Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters.

Summary: Young Merlyn's life to her destiny began so differently. Would this difference have any effect to the outcomes that fate had determined centuries before.

Chapter One: To find a place

A small girl stared at the people around her with tears in her eyes dark eyes. She had always been harassed and bullied for all sorts of things but the insults and overall vibe of the town seemed worse this time somehow, dangerous even. Something had changed, and she wasn't sure what. She caught a glance of her mother standing at the back of the gathering crowd. Her face was full of shame and sorrow but she did nothing to stop the angry mob. "We should have known there was something wrong with you. Your mother shouldn't have put up with an abomination such as you. Your poor mother! Monster!" Claouse, a man she had known all of her life, yelled as his face contorted with righteous fury. "Sorcerer!" was yelled with such venom and hatred by the surrounding villagers that the small girl couldn't move. "I was born this way!" She yelled back, pleading to the crowd not able to understand why they hated her. The hatred she saw on the faces of the people in her village paralyzed her with fear that she just watched as someone threw a stone through the air and hit her in the shoulder knocking her back deeper into the mob's circle. That seemed to be a signal of some kind for before the stone had even hit the ground the mob descended on the small child. The sound of her cries of pain, and bones snapping did little to calm the crowd. It wasn't until the little girl fell to the ground unconscious did the villagers back away. Most kicked dirt and spat at the unmoving form before going back to their work in the field satisfied of their treatment of the five year old child.

Will had watched the whole ordeal from the window of his home in complete horror. He couldn't believe the actions of the people. He had always known that the girl was a little strange, but he had never cared. He had always counted her as his best friend. She didn't pity him for not having a father anymore like most of the children. He watched as she bled into the dirt completely still, too still. Even from the window he could see around her neck was the necklace of the dragon he had carved for her for her last birthday. Sneaking a glance around to make sure everyone had gone back to the fields he snuck from his house to the little girl. Relief washed over him as he saw that she was breathing. Secured in the belief that she was indeed alive he rushed into her home knowing that her mother had already retreated back to the fields to work. He packed her a small bag of food, extra clothes, and a small blanket. As he was rushing from the house he noticed another necklace half hidden under the pillow used by his friend. It was the small metal dragon emblem tied with a leather strap. He had remembered her telling him that it had once belonged to her father. It was all she had of his. It was because of that necklace that he had craved a dragon necklace that her mother would actually let her wear. Without second thought he grabbed the keepsake and threw it into the bag as well before rushing back outside. He knew that he had to get her away from this place if she was even going to have a chance to survive. With all the strength his tiny eight year old body held he picked up the girl and began to walk into the forest that surrounds their village. He didn't stop until they had reached the river. He laid her gently on the rocky shore and just waited for her to wake up.

The sun was late in the sky, hours after the attack, before Will saw her finally waking. "Are you ok?" He asked quietly. Her dark eyes darted to his voice fearfully even through her swollen lids. "Don't worry I won't hurt you. I don't believe you are dangerous." He gave a small smile as she sunk back onto the rocks in relief before wincing in pain. "You have to leave. They will kill you." He whispered sadly. Her eyes opened slowly again but this time filled with a pain he knew wasn't just physical. "I packed you a bag, and you can use my boat. I don't want you to die. You're still my best friend." Will had tears in his eyes as he stared at his young friend still not quite believing the anger and hate he had witnessed. "You're my best friend too, Will." Her voice was small and pained. Will walked to where she was still laying only to grip her bruised hand. "Promise me that you will leave, and that you will live. That one day you will come back to me, and tell me all about the big world that is just waiting for you." Will bore his dark eyes into her own, trying to make the dangers that were sure to come after her seem like an adventure like he had done about so many things before.

"The world is going to be hard, dark, scary, dangerous, and sometimes a really mean place. I won't lie to you about that, but if you remember that there is someone out there rooting for you, well maybe it won't be so lonely." He touched the small wooden dragon around her neck. "I'm scared Will." She confessed in a whisper. "I know you are, but if you stay here they will kill you." He pulled her into a hug gently mindful of her injuries. "Everything hurts Will." She moaned in pain. He could feel her tears running down her cheeks. Without letting go of her he picked three green leaves from the strange plant growing beside them. His mother had used the same plant when he had a toothache. He remembered how quickly the pain had vanished. "Here chew on these." As she did as he asked he picked as many as he could reach without moving her. Once her moans lessened it was starting to get dark. He knew that he would have to leave soon. He pulled away from her enough to look at her battered face and couldn't stop the wince as he gazed at the damage. "I promise." She whispered sadly gripping the dragon staring back into Will's eyes. "I am going to miss you so much." He pulled her back against him. "I'm going to miss you too." She whispered against his chest.

