CHAPTER 1
WRITTEN BY - Maltesegirl50
CO-WRITTEN AND EDITED BY - Maltese-Sapphire
AUTHOR'S NOTE - First off, this story will be written by two authors; myself (Maltese-Sapphire) and my best friend (Maltesegirl50).
We were inspired to write this story after reading a simular story, "Merlin the Puppy" written by MidnightSky101 (who is an amazing writer, btw =P).
Anyway, read the first chapter and let us know what you think. Just so you know, the story will be written in a pattern. I'll write a chapter, then Maltesegirl50 will, then I'l wirte one, etc. We also edit eachother's chapters (we're kind of eachother's Beta), but if you find any mistakes of your own, please tell us.
Enjoy!
Merlin walked slowly through the forest, enjoying every step in the fresh air. It was a rare day for Merlin. Arthur had finally decided to give him a day off… mainly because he didn't want Merlin to mess up his hunting trip. Normally Merlin would be offended, but he had been working too much for the past few weeks. He lost count on how many times he saved Arthur's life and also he was still grieving Will.
Merlin wasn't even paying attention to where he was walking. He just took everything in and let his feet take him wherever they wanted. Being born clumsy he tripped more than once, but he just laughed and got back onto his feet and continued walking.
Soon enough Merlin found himself in the forest."Hmm. Not my first choice of a relaxing day but as long as it's away from Arthur, I'm happy", he thought. He walked deeper and deeper into the forest, until he tripped again.
Having tripped for the tenth time that hour, he decided to rest against a tree. He slowly started to fall into slumber. Once again Will appeared in his dreams. Well not dreams. Just memories. He remembered when he accidentally made Will fly into horse dung. They were nine years old at the time.
Suddenly Merlin found himself flung across the clearing straight into another tree.
"Ouch!" Merlin moaned in pain as he fell on the ground rubbing his nose. He glanced around wildly for his attacker, when he was suddenly once again flung into a tree.
"Magic" he thought so he immediately countered the spell, making him drop onto the ground and reveal the attacking sorcerer.
Out of the shadows stepped a woman. A woman in a torn red dress with long black ahir and peircing blue eyes that bore into the soul.
Nimueh.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the great Emrys" she laughed, a wicked smile on her face. "I've heard about you. I tried to kill you remember?"
"So the poison was meant for me!" Merlin choked as Nimueh cast a spell on him, limiting his oxygen suply and weakening his chances of resistance.
"Arthur Pendragon is not meant to die at my hand. However, if he would die, I'd be trilled. But you Merlin, you're a sorcerer. And you're just a servant for the heir to the throne. Why?" Nimueh asked as she stepped towards Merlin.
"I protect Arthur. Without him Albion won't be united and the killing of sorcerers will go on." Merlin gasped, fighting for air to fill his starved lungs.
"You could end this, warlock. Kill Uther Pendragon." Nimueh said expectantly.
"Never," Merlin snarled at the evil sorceress.
"I want to kill you. You've spoiled too many plans of mine..." An expression of longing crossed Nimueh's face. It was obvious she wanted nothing more than Merlin's death.
" But alas. You are not meant to die at my hand either. So instead, I shall have to settle for the next best thing..." she started muttering a spell.
She spoke so fast that Merlin couldn't understand a word. Suddenly, he felt pain, as though his bones were on fire.
"What are you doing to me?" Merlin yelled as he felt his bones shrink. Suddenly, he found his bones seemed to be changing. He writhed on the forest floor, twsiting as his bones began to shift. He found he was forced into a four-legged position. His fingers were being forced to curl, rendering them useless with his hands- no wait…
"Paws? I have paws" Merlin thought to himself. "Wow this is so… wait…. I HAVE PAWS?' He began to panic and tried to curse Nimueh, but when he opened his mouth he found he couldn't form proper words. His words came out strangled, half-formed, it almost sounded like he was barking.
BARKING?
Merlin's jaw dropped and he slapped his hands… paws on his mouth. He was still in agony, his body going through changes he didn't have the engery to think about. Eventually, the pain left him, and he was left gasping for breath on the floor.
Nimueh laughed. "Even as a puppy you're funny."
"PUPPY?" Merlin shouted but once again, all that came out was barking. He suddenly realised that everything seemed... different. He had lost his colour vision; everything was in black and whte. He could hear much clearer (and much further, he expected). He glanced at his body and found he had FUR! He was covoured in fluffy black fur. He looked to his behind and saw a tail wagging. He felt inside his mouth with his tounge and found he now had sharp dogs' teeth, with long fang-ish canines. "Oh no! What am I going to do?" he ranted, though all that came out was high-pitched puppy barks.
