Story fandom: Merlin.
Characters: Merlin/Arthur
Warnings: Rated M for later chapters.
General Storyline: A story which takes course over many years, telling the friendship/relationship between Merlin and Arthur and how, in my version, it changes as they grow up.

UPDATE: Has been edited, corrected and slightly changed.

Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!

Some kill their love when they are young,
And some when they are old;
Some strangle with the hands of Lust,
Some with the hands of Gold:
The kindest use a knife, because
The dead so soon grow cold.

Some love too little, some too long,
Some sell, and others buy;
Some do the deed with many tears,
And some without a sigh:
For each man kills the thing he loves,
Yet each man does not die.

Oscar Wilde- The Ballad of Reading Gaol (excerpt)

The warning bells rang loudly in his ears as he fled the castle grounds as quickly as possible. He panted and groaned, it was hard for him to outrun the castle's knights and guards. The night was thick with fog, a foul stench of rotting feces within it, lodging itself deep inside his throat. He coughed and gagged at the disgusting taste, trying to keep the contents of his dinner within his stomach. The gloomy, moonlit night and the terrible fog caused fear to linger deep, in the lower-towns people. They stayed in their small houses, not wanting to take a peep from their wooden windows, no one wanting to get involved with the scene that was taking place, if they were to be involved in any way, they would for sure face the unforgiving, unnerving, frightening wrath of their king. He would take no mercy on the workers of his kingdom, as they were disposable to him.

This was the gut feeling of everyone, it was extremely unwise to get involved in the dealings of the nobles, they didn't want to face their king or any of his 'well' trained knights but curiosity was always a strange and powerful thing. Soon many gathered outside their houses, gasping in shock and surprise at the scene that was unfolding. Many women clutched onto his husband's shirts, pointing in dismay at the horrid knights. The protectors of the city ran shouting at the workers, demanding them to get out of the way or to help them. Their lit torches reflected on their scarlet coloured cotton t-shirts, their chain mail, the swords attached to their leather belts, the mixture of disgust and fear on their clean, stern faces. However, no one aided the knights and guards, they stood by their houses and watch the little boy run pass. They watched him pant and groan as the thick fog lodged itself deep in his throat. They watched as he ran out of the city gates into the forest that surrounded their cluster of houses. They watched with a mixture of anticipation and excitement. They watched as Arthur, the prince of their kingdom, the future king, run into the forest that surrounded the city. They watched him some with disapproval and other with envy in their eyes, they watched the small prince run, silently hoping for his safe return, hoping that no harm came to the young boy.

He thought it was a good idea. His father had taken it far too far this time, to have a banquet on the anniversary of his mother's death was completely unforgivable. Well, his mother did die on the day of his birth and what he was running away from was his tenth name day banquet. But it wasn't just that, it was also the long-awaited arrival of the king's new ward, Morgana Le Fay. She was almost a year older than him, she was a couple inches taller as well, she was a very pretty child with a fair complexion and dark wavy hair, with large lips that were in a permanent snarl and pale green eyes that rolled at his presence. However she was without a doubt the most annoying girl Arthur had ever met. Arthur had known her all his life; even with the years of memories he still couldn't stand her. The only reason she was going to live with Arthur and his father from now on was because her father had just died, leaving her without a guardian, which does give her some sort of pardon... but she doesn't have to be so rude all the time!

This was what Arthur thought as he sprinted through the dense wood, which didn't seem to be the best thing to do but at the moment, as his mind was clouded by extreme emotions that caused common sense to be lost. His thoughts got the better of him; they caused him not to notice the small fitch in front of him, resulting him to fall down it with a loud thump. He sobbed in pain and curled into a fetus position and stayed there listening to every footstep, yell and order that came from the men tracking him down. He lay there hoping for no one would find him, he starred at the mud and leafs that surrounded him, until he heard the final footstep from the knights. They claimed that he couldn't be found which resulted them retreating back to Camelot. Arthur gazed up from his spot and he realized that he was completely alone. He slowly rested his head on the muddy ground, he'd never been on own at night time before in the dangerous wood. He would have taken a moment to indulge himself in his misery, however, his exhaustion overtook him so he slept in the dark cold forest, completely alone.

Morning time came far too soon for Arthur. He stretched and yawned, groaning and arching his back until he heard a satisfying crack, loosening it up. Confusion spread throughout his body as he notices that the normally very soft material of his bed linen was missing and was replaced by a rough and cold substance instead. Arthur's eyes snapped open, he took in his surroundings and came to the conclusion that he; The Royal Prince of Camelot was just fast asleep in mud, not just mud but damp mud. So he hadn't had dreamt last night's occurrences. Oh, how could he be so rash? Or was he being rash? No, he wasn't, his father was!

