Exhausted.
Miserable.
Frustrated.
Haunted.
Depressed.
Those were the emotions of the party travelling back from the quest. It had been a simple quest really, but then a sorcerer had to go and mix it up.
Percival still subconsciously scanned the woods around them.
Leon winced slightly when the horse bumped.
Gwaine's head hung.
Lancelot couldn't quite catch Merlin's eye.
Merlin had a permanently haunted look in his eyes.
Arthur hated feeling so helpless as a leader. He knew why the sorcerer had cast the spell he did, Arthur only wished that he had been affected too- seeing all of his friends suffer through this had been hell.
"It is true sire; I have read about this on many occasions." Gaius knowledgably remarked.
"It's true? Well then we must venture out for it Gaius! Think of how much it would help the suffering of people in the lower town" Arthur excitedly replied. For you see, rumour had entered Camelot that upon every 15 years, the stars in the north kingdom came close enough to the ground that they fell into the mighty river there, and that if you collected that specific water it would be able to make a person stronger, healthier (making them better survivors basically). Arthur knew that the lower town were struggling to keep it together after Morgana's latest attack, and knew he had to retrieve this so that he could help them.
Deciding it would be like a small quest Arthur soon became quite excited- he hadn't been able to leave the castle for quite a while because of the reports filling up, but now he had Gwen, and as things were calming down he saw no reason that he shouldn't go out on this quest with a few of his most trusted knights… and Merlin of course. That boy was his manservant after all- he would need someone to cook him his meals.
The next dawn the chosen knights- Leon, Percival, Gwaine, Lance and, of course, Merlin, gathered in the stable. All had met in the stables; still unsure of what they had all been called to do, but judging by the chores Arthur had asked of Merlin- such as preparing horses- they guessed that they were going out somewhere. As Arthur approached each man straightened out and addressed the king properly… well, everyone but Merlin who decided to go with a short, sweet "Morning Prat" to which everyone laughed, before setting out on their way.
It would take about 5 days to reach the North kingdom, so Arthur had given Merlin all the correct details of supplies he would need to pack. Gaius also provided him with a small box of herbs and vials in case of emergencies. With Merlin's mental checklist all ticked off within his head, he sat back on the saddle and relaxed, enjoying being out and about.
- 5 days later the group have reached the lake-
"MERLIN, YOU IDIOT!" Arthur yelled as his head resurfaced from the water.
It had all just been some harmless fun really- Merlin had observed as Arthur stood majestically on one of the rocks out in the lake, and couldn't resist just ever so slightly tapping Arthur- not to unbalance him or anything!
"Sorry sire, didn't see you there" Merlin had barely managed to get out between all his laughter, which had soon enough caught the attention of all the knights. They saw their king soaked through with such a startled look on his face that they too went bright red in the face from all the laughing.
"Oh you all think that's funny do you? Was it funny Mer-lin?" Suddenly the laughter ceased and everyone mustered up the most serious face they had. That was, until Merlin couldn't take it anymore and snorted again. At this, Arthur ran over to him and chased Merlin playfully back into the lake where soon enough both were under the water, with Merlin trying to stay as dry as possible but Arthur pushing him over till Merlin gave in. The two were laughing hysterically upon reaching the surface, but then they took one glance at each other and realised just how stressful things had been lately. Merlin promptly got out of the water, splashing Arthur a little until both ran out in an attempt at drying out.
It was agreed that night that Gwaine would keep watch first, so whilst everyone settled down quietly, Gwaine observed the surroundings, thinking of something to distract him from sleep. Unfortunately, this didn't work well at all, because within that hour Gwaine's hangover had got the better of him and sent him into a snoring slumber.
However, the group hadn't been the only ones to settle down in the forest that night. Only just on the other side of the river were a group of bandits being led by a middle-aged sorcerer. His appearance was shadowed by the dark hair that fell everywhere around his head like a waterfall, he also wore a black eye patch and had scars swirling round his face –clearly something tragic had happened in his past. This was why he was in the forest with one aim and one aim only- to seek for a way he could become strong; strong so that he could defeat anyone who may go against him, so that he would never feel helpless again, and he would kill anyone who tried to get it.
But this sorcerer wasn't stupid; he was well aware of the young King's intentions to gather the star water, and had decided that he wouldn't let him have any. The king had done nothing to deserve it, whereas he clearly had.