"This isn't goodbye. This is a see you later. You will be ok. We will see each other again." He knew that the possibility that once she left of seeing her again were small but he didn't want to scare her more than she already was. He shifted her back onto the rocks gently before preparing his tiny boat that he had built himself in secret the summer before. She was the only one that knew about it. He scooped up the leaves he had picked, searched for anymore before stuffing them into the bag and placed the bag in the small craft. "The river will go for miles. Where it gets narrow paddle to shore, and get out and find shelter among the ruins for the rest of the night. Then tomorrow get back into the boat and just go as far as you can, my father once told me that miles and miles down the river it will split into two rivers. The path to the right goes to Camelot, and the path to left goes to Mercia. Go to the left. Go to Mercia. Stay safe, and come back one day." He gently picked her up once more and placed her in the boat. "Don't be afraid of who you are, or what you can do. Remember what my father always said. 'Using violence to avenge violence only causes more violence.' I will never forget you." The young girl, who could easily pass for four years old, clung dearly to her friend. "I will never forget you either." She gave a childish smile full of hope and pain before letting go. "Good bye Merlyn." With a shove the boat quickly drifted down away from shore and out of sight taking his best friend with it. Will stood there staring at the craft getting further away wondering if he would ever see her again, if she was actually going to be alright, and most of all did he do the right thing. Shaking his head to clear the tears that had appeared he headed for home and to a life without his little friend.

Merlyn felt the wind gently pull at her wild hair, and heard the nightingales singing along the riverside in the twilight but couldn't take enjoyment in their songs. Her heart was heavy and she was hurting so bad. She glanced down at her body and took stock of the black and blue marks forming and the swelling of her ankle and wrist. Every time she closed her eyes all she saw was the hate in the villagers eyes and the shame upon her mother's face. Her young mind couldn't conceive why they had attacked her for her magic. Her sobs were covered by the sounds of the water and sweet songs from the shore. Hours passed and soon she crossed the farthest point she had ever been away from her home with Will. But this time she didn't have Will. She didn't have anybody. She was all alone. Alone.

The concept of truly being alone finally sunk into her. There wasn't anyone around that would take care of her now. That would make sure she had food to eat, or somewhere to sleep. There wouldn't be anyone to make sure the fire was high enough so she didn't shiver all through the night. She gripped the dragon with her good hand in despair. She became lost in her thoughts and missed the narrowing of the river. Soon as the sobs exhausted her battered body she drifted to sleep wishing that the day had all been a dream.

When she woke again her body screamed in protest, and the pain was so intense she almost fainted. The sun was breaking over the river staining the waters orange. She ate a few of the berries that Will had packed and tried to concentrate on the sounds of the wild life to ease her pain. She watched in awe as tiny fawns drank daintily from the river as their mothers seemed to just stare at her in confusion as she sailed past. She smiled at the fish jumping in the air only to splash back down again. Distant calls of birds lulled her to sleep once more never noticing the approaching split in the river, or that the currents pushed her down the right path, straight into Camelot.

It was the stillness that brought her awake. The boat wasn't rocking with the water anymore. Slowly she sat up in confusion only to find that the river had pushed her craft onto the shore bed. Groaning, she slowly and gingerly got out of the boat, and grabbed her small pack before turning back to where she had been led to. In the distance she saw a cave, after glancing back at the darkening sky she pulled the tiny boat further onto the bank before hobbling toward shelter. The pain of the short walk taxed her poor body to the end of her strength. She had barely glanced around the cave, and places her bag on the ground before she collapsed.

It could have been hours or days later when she regained consciousness she would never know but the darkness of the night was pressing in on her. With a pained grunt she stood on her ankle once more determined to find firewood to fight back night, even though it was still very painful she could tell that it was healing. Her magic was healing her. She smiled a little and hobbled away from the cave in her hunt for firewood. Thankfully she found plenty of firewood near the cave entrance. With only three pain filled trips she had enough wood for the night. Using her magic she started a merry fire and allowed the flames to chase away the night, and her memories of yesterday. "What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?" She asked the fire but the flames were silent. Sighing she munched on a crust of bread Will had packed before chewing on his pain-killer leaves. She dumped the pack out in front of her to see what else Will had packed her. She heard something clink softly as it bounced off the rock floor. She immediately dug through the extra clothes, blanket, and the rest of the sparse food quickly. She couldn't explain the feeling of relief, anxiousness, hope, and deep gratitude as she spotted the tiny metal dragon necklace that had once belonged to her father. She had believed that she would never see it again. Her mother would refuse to let her wear it in fear of Merlyn losing it. With shaking hands she pulled it over her head and smiled as it nestled beside the wooden one already around her neck. Packing everything back into the sack, except the blanket she turned her attention back to getting comfortable. Once she was comfortable enough she glanced around her shelter. The cave was large as the back of it was lost in shadow. She noticed markings on the walls that had been left by people that had been there long before her. This could be her home, she decided. She could live here. Having made her decision the young sorceress smiled at one less question to keep her mind in turmoil. Curling in front of the fire under the blanket Will had packed Merlyn once again slept watching the flames keep watch over her.