Arthur slowly made his way out of the ditch, becoming aware of his surroundings. He arose from the ditch carefully not wanting them to be disturbed by any of the castle's knights that could still be lurking around. He mustn't be far from the gates, which opened into the lower town, however, he couldn't hear the normal noises from the market. So, he was either further away from Camelot than he imagined, or it was earlier than he expected. He looked up at the sky noticing the light grey colour of the clouds, which were lit up with specks of blue and pink. He held out his hands trying to feel temperature of the still wind and found it to nip at his skin, causing him to feel cold. The air was thick with moisture and seemed to flow right through his solid form making him feel vacant. He scanned his surroundings trying to locate the tweeting of the morning birds, this caused him to come to a conclusion that yes, it was earlier than he expected. One thing did puzzle him though, he didn't recognise his surroundings, he knew it was the wood outside of Camelot, the vegetation that surrounded him doesn't grow by the Dackling's Woods, nor did it grow toward The White Mountains, nor toward The Mountains of Isgard, it seemed that he was near the forest of Ascetir by the bolder of Mercia. There was something that didn't quite feel normal in these woods today, maybe there was something in the air, perhaps something physical or it could be that he hasn't the usual good night sleep.

He didn't know.

He looked out at the wood, it wasn't too dense but there was a fair amount of shrubbery and flowers. He walked forward, one of the abandoned twigs snapped under his leather boots. He carried on, walking a couple of hundred yards before reaching an opening to a large steep hill. He yawned and stretched looking up at the pale grey sky. There was a loud rustle, he whipped around ready to face and fight the stranger, instead he came across a pair of hares with large round brown bodies with white noses, paws, and tails, their noses wiggling and their ears twitching, they looked at Arthur with such fright they ran away from him, leaping off in the direction he just came.

He found their rash antics awfully funny as he continued his journey. The late night was now becoming day. He eagerly walked towards a large amount of clear land. He tried walking up the steep hill, finding the slippery mud a difficult challenge to overcome, however, he took it in his stride to achieve this challenge. Once finally at the top, slightly covered in mud and sweat, he panted whilst taking in the view from the hill. The trees were a vast green with a mixture of brown, birds flying over the top of them, he could also see the tops of the tallest towers of Camelot. Here, he decided, was where the true beauty of the kingdom was hidden. Arthur let himself get overtaken by the peacefulness. He could feel the wind begin to pick up, the temperature drop, the clouds began to gather and darken unnaturally fast, it wasn't long before the clouds gave up and let a few teasing drops of cool rain full downward from the heavens onto Arthur's dry tanned skin.

Arthur would normally hate weather conditions such as this, however, on an occasion like this one, he couldn't let this feeling of peacefulness pass. So, he let himself indulge in his happiness, encouraging this sense of freedom into his system and letting it overtake. He looked down from his high perch, the wind had started to make an effect upon trees; they shook and brushed against one another. Arthur desperately wanted to join them, so with youth in his heart and the enthusiasm on the tip of his tongue, he leaped his way back down the hill, his arms flinging from side to side, his eyes shut tight and grin plastered on his wet face. Arthur let himself go, every part of his being was without a care apart from his feet, which he tried to place sensibly not wanting full in such an embarrassing way. He only had a few moments to feel this strange, somewhat unknown feeling of freedom before his biggest fear came true he came to an untimely halt. Blinding pain shot through his body, he had collided with something or someone; he felt an unbelievable agony as fell to the floor, mud smearing over his face.

He looked up in fury, his eyes stinging from the invasion of the mud. He was ready to capture his prey and to take his anger out upon the thing that has caused him such embarrassment, human or not. However he was shocked to find that his attacker was just a boy, not much younger he was, maybe by a year or two, nothing more. Arthur bit down onto his lower lip, his nose flaring, he wanted to be angry at the boy, however, he couldn't find it within himself to advance on the young stranger and blame him for his current situation. He just looked so frightened staring back at Arthur, his big blue eyes glistened with tears, his lips trembling, his pale skin flustered. He was a rather odd-looking child, with goofy uneven features that hadn't quite yet grown to suit the size of his face. He had skin white like snow, eyes like the deep blue ocean, hair as dark a crow's feather, he had a rather long nose, his lips large out of proportion but nothing, in Arthur's opinion, was worse than the boy's abnormally large and round ears. They stuck out from his head and they reminded Arthur of the sketches of the exotic beastly creatures named Elephantus from a faraway land.

He looked like the type of boy, that given the chance Arthur would torture will teasing words, however, he couldn't do that now because he took pity on the frightened boy. A wave of guilt went through him as he saw a fine line of crimson blood trickled down from the boy's right nostril, running onto his upper lip. The boy seemed to be so distracted; he didn't notice it at all. More blood gained and Arthur became to feel... not worried nor concern but to be, well something of that effect towards the boy's well being. With that gaining feeling, he took it upon himself to help the poor boy out, he pointed to his own nose looking directly at the blood on the boy's face. It was only then the odd-looking boy's face came to life, his eyes became animated, he looked at Arthur's finger with interest and confusion, his eyes dancing from Arthur's finger to Arthur's eyes. It took him a delayed second to realise what Arthur was trying to indicate. Arthur watched with interest as the boy smeared his crimson blood across his pale face. Arthur then became aware of the mud on his face; he gingerly touched it before wiping most it away and then rubbing it into his breeches.

