Title: Of Last Lords and Destinies
Full Summary: The last of the Dragonlords and the last of the Timelords meet and find kindred spirits in each other. Rory and the knights run afoul of mythological creatures that may or may not be aliens, while Amy dines with the Queen.
Disclaimer: Whelp, since I'm not insanely rich, I guess I still don't own Merlin or Doctor Who.
Note: To all of you who remember Stone Circle, I haven't forgotten it. It's...well...*sigh*. I probably will notify readers its status soon. This and another story have been bouncing around in my head for weeks now, and I figure if I write them I'll be more motivated for Stone Circle.
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The merry tune of the songbirds inhabiting the forests surrounding Camelot was interrupted by a sound unknown to all who might have heard it. The alien noise happened to be the brakes of a blue box shimmering into view between two massive trees.
The door to the box opened. "Welcome to Camelot!" Crowed the Doctor, stepping out of the TARDIS.
"Did I just hear you say Camelot?" Amy Pond quickly exited and stood next to the Doctor.
"Camelot—as in King Arthur's Camelot that was just a story?" Rory poked his head out of the TARDIS, a disbelieving look on his face.
"Of course!" Cheerily replied the Doctor. "Well, I'm assuming. I mean, I haven't really visited this patch of time and space much."
"But Camelot was just a myth!" Amy continued her husband's protestations, looking around curiously.
"Well, so's Atlantis." The Doctor was already striding away through the trees. Amy and Rory hurried after him.
"Wait, Atlantis? Doctor, are you saying that Atlantis is real? Doctor...!"
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Merlin and Gwaine maneuvered through the marketplace, following Gaius as he made his weekly shopping rounds. It was a busy day, and Gaius's pace was brisk—keeping up with him was surprisingly difficult.
Merlin grinned as Gwaine lunged to the left as a runaway goat charged along the path, two boys racing after it. The knight teetered for a moment—his arms were full of wood. For a moment it seemed as if Gwaine would crash into a nearby stall, but he regained his balance.
"How many more stops is Gaius going to make?" He moaned. "I can hardly feel my arms!"
"It's your own fault," Merlin snickered, neatly side-stepping a rather nasty tub of fish. "You destroyed Gwen's new closet-"
"-because her room was being ransacked by birds!" Gwaine supplied, rudely pushing aside an arguing couple.
"They were just birds, Gwaine!" Merlin laughed.
"They were vicious birds." Gwaine scowled. "They ruined my shirt."
The two of them slowed down, as Gaius had stopped outside another herbalist's stall. As they started to negotiate prices, Merlin took the opportunity to enjoy the going's on around him. To be sure, it was the everyday going's on, but what made it so wonderful was the fact that it was everyday. It was nice to have mundane stretches of time. Hah. Figures he would relish nothing happening at all. Was normality really that uncommon in Camelot?
Well, it wasn't completely relaxing. Merlin was taking the opportunity to scan the faces of the people around him. He'd been working on a spell to see through enchantments, and was hoping that the spell would eventually be advanced enough to the point where disguises would instantly change in front of his eyes—without him having to do anything. Really, with all the disguised enemy forces attacking Camelot, this sort of spell would come in pretty handy with identifying threats.
A ways away, Merlin spotted two men and a woman making their way through the marketplace. The tallest of the three was gesticulating wildly, something that sparked Merlin's interest. The sheer exuberance of the man was unexpected amongst the dirt-caked, weary peasants of the lower town—especially since he seemed to be clad in extremely fine clothing. So were his companions.
"So who do you think they're supposed to be?" Gwaine asked, shaking Merlin out of his observations. The knight too was gazing at the trio, a cynical grin slowly forming. "Strange for nobles to be out and about in the stench of humanity."
"I don't kno-"
Merlin squinted.
Suddenly, the strangers' attire changed—shifting into clothing completely alien to Merlin. Their faces did not.
"Did you see that?" Merlin yelped, nearly dropping his bag of herbs.
"What?"
"Their clothing! It-" Merlin stopped abruptly, eyes widening. Oh. So the spell had become instinctive after all.
"What?" Gwaine repeated impatiently.
Merlin glanced at Gaius, who was comparing potions with the shopkeeper.
"Er—tell Gaius I'll be back in a bit." Merlin muttered, and thrust himself into the crowd of people milling about him, heading for the three strangers. As he got closer, he started to make out snatches of their conversation. The woman was talking—and Merlin picked out a name. She'd mentioned a 'sword in a stone'.
Merlin's eyes narrowed. How did she know about that?
And finally he was a foot away from them. They hadn't noticed him yet, still acting the overly-exuberant foreigners.