The next morning she could feel that her magic had healed her ankle and wrist to where the pain was only a dull ache. She still couldn't take deep breaths yet for her ribs were still severely bruised but at least she could walk better. She decided to explore the place she had claimed as her home, starting with the cave. Grabbing one of the logs to be used for firewood that night she began her exploration. She found a tunnel that led to a back chamber. It was almost as large as front chamber with a hole in the back part of the ceiling allowing a small circle of sunshine into the otherwise dark room. She cautiously moved closer into the room holding her small log out front ready for protection. In the corner something reflected off the incoming light. The sorceress crept closer to the object until she found it was just a large egg. Something clicked in her mind. Eggs meant something had to lay it, which meant something else was living in the cave too. With that freighting thought she whirled around with her heart in her throat, making her chest explode with pain but she refused to lower her tense posture until her eyes had scoured as much as they could in the dim light. Satisfied that nothing was going to immediately jump out at her, she turned her curious attention back to the large egg. It was cool to the touch, a faint memory from her mother and chickens she knew that eggs had to be kept warm to survive. The egg must have been abandoned by its mother, just like she had been. With that thought she very gently and carefully picked up the egg, amazed at how heavy it was, and took it back to where the fire was still burning. Merlyn was determined to take care of whatever hatched.

Slowly Merlyn carved out a life for her in her new place. She made a bed of sweet-smelling grasses deeper within the cave close enough to be heated by the fire but far enough to be out of the wind and cold. She found fruit trees growing not far from her, and figured out how to use the fishing gear she had found in Will's boat. She didn't travel far from her new home, always staying just within eyesight of the cave entrance. A large variety of berries were bountiful by the shoreline. Days melted into weeks as she made her mark. The egg had become a companion. She spoke to it every night while she made and ate dinner, before curling herself around it during the night to keep it warm as she slept. She told the egg legends she had heard while in her village, and dreams that had come to her in the night. She sang tunes sometimes that she made up herself, or ones that she remembered from her time in Ealdor. The pain of what had happened that day faded with her bruises. She didn't fight, or hide her magic anymore. The spring turned into summer, and she began to wonder how she would survive once the harsh winters came. She grew up quickly. The snares for little animals that Will had once tried (and failed) to teach she finally mastered.

It was mid-summer almost three months after her first arrival when the egg, in which she had kept such faithful care of, began to crack, and hatch. Out came a creature like none she had ever seen before, and seemed to come straight from the legends of her childhood. It was the size of a small dog, but it had a body of a lion and a head, wings, and talons of an eagle. Despite its strange appearance Merlyn loved it immediately. She rocked the small beast in her arms as she cleaned the birth off her while humming the whole time. "I shall call you Hope." She whispered as she lovingly fed it the fish she had cooked for her dinner. As the fire began to die Merlyn crawled into her bed still holding onto Hope, and just as she had done for all the months with the egg she curled her body around Hope. With a sigh of content Merlyn fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Hope grew fast. Every day she grew noticeably larger until after only a month she was taller than Merlyn. The sorceress would laugh as the beast would use her wings to play with Merlyn's long dark hair. Hope seemed to instinctually know how to hunt, and survive. She was also very protective of the young mistress. She would make sure that Merlyn slept next to the cave wall with Hope curled protectively around her. She would bring back game to be cooked and eaten. Memories of a life before her life with Hope in the Cave no longer haunted her dreams or thoughts, and seemed to just fade from her mind along with all her worries about the world, for surely no one would ever find the two of them.

Winter came in a rush of snow, ice, shivers, and hunger. The days were filled with scavenging, and snowball fights. Evenings were spent huddled together in front of the fire eating the nuts they had stocked, the scarce game Hope had managed to kill, or fish Merlyn had caught. It was barely enough to keep them alive, but they had each other. That was the most important thing to the two unlikely friends. "You'll see Hope, we are going to have a good life here." She would whisper as they watched the snow deepen outside. Merlyn would whisper future plans of a garden, and learning to make baskets for their things. The days slid into one another as the struggle to survive began to grow harder and harder as the coldness seemed to deepen. Slowly the snow began to thaw, and the ice began to melt. They could feel that the air was losing some of its bite, and Merlyn would smile. They had done it. They had survived their first winter. Now that they had made it through the winter anything truly seemed possible. "I will survive, Will. " She whispered the first time they saw green grass poking through snow. She grasped the wooden dragon and smiled.

Please R&R