself "but can I touch it?" Tom froze, a flurry of emotions flying across his face. Finally-
"Okay Arthur, you can touch it, but be careful, okay?" He led Arthur through the no longer locked door. Mission success, although Arthur no longer had his eyes on the sword. He watched in amazement as Tom carefully pulled back the rag he had hastily thrown to cover the orb's luminesces. Once again, the room was bathed in that strange bluish glow. Arthur watched in amazement as it projected twisted patterns across the wall. Slowly, Arthur approached the orb, looking up at Tom for reassurance. Tom nodded. Arthur reached out, his small hands touching the smooth cool glass. A voice echoed in his head.
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING.
A swirl of colours pounded into his head, forcing their way into his eyes. They burned brightly in his skull. Arthur fell to his knees in pain, hands flying up to scratch at his eyes. The colours muted and blended to finally form images, not just blurs of light, but still burning. A great dragon cutting through the air, jaws leaking flame. A sword emerging from the cavern of its mouth, edges keen and dancing in sparks. Suddenly, the colours stopped. Arthur felt a jerk, like the floor had fallen out beneath him, and plummeted downwards. Prepared for pain, he grunted in surprise when he landed in soft springy grass. Opening his still tender eyes, he glanced around cautiously, blinking away the dots of light that swam in his vision. Somehow he had landed himself at the edge of a glassy lake, a sweet cool breeze tugging at his hair. In the midnight sky hung the heavy moon, casting diamond like light over the water. The only thing that was truly dark was a man who stood just at the edge of the lake. Arthur could not make out any distinguishing appearances. He seemed to glow with his back to the moon. He inched towards the stranger.
"H-hello?" Arthur called out nervously. There was no reaction. Slightly braver, Arthur took a few more steps towards the man, waiting for him to spring to life. Was he even alive? He looked alive. Maybe he was a statue. A beautifully carved statue, one of the most life-like Arthur had ever seen. Arthur reached out to poke the man's hand. Before he could, a pair of brilliant blue eyes snapped open, gazing down at him. A single name rolled through his head, gathering power like distant thunder until it was all he could hear.