In the days of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, there was another Arthur, born to the Kirkland family. Like his three older brothers, Arthur was a knight, and even though it should have been the place of the eldest brother to serve under the king, it was clear to anyone who met the four Kirklands that Arthur was the most worthy. The others were bold and strong, but it was Arthur who was the most chivalrous and kind, who would take on the most impossible of quests in the name of justice, who would save the damsels in distress and ask nothing in return.

The problem was that Arthur was friends with the faerie folk.

He'd been able to see strange things ever since he was a baby, and as he grew older he would wander off into the woods around their castle and come back with tales of magical friends. He claimed to know a witch who would supply him with healing draughts, and had actually protected a dragon when one of his older brothers tried to kill it. And even though the king, himself, had a sorcerer for an advisor and owned a magical sword, it was a different matter entirely for Sir Arthur Kirkland to be friends with witches and dragons and other dark creatures. No matter how pure and selfless he might be, with dark allies like that he was bound to remain an outcast from the other knights of the land.

But still, Arthur was determined to help those in distress. And although people were wary of him, there was no denying that he was an excellent knight, and those in trouble were glad of his help. In fact, Arthur became the first call for anyone who was having trouble with faerie folk. Leave black-armoured warriors and corrupt kings to the other knights of England – it was Arthur you needed if there was something particularly strange afoot.

And that was how Arthur found himself being sent on his most unusual mission of all.

He was out riding one day when a fellow knight galloped up to him, a look of terror in his eyes the likes of which Arthur had never seen.

"Sir Arthur! I'm so glad to have found you!" the knight panted, not even bothering to dismount. "I must beg your assistance and summon you to Farthing Forest. There is a very strange knight there and we fear he must be…one of the fair folk."

Arthur blinked at the knight in confusion. "A strange knight? Is he evil?"

"He must be," the other replied. "His armour is unlike anything we have ever seen, and his helmet is made of purest glass! He is the most fearful sight I have ever laid eyes on – and what's more, he is protecting an extraordinary contraption of metal! Like a small house, and yet…not! It is most definitely not human, and only you can possibly solve this puzzle, Sir Arthur."

Arthur was instantly intrigued by the bizarre tale, although he had never heard of any such knight or magical metal house in his dealings with the faerie folk. He had no idea what might lay in wait for him, but he was curious, and hoped to be able to help.

And so, Sir Arthur rode off to Farthing Forest, arriving there the following afternoon. The sun was high in the sky, and a bright glint of light through the trees warned Arthur that he must be drawing near to the strange metal house.

He left the cover of the trees, and his eyes widened in shock.

A huge metal sphere was resting on the grass, shining brightly under the summer sun. But even more surprising, the strange knight Arthur had been warned of was sitting on a log beside the sphere, his head in his hands and sobbing his heart out.

No matter where this strange knight came from, or what he might be doing in Farthing Forest, he was obviously in distress. And that was all that mattered to Arthur.

He dismounted his horse and left it in the cover of the trees as he took a few careful steps towards the strange knight.

"Pardon me, good sir," he called gently. The man jumped up, and as soon as he saw Arthur he backed away in fear.

"I don't have any weapons," he said desperately. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just…I'm lost."

The man spoke with a strange accent, and his words sounded like a mix between English and some other foreign tongue. But Arthur found he could understand, and as soon as he gathered that the man was lost, he knew what he had to do.

"I mean you no harm," Arthur promised. To prove it, he unbuckled his scabbard and laid his sword on the grass. "I was told an evil knight was haunting the forest, but I see now that that is not the case. If you need any help, I humbly offer my services." He knelt on the ground with a hand on his heart. "I am Sir Arthur, and it is my duty to help those in distress. I know that you may not be human, but that matters not to me. I only want to help in any way I can, if you'll let me."

To his joy, the other knight breathed a sigh of relief and even laughed. "Thank God! Thank you, Arthur – ah, I mean, Sir Arthur." Arthur looked up and returned the man's tearful smile as he got to his feet again. "I am human, don't worry! I really don't know what you can do to help, but I'm glad of an ally, at least. It's been a rough few days," the man said, smiling sadly. "I'm Alfred Jones."

"Sir Alfred – "

"Oh, no! Just Alfred," the man interrupted.

Arthur raised an eyebrow at the stranger and glanced down at his white suit. "Not a knight? Is that not some form of armour you're wearing?"

Alfred looked down at his suit and laughed. "Oh, no! Ha ha! It's um…well…you're really not going to believe me…"

"I will try my best," Arthur assured him. "I was called to help you personally because I have a great deal of experience in unbelievable matters. I am determined to help those in need, no matter who they are or where they come from. I assure you, whatever you have to tell me, I will do my best to understand."

"Well, that's good…" Alfred said, smiling ruefully, as if he knew Arthur would regret those words. "'Cause you see, I'm kind of…a space-traveller from the future…"

A/N:

Written for the 365daysofusuk drabbled calendar on tumblr. Posted on April 7th, 2014.

Based on illustrations by lespyrenees on tumblr - you can find them under her "drawings" tag. Please go and have a look, she's amazing!

I know there isn't any obvious USUK romance in this drabble, but it was hard to flesh out my KnightxAstronaut AU in the 1000 word limit.

This is just a very basic intro for the story I planned out in my head for this medieval, knight!Arthur x astronaut!AlfredAU. I will never end up writing it but it's one of my "go-to" AUs when I lie in bed thinking about USUK. It's so different from anything else I've seen, but so perfect for this couple! I wish there were a few more astronaut x knight USUK fics floating around this site! If anyone wants to write an epic 300k fic about it, I'm behind you all the way and volunteer as your beta!

The story I have planned out in my head is actually much more dark and serious than the light-hearted, fairy-tale style of this drabble. But, again, I couldn't manage to work it into this quick drabble. If I were a better write I'm sure I could have made it work and blown everyone's sock's off, but for now you'll just have to trust me that this edgy