This is meant to be the beginning of a whole story I have figured out but I never seem to be able to find the time to write. So I thought I would post this, even if I don't get around to writing the whole thing, because I think it can stand on its own. I hope you enjoy my first ever attempt at fanfiction and I would love to hear what you think!

"Merlin!" The angry cries of the King of Camelot echoed around the courtyard of the castle while the man himself sat impatiently upon his horse.

"Coming, coming" was the hurried reply of his hassled servant as he raced down the steps from the castle, arms laden with food.

"What is that?" Arthur asked with the usual sarcastic tone he used when addressing his best friend.

"Food. What does it look like?" Merlin replied with his face falling into its typical perplexed look as he tried packing it all into his horse's saddle bag with great difficulty.

"Yes, I can see that, but we're going on a hunting trip not to a feast." Arthur was starting to enjoy himself by this point.

"Yes, well, I know what you're like when you're hungry and there's no guarantee you'll catch anything." Merlin jibed as he climbed onto the back of his horse after finally squeezing all of the food into his bag.

Arthur guffawed at this as they started to trot across the courtyard. "I've never failed to catch something" He stated with a hint of pride.

"Hmm, but it has been a while hasn't it, what with all of the rebuilding which had to be done after the wedding. Maybe it's been too long?" Merlin turned a cheeky grin to his master while the king supressed one.

"Merlin?"

"Mmm?"

"Shut up."

And with that they cantered off into the woods, both already thoroughly enjoying their first time out together in quite some time.

Merlin cringed as the loud crack resounded around the forest, scaring off the deer Arthur had been stalking. Arthur spun around as they both looked down at the offending foot which had snapped the stick.

"Sorry?" Merlin hesitantly offered, knowing it wasn't enough to make up for the king's anger.

"Sorry? You are such an oaf, Merlin! That is the sixth animal you have scared off in the last few hours! You know, it's a good thing you brought all that food or you might be for dinner instead!" Arthur thundered, poking a finger with ferocity at Merlin's chest.

"Now that sounds like a plan." An unfamiliar voice alarmed both young men as they spun around to find its source.

Whilst Arthur had been yelling, they had been surrounded. There were at least fifteen men, bandits, judging by their clothing and bad hygiene. The person who had spoken was a skinny man who was missing a large number of teeth. His shoulder length hair might have been blonde but was so mattered and dirty that it was anyone's guess really.

Arthur dropped his crossbow and grabbed for his sword. All fifteen men raised their swords in response, the sound of the metal reverberating through the forest. Arthur paused, obviously weighing up his options.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The skinny man, who also seemed to be their leader, swaggered forwards. "Even if you were able to fight your way out, your unarmed little meal here might not be so lucky. Though, in all honestly, there isn't very much meat on him, is there." He trailed off, looking Merlin up and down with his head cocked to one side, as though seriously considering taking up Arthur's previous threat.

Arthur saw the truth in his words and, not for the first time, mentally kicked himself for not making Merlin carry a weapon. Arthur raised his hands above his head.

"Please, I'll go with you willingly if you will only let my friend go." Arthur said in his most kingly voice. Merlin was quietly observing the scene, trying to find a way to use his magic without Arthur seeing, but as he was directly in between the group's leader and Arthur, that didn't seem likely. Arthur saw Merlin's eyes flicking about and felt very sorry that his friend should have to go through such fear.

"Now, why would I want to do that? You look like a solid, strong young man and would surely make a good slave. Your friend here may not be so strong but I know people who will buy him to satisfy other needs." The men around them snickered as their leader continued "Why would I want to sell one slave when I could sell two?"

It was then that Arthur and Merlin exchanged knowing looks. These men didn't know who Arthur was. He was not wearing his chainmail or Camelot cape because a hunting trip did not classify as official Camelot business.

Suddenly, the leader struck Merlin in the head with the hilt of his sword sending him sprawling across the forest floor, unconscious. Neither of the two boys noticed his growing nearness while plots and schemes twirled in their heads due to their new revelation.

"Hey!" Arthur called out, moving forwards to Merlin's aid when no less than five men held him down and tied his hands in front of him. They took his sword and patted him down, removing the two knives they found hidden on his body. Arthur tried to keep his eyes on Merlin and saw them tie him up the same way.

As Merlin came to his vision came in throbs along with the pounding of his head. He managed to figure out that Arthur was awake and could fully see him, restricting his ability to use magic. When Arthur saw that Merlin was awake, a small feeling of relief flittered through his body only to be driven out by logic. It was a distraction, and it had worked.

Once they had been properly secured, the leader stood before them.

"Now, you are going to come with us on a little trip. My name is Aiden and I will be your guide. You will do what I say, when I say it, or there will be consequences. You will not be putting your own life in danger but that of your friend." He paused to allow his threat to have its full effect while Arthur and Merlin sent concerned looks to each other out of the corners of their eyes.