Nimueh said, "There is a counter spell, of course. It's the balance of the world. But, it is a tricky counter spell. And I'm sure you won't get out of it. This really gives me all the time in the world to hatch a fool proof plan to kill Uther. Without you spoiling it for me."
Merlin's heart lept at the thought of a counter spell. He began started yapping uncontrollably at Nimueh. She seemed to understand him. "
I don't believe this! I'm a puppy! A PUPPY! What am I going to do! And WHAT IS THE COUNTER SPELL?"
The sorceress turned to him and said, "There is only one way to reverse the spell. In order to return to your human form, you must make the prince, Arthur Pendragon, truly miss you"
And without another word, Nimueh disappeared into the forest, the faint sound of her laughter echoing in the silence.
Merlin put a paw over his head.
"Some counter spell" he thought to himself. "There is no way I can make Arthur miss me. He can't wait to get away from me! I'm doomed..."
He lay on the ground, putting his paws over his eyes and started whimpering. Not only was he in the tiny body of a puppy, he was also at least 3 hours away from Camelot (which was bound to be much longer when travelled by a puppy), and he doubted the gaurds would just let a random puppy wander into the castle alone. He felt completely hopeless.
Suddenly his ears perked up as he heard the familiar sound of Arthur's voice. Merin couldn't believe his luck. Of the whole forest, Arthur had chosen to hunt here! He was saved! If he could just make the prince realise it was him, he could get back to Camelot safely and consult his magic book for answers. He clambered to his paws and began running through the forest, tripping and stumbling a lot more than usual as he got to grips with running properly on four legs. Just as he was getting used to his new agility, he felt his hind leg snag against something in a bush, and he was suddenly yanked upwards as a rope tightened painfully around his leg.
'OH SHIT! RABBIT SNARE!' Merlin cursed as he dangled upside down in mid-air. His leg was in a fair amount of pain, but he knew that if he moved the rope would just get tighter and tighter. He knew that eventually, the hunting party would come back to find him, but he didn't know how long he would have to wait. So to speed them up, he began barking and crying out at the top f his voice to attract their attention. Soon enough, the bushes started moving and a familiar blonde head emerged from the undergrowth.
'ARTHUR!' Merlin cried in relief. All Arthur heard was a normal puppy's yap.
Arthur was completely shocked as to how a puppy had managed to get caught in his snare. It wasn't very often he saw dogs in the forest that weren't hunting hounds. And this one deffinately wasn't. It was small, with fluffy black fur and ears that flopped over comicly. Arthur decided the dog must be a stray; a runaway, or a left-behind from some other group passing through. Wherever it came from, Arthur knew he couldn;t just leave it here.
"Everyone! Get me a knife! We have a stray dog in the rabbit snare!" Arthur commanded to the knights. He cradled the suddenly-excited pup in his hands to take pressure off of the leg.
"Don't worry. I'm going to get you out of it soon." he told the pup, stroking the soft puppy fur calmingly.
Merlin, however, was appaulled.
'A STRAY DOG? I CLEAN YOUR ROOM, I GIVE YOU FOOD, AND I MUCK OUT YOUR STABLES. AND YOU CALL ME A STRAY DOG!' Merlin shouted angrily inside his head. He didn't dare show his aggression. If Arthur thought he was aggressive, he might not take him back home.
"Whoa! Easy there, little guy. Let's get this rope off you." Arthur said holding Merlin steady in his hands as a knight freed his leg with a knife.
As soon as his leg was free, Merlin started kicking excitedly, his thick, fluffy tail lashing furiously and hitting Arthur in the face. Arthur let out a laugh.
"Oh, you have a lot of energy don't you?" he said, trying to get the pup to settle in his arms.
"Sire we better move. It's getting darker and we better be in Camelot before sundown." A knight told Arthur.
Arthur waved him off, "Yes, yes, go pack up. Now you, little guy," he said, holding the puppy up in front of his face to look at him, "Do you want to come to Camelot? I can keep you as my pet."
"… a pet?" Merlin was shocked. "He wants me. As a pet. Oh, I SO want to bite him right now. But, he's my way back to humanity' So Merlin yapped happily and and licked Arthur's hand."Ugh. Soil" Merlin gagged. He was never doing that again.
"Well. You need a name. Hmm... You're jet black, did you know that?" Arthur said ruffling Merlin's belly.
"No, I did not know the colour of my own fur" Merlin thought sarcasticly.
"I know! I'll call you Jet. What do you think?" Arthur asked Merlin. Merlin barked and wagged his tail, but thinking, "Gee, aren't you original. Just miss me already, I already have fleas!"
Arthur picked the black puppy, aka Jet aka Merlin, up and got on his horse. the knights, guards and Arthur galloped home. Merlin started yapping when he saw Camelot.
"Jet, welcome to your new home." Arthur said, while getting off the horse.
"Horray" Merlin thought in a bored tone.
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