Merlin swallowed, suddenly realizing that he'd never actually thought of what came after confronting disguised people. Not the specifics, anyway. He'd just assumed it would involve a lot of...heroic...victorious things. Like most of what normally happened to him, except that normally everybody else was instigating conflict.
"Er. I...uh...who are you?" Merlin whetted his lips, already feeling foolish.
"What?" The tallest one replied, peering at him curiously. Suddenly, his eyes furrowed, and he tilted his head, looking at Merlin in a quizzical manner—almost as if he recognized him.
Merlin narrowed his eyes, and spoke with an intensity that made him sound enormously more knowledgeable and powerful than before. "You disguised yourselves with an enchantment. Don't be alarmed," he said hastily, noting their shared looks of confusion, "I won't report you to the king. That is, if you don't do anything stupid."
A few people were glancing at them. Merlin lowered his voice. "I warn you, if your aim is to attack Camelot, then I will do whatever it takes to protect my kingdom. Now tell me, what is your business?"
"Enchantment?" The ragged-looking man spluttered after a moment.
"Enchanted? We're not enchanted. Who said anything about being enchanted?" The woman spoke quickly, glancing at the tallest one as if to receive support for her denial.
"Your clothes," Merlin murmured, "when enchanted, seemed to be of the noble class. But when I removed the disguise..." he looked at the woman cautiously. "...Forgive me, but women don't wear trousers. Especially ones that don't meet their knees." He paused, blushing. "Actually, nobody does that."
The woman colored. "I dressed for Rio."
Merlin reached out, tentatively touching the ragged man's jacket. "What—what material could this possibly be? I've never-"
"-Merlin!" Gaius called out, vials in hand. "Why on earth are you clutching that man's clothes?"
Merlin immediately retracted his hand, his face growing warm. Gwaine arched an eyebrow at him, clearly bemused. Gaius bowed to the three. "I'm terribly sorry for his behavior. I'm afraid he's a bit touched in the head."
"Gaius!"
"Come along, Merlin." Gaius strode off, clearly embarrassed by his ward's behavior.
Gwaine chuckled as Merlin mumbled an apology to the three.
"Shut up, Gwaine!" Merlin hissed.
He joined the knight and as the two started after Gaius Merlin looked one last time over his shoulder at the strange trio, wondering what exactly their motives were and where on earth they could have come from.
:::::::Doctor...Gaius::::::::::
"Did he say 'Merlin'?" Amy immediately wanted to know. "And 'Gawain'?"
"Doctor, how was that possible?" Rory cut in, furrowing his brow in anxiety. "Did the TARDIS malfunction?"
"Of course not, Rory. You don't see anybody else fondling your jacket, do you?" The doctor murmured, obviously thinking about something else. He was looking about more alertly than before, as if searching for something.
Amy tried again. "I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that old man just said the name 'Merlin'."
"Coincidence." Rory suggested.
Amy rolled her eyes. "Come on, Rory, we're in Camelot. At least, that's what the doctor says."
Rory sighed. "If you believe that, then why do you sound so surprised about hearing the name 'Merlin'?"
"Because Merlin's-" Amy stopped short, clamping her lips together.
"What?"
"...supposed to be, I don't know, old. With a beard." Amy rushed through the sentence, not quite meeting Rory's eyes.
Rory seemed about to reply, but the Doctor spoke up. "What say we visit the castle, Ponds?"
"Great! Wonderful! Let's go right now." Amy brightened immediately, partly due to the change of subject and partly due to the fact that they'd be able to see a medieval castle at the height of prosperity—to think of the tapestries and to actually see real, living, breathing knights! Rory seemed to agree, presumably for the same reasons.
And the time-travelers were off, headed for the gleaming white towers of the the castle. Rory and Amy's excitement was palpable, yet the Doctor had lost all exuberance from before. He walked silently, his eyes distant and his body stiff.
"What's with him?" Rory questioned, noticing the change almost at once.
Amy rolled her eyes. "He's probably secretly worried about Merlin—ooh!" A thought had occurred to her. "Rory—Merlin was magic! Do you think that's why-"
"Let's not go into that." Rory interrupted firmly. The conversation duly drifted into other subjects, and the group made its way towards one of the most famous mythological locations of all time with hopes high and worry non-existent. It was good, to not be running for their lives for once.
With luck, it would stay that way.
::::::::Physician Who::::::?
Yeah, ending's a little weak (rushed), I know. I'm trying to get back into uploading stories (and writing stories) quickly. Not that that's a good excuse, but it is truly my main goal. -glances at Stone Circle guilty-