A real CATastrophe

Merlin accidentally turns Arthur into a cat.

Sort of AU where Arthur knows about Merlin's magic.

Inspired by the hilariously funny story Mordred's Mistake written by Fangirldown and also a little by the scene from season 3 episode 3 where Arthur gets turned into a donkey.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from BBC to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Catastrophic consequences

Merlin accidentally turns Arthur into a cat…

"Merlin? What happened? Why are you staring at me?" Arthur felt a bit dizzy but otherwise fine and he couldn't understand why Merlin just stood there, looking completely gobsmacked. "Have I grown a tail or what is the matter Merlin?" Merlin opened his mouth and Arthur expected an explanation, not the high-pitched, slightly hysterical laughter that Merlin let out.

"Well, as a matter of fact…" Merlin stared to say before he began to laugh again. Arthur huffed impatiently and crossed his arms. Or he would have, if he could. He looked down his chest and was perplexed when he saw golden fur and four paws and was that an actual tail?

"Merlin!"

"I am so sorry, sire" Merlin said but the rueful expression on his face was somewhat less plausible than what it could have been when he had to wipe tears of laughter from his cheeks. "It seems something went wrong with the potion and…"

"Yes, Merlin, I guessed as much because I've turned into a bloody cat!" Arthur interrupted him, screaming the last part of the sentence. Merlin couldn't help but to snigger at the sight of Arthur panicking, or the sounds that he made. He could somehow hear Arthur's voice telepathically but at the same time Arthur also let out all sorts of cat noises, meowing and whining.

"Stop it Merlin, this is a catastrophe!" he yelled desperately but that only resulted in Merlin howling with laughter again.

"Yes sire, it's very much a catastrophe."

Finally Merlin managed to compose himself and assess the situation. He quickly came to the conclusion that they needed Gaius' help., but before they had time to go get him the doors to the royal chambers opened and Gwen entered.

"Gwen, hi" Merlin said surprised.

"Hi Merlin" she answered brightly. "I just came to deliver this." She held up a scroll of parchment and went to put it on Arthur's desk. When she saw the cat sitting there she smiled delightedly and reached forward to pet it.

"Merlin, he's absolutely adorable."

"Don't let her pet me, don't let her pet me" Arthur said frantically but to Gwen it only sounded like cute meowing and she started stroking the soft fur on Arthur's head. At first he leaned in to her touch purring but then he realized what he was doing and jerked his head abruptly away from her hand.

"Stop her!" he hissed furiously to Merlin, tail swishing in annoyance.

"He's a bit moody" Merlin explained to a slightly confused looking Gwen.

"That's a shame" she said, a little disappointed, and turned to leave. "I'll see you later, Merlin."

"Right, lets' go to Gaius before anyone else walks in here" Arthur said and jumped off the table. Merlin bent down to pick him up and Arthur tried to squirm away but couldn't because Merlin grabbed him firmly by the scruff of the neck. He let out a very non-kingly whine.

"Let me down this instant!"

"It's safer like this, sire" he explained but Arthur wouldn't listen and when Merlin was busy opening the door, Arthur took his chance and wriggled out of Merlin' arms. He only got a few steps down the hall before two young serving maids fell to their knees, cooed and tried to pet him.

"On second thought, pick me up, pick me up!" Arthur scrambled desperately to get out of reach from the girls and ended up hiding under a cupboard before Merlin told him the girls were gone and he carefully came out.

"Why don't you ever listen to me, sire?" Merlin sighed. "Now will you let me carry you?" Arthur reluctantly approached him and allowed Merlin to pick him up.

"But don't pet me!" Arthur said warningly. Merlin just rolled his eyes.

"Come along then, Mittens."

"Merlin? Gaius looked a little surprised when he entered the room, carrying the large ginger cat. "What is that?"

"This Gaius, is His Royal Highness the king of Catelot" Merlin snickered. Arthur hissed, ears flattened to the head.

"Not funny, Merlin!" Gaius raised an eyebrow.

"You turned the king into a cat, Merlin?" he said in disbelief.

"Well, I didn't mean to" Merlin answered and put Arthur down on the table.

"I bloody well hope not!" Arthur snarled.

"I need your help Gaius, I really can't make heads or tails of this" Merlin continued and Arthur glared at him.

"Oh meow god, it seems you've made a bit of a mistake there, Merlin." Gaius smirked and Arthur groaned.

"Not you too, Gaius." Both of them laughed at him and Arthur scampered off to sulk in a corner. Then he suddenly became aware of a delicious smell emerging from one of the baskets on the floor. Merlin and Gaius were busy looking through books and discussing so Arthur snuck closer and started to rummage through the contents with his paws.

"Oi, stop that!"

"Let go of my tail at once" Arthur demanded annoyed.

"You're messing up all the herbs in the basket, what are you doing?"

"It smells so good." Arthur tried to dive back in.

"Oh no, you don't. Get out of there." Merlin tried to get a hold of Arthur again.

"Must. Have. It" Arthur whined when he was caught and lifted away from the basket.

"Gaius, we need to take away that catnip right now" Merlin said. Gaius hurried to put the herbs away in Merlin's room. Once the herbs were gone Arthur calmed down considerably.

"Right, you can let me go now, Merlin" he said, slightly embarrassed and very annoyed, both with himself and the situation as a whole.

"Silly little Mittens" Merlin said, patting his head, narrowly avoiding getting scratched.

At last, Gaius and Merlin managed to find a solution (a purrfect one as Merlin put it and Arthur just happened to accidently scratch his arm) and Arthur returned to his normal, non-furry self, with a deep sigh of relief.

"No one will ever hear about this, is that understood?" Arthur said sternly.

"Yes, sire."

"And we will never speak of this again, is that clear Merlin?"

"Not even a whisker, I mean whisper, sire."