"Any questions or queries?" Aiden smiled with mock politeness. Arthur and Merlin remained quiet, knowing it would do no good to infuriate a man with so many men on his side.

"Good" He clapped his hands together and spun on his heal, "let's be off then."

Arthur and Merlin were picked up and marched onwards, well at least Arthur was. Merlin was in no state to march anywhere and his feet dragged across the frozen ground as the two men leading him all but carried him by his upper arms.

"Wait!" Arthur called. Aiden froze so suddenly the man behind him almost ran into him. He turned around very slowly, with his head down and walked towards Arthur, never raising his head.

"What. Did you say?" He asked, his voice like ice.

"My friend, can't we, I don't know, make him a stretcher or something."

Silence filled the air for a moment before a deep, quiet laugh escaped from Aiden's lips. Everyone looked at each other sceptically until Aiden burst out into hysterics.

"A stretcher!" He choked out between gasps. All of his men joined in his laughter and Arthur managed a few awkward chuckles, not really knowing what was so funny. Merlin just remained impassive, trying to ignore the way the loud laughter made his head throb.

"You know," began Aiden, finally calming down from his fit of laughter, "you're never going to be sold as a slave if you talk to your superiors without being spoken to first." He spoke as if to a child. "Now I'm afraid I must punish you."

This caught Merlin's attention away from his pounding head as he yelled out,

"No!"

"It's alright Merlin." Arthur reassured him "I can take anything he throws at me." Arthur braced himself as Aiden suddenly turned, grabbed Merlin and threw him through a sheet of ice which was covering a stream nearby.

"Merlin!" Arthur yelled out.

"Better go and save him then." Aiden said through quiet laughter.

Arthur ran towards the stream, which luckily was not very deep or wide. He could see Merlin, his head mostly above the water as it bobbed up and down. Arthur waded in up to his knees and found the stream was shallower than he thought; Merlin mustn't have been able to put any weight on his legs. Arthur grabbed Merlin's arms and dragged him onto land. He tried to take off his jacket to give to his friend but his ties made it impossible.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Arthur demanded with as much authority as he could muster with his teeth chattering so profusely.

"I told you, if one of you does the wrong thing, the other is punished. I hope you learned a valuable lesson here today. You will need to learn these things if you want to be a good slave." And with that he walked ahead as if nothing more exciting than lunch had just occurred.

Merlin was trying to think, he really was, but he was so cold and his head hurt so much that thinking was almost as hard as walking had suddenly become. He could see Arthur just ahead, trying to turn back every so often to see how he was going. Merlin managed to close his eyes and muster up some instinctual magic which helped to warm him up slightly. He was still very cold, but he no longer thought he need worry about dying from it. He tried to assess how Arthur was and decided he looked cold too, but otherwise okay. It was getting dark and with the dark came colder temperatures. Merlin knew he and Arthur would need to figure out some way of not freezing to death if it got much colder. Of course if it got that dire Merlin could just use his magic, but he would rather it didn't come to that.

The group of men slowed down as they entered their camp. It was nothing more than a fire in the middle of a small clearing, obviously not a permanent settlement.

"We'll rest here tonight," Aiden called out, "And tomorrow we'll make for the slave traders." Merlin saw Aiden mutter something to some of his men and Merlin and Arthur were shown over to the base of a wide tree where they were tied for the night. Merlin realised that they would barely feel the fire, though any slight amount of warmth could be the difference between life and death.

As the men got settled around the fire, which had managed to slightly warm up Merlin's toes, Arthur turned to Merlin.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked looking concerned for his friend.

"Yeah, I've got a bit of a headache but as long as this fire keeps warming up my toes, I'll be fine." Merlin joked, giving Arthur a reassuring smile. "You?"

"Me? Why do you care if I'm okay, if it wasn't for me none of this would have happened. If I hadn't been yelling, they wouldn't have sneaked up on us."

"Yeah, but if I hadn't made you mad then you wouldn't have been yelling." Merlin cut in, making Arthur sigh in annoyance.

"Maybe, but if I hadn't spoken out of turn you wouldn't have been thrown in that stream."

"But if I hadn't been knocked to the head, I would have been able to get myself out of the stream and you wouldn't have had to go in after me." Merlin retorted, making Arthur shake his head.

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

This exchanged cheered them both up and they felt much better for it, but they both realised they were shaking.

"You do realise we can't let ourselves fall asleep." Arthur knowledgeably informed the already informed Merlin.

"Ouch!" Yelped Arthur as Merlin pinched his leg. "What was that for?"

"I'm making sure you don't fall asleep." Merlin responded, as though it was obvious, wincing as Arthur returned the favour. It was going to be a long night.