Well, I finally came up with an idea! I'll put most of my comments at the bottom, so I guess all I have to say is enjoy the first chapter!

Merlin hated hunting. Completely and utterly hated it. Arthur described it as "good fun", but Merlin didn't see the fun in killing animals that were just minding their own business. These were the thoughts that ran through his head as he made his way down the corridor, hunting equipment in hand. Arthur had told him that they would be out for three days, and although Merlin was glad to be able to get out of the castle for a while, he would rather spend that time doing pretty much anything else. He hadn't even had the chance to practice his magic in a few days; Arthur had kept him so busy. He sighed, only hoping that this hunting trip would turn out better than the last one, when Arthur had nearly run him through because he "startled" him when he came back from collecting firewood.

"What took you so long?" Arthur asked as Merlin made his way into the courtyard.

"Sorry, sire," Merlin muttered in reply. "You misplaced your crossbow again and it took me a while to find it."

"Oh, cheer up, Merlin," Arthur laughed, completely unfazed by Merlin's sour mood. "And don't be such a girl, sometimes you sound like you could be my wife."

Merlin rolled his eyes, only slightly insulted by Arthur's comment. He attached their last saddle bag and mounted his horse, following Arthur out of the city.

...

Merlin cursed as he tripped over yet another root, causing Arthur to throw his crossbow at the ground yet again in annoyance.

"You know," Merlin said, picking himself up off the ground, "if you keep doing that, you're going to break it."

"It's perfectly fine, Merlin, you can put it back together!" Arthur called over his shoulder, Merlin jogging to catch up to him.

Dusk wasn't far off, and they hadn't caught anything all day due to Merlin's inability to keep quiet. Merlin wondered how close Arthur was to telling him to go off on his own, though he still found his fits of indignation rather amusing. A faint crack broke through his thoughts, and he stopped to glance around. "What is it now?" Arthur asked in exasperation, turning to face him.

"I thought I heard something," Merlin whispered in reply.

"It's probably just your imagination, as usual," Arthur sighed, starting to walk away.

Merlin shook his head, frowning. He turned to follow Arthur, but caught movement out of the corner of his eye. "Bandits!"

-oAo-

Arthur blinked dazedly, feeling the back of his head for the lump that had no doubt caused him to pass out. His vision began to clear, and he glanced around. One of the bandits must have clubbed him from behind during the attack. Most of the men were down, and Arthur had a moment of panic when he didn't see Merlin, but then he spotted him across the clearing. A bandit ran at him, but before he could reach Merlin, a branch snapped off of a tree, landing squarely on top of the man just like so many occasions previously that Arthur had just assumed to be lucky. There was something different about this time though. Merlin's eyes had flashed gold. Arthur knew magic when he saw it, thanks to his sorcery-hating father, Uther. But this was Merlin; he couldn't have magic, surely? That would mean he was evil, and Merlin was anything but that. Perhaps it had just been a trick of the light.

Merlin looked around, though there were no more bandits who were conscious. Arthur saw the relief in Merlin's eyes when he saw that Arthur was alright, though the relief quickly turned to horror as he realized that Arthur had seen what he had done. There was no doubting that Merlin had used magic now.

Arthur found himself walking towards the terrified servant, though he didn't remember getting to his feet.

"A-Arthur, I'm sorry, I didn't-" Merlin stuttered, backing himself against a tree. Arthur grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him slightly. "What the hell was that?!" he growled.

"It's n-not what you think, Arthur, I-" Merlin broke off with a gasp of pain as Arthur's fist connected with his face. Arthur let go of Merlin, his anger gone. What had he done? He had gotten upset with Merlin before, but he had never hit him. Merlin was looking at him in shock, his cheek already beginning to swell. Arthur stumbled backwards, scared that his rage would return and he'd hurt Merlin further. The young warlock stepped away from the tree, backing up a few paces before whirling around and fleeing as fast as his legs could carry him. "Merlin, wait!" Arthur called after him, but his friend was already gone.

So, what did you think? This is my first ever fanfic, so reviews and critiques are most welcome! I'll probably upload the next chapter after I get a couple of reviews so that I know what I can do better, if it's popular, etc. Sorry if the characters are a bit OOC, but I tried my best, haha. Oh, and I promise that the next chapters will be longer, I just thought this was a good place to stop. I'm also trying to get the hang of writing something longer than 700 words. XD

- xxthegameisonxx