An awkward feeling came over the boys as they stood from their sitting positions, smartening out their soaked clothing and sticky hair. Arthur couldn't help but notice that not only was a tad taller than the boy but he was wider and boarder in the shoulders, he seemed to be in a healthier state as well, as the boy was unnaturally thin. He also noticed what the boy was wearing was mere peasant clothing, cheap and tacky. This gave Arthur an uneasy feeling, one that was a mixture of power, superiority, and embarrassment, which he wasn't quite sure how to understand or use in a civilised conversation.

Arthur knew that the required introductions were overdue, he couldn't form any suitable phrases or opening lines that one would normally use whilst one introduces oneself. But if by chance Arthur knew what to say, how would he go about saying them? In what tone of voice, calm and soothing, loud and confident or proud and cocky? Also, how would he introduce himself physically? Would he stand straight up with his shoulders back and show the boy his importance, would he shake the peasant's boy's hand, or would he stand their awkwardly as he presents his identity to the stranger? What would he present himself as? Prince Arthur, Arthur; Prince of Camelot and future king or just Arthur? Did the boy already know who he was? And was that why he's acting so fearful? It must be. But he couldn't be sure. Arthur decided that just saying his name would be better than standing in silence. So plucking up a fair amount of courage he straightened out his body, shifting his shoulders back and raising his head slightly, he inhaled before exhaling,

"I'm Arthur".

Arthur watched the odd-looking boy closely he looked back at Arthur with slight surprise, before straightening out his expression. He didn't speak for several small seconds; perhaps he was dumb or never learned how to speak Arthur's mother language.

"M-Merlin. I'm Merlin," The boy's voice was light and high, slightly wobbled by nerves, his throat was raspy and uneven; it must have been sore. It made the boy cough and clear his throat. Arthur examined the boy; judging him further; he sounded awfully innocent and naive making Arthur feel even older and more powerful. Although he seemed to be innocent and kind, it gave no excuse to how silly his name was. Merlin? Merlin! Mer-Lane? Mur-Lun? Mehr-Lin? It must pronounce as Muhr-lin. What a strange name!

"Merlin? Muhrlin! What silly name!" Arthur blurted out, mainly to himself than to Merlin opposite him. He heard the boy cough and shift uncomfortably on the spot at Arthur's rude remark. Arthur looked in surprise; regretting his words, even though what he said was true, it didn't mean it to come out of his mouth.

Merlin turned to leave, not wanting to spend any more time with Arthur, who at this moment in time had already physically attacked him, caused him a fair amount of physical pain and was verbally appallingly rude to this complete stranger. What would father say? He had a good idea that they weren't going to get along.

Merlin was about to walk, storm, off back to his mother, when he felt a tug on his elbow. He looked back at Arthur's face, he was clutching onto Merlin's worn out sleeve looking apologetically at Merlin.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Say it out a loud?" Merlin interrupted.

"Yes! Wait, no, no! Of course not!" Arthur's face flushed a vibrant red colour, it made him feel silly and childish, he's never this embarrassed for something so juvenile. He stood there for a second trying to calm down and stop his checks from being so flushed. The more he concentrated the more his cheeks redden. He gnawed at his lower lip, becoming worried about his physical appearance, feeling awfully self-conscious. Arthur snapped out of his little bubble when he heard Merlin coughed uncomfortably, he looked at Arthur expectantly. Arthur followed Merlin's eye line to where Arthur still gripped tightly on Merlin's sleeve. He immediately let go, mumbling a soft sorry whilst scratching the back of his head, feeling even sillier.

"S'kay" Merlin muttered back. He was started to feel sorry for Arthur, but he couldn't help find his awkwardness utterly and ridiculously funny. Fortunately, Merlin's good nature overtook, he felt sorry for the older boy, understanding how that awkwardness felt. Merlin out-stretched his hand and asked, "Should we start over?"

"Please," Arthur remarked boarding out his shoulder, standing up straighter.

"I'm Arthur," the blonde boy smiled.

"Merlin" Merlin grinned back, grasping Arthur's hand and shaking it.

"What a silly name you have." Both of the boys laughed, grinning at each other. Arthur was far too occupied with his latest acquaintance, Merlin, that he didn't notice the weather change once again, the heat rising and the sun coming back out from the grey clouds. This triggered something deep within him, he knew that this new acquaintance was going to be a good one, even if he didn't quite realise it just yet.

And he wouldn't for a quite some years.

Thanks for reading.