A.N. Hello! I'm Kikwoka, welcome to my story! Just to let you know, this is set almost immediately after season 3, so for those of you who haven't already watched it, heads up for spoilers. This is a friendship fic between Arthur and Merlin – although if you really squint, you may see a slash.
I hope you enjoy it =)
Morgana walked through the fray with Morgause in her arms. A pair of witless guards attempted to stop her. Fools. With a flash of gold eyes, they flew backwards, smashing into the gates of Camelot. Mogause stirred ever so slightly in the witch's arms.
"Hold on Morgause," She whispered, fixing her eyes on the forest that spread outwards from the city.
Merlin, the name crawled through her mind and hate bubbled through after, Oh he shall pay dearly. He shall wish he'd never been born… She still saw it, Morgause collapsing and the blood of the cup staining the pillar. She knew that Gaius had injured her sister, but Morgana didn't care - it was Merlin's fault, Merlin had poisoned everyone against her, Merlin was the one to blame.
And then the smirk appeared on Morgana's face, the sinister grin that quieted the forest around her. Oh yes, he shall pay, She thought, and she knew how to make him...
Merlin groaned inwardly at the prospect of the hunting trip. It wasn't as if he hated the thought of getting food via hunting - he loved meat as much as the next guy. No, it was the idea of killing animals for fun. He cursed quietly as he stumbled and the rabbit that Prince Arthur had been stalking fled. The prince turned towards Merlin with an irritated hiss,
"Why, oh why do I get stuck with a bumbling idiot every time I wish for a hunt?" Arthur cursed, throwing his hands up in irritation.
Merlin frowned, but decided to say nothing. It was not a good idea to irritate the royal prat when he was angry.
Merlin stepped on and then snapped a twig, which sent the new game (a small doe) galloping off into the surrounding shrubbery.
Arthur literally growled, "I give up! I officially give up! What on Earth are you actually good for, Merlin?"
Merlin opened his mouth to voice his angry retort, when Arthur stomped over to him and clamped his hand over Merlin's mouth. Arthur stared at the servant with venom in his eyes,
"Merlin, that was what's called a rhetorical question, any idea what on of those is Merlin?" the Prince mocked, a smirk appearing on his face. Merlin gave his master an extremely irritated look before nodding. The smirk on Arthur's face curled upwards some more, before he pushed the servant away from him. He proceeded to laugh cruelly as the servant tripped over a root and land on his face.
See? This was why Merlin hated hunting trips. Rolling his eyes, Merlin picked himself up off the floor and looked around him. They were standing in an eerie forest. There was a blanket of silence around them, and nothing moved in the bushes or trees that surrounded them. The angry retorts died on Merlin's lips because he knew that this hunting trip was more than just an attempt to make Merlin's life a living hell.
It was the King.
Being betrayed by his daughter and then being forced to watch the tyranny she'd wrought on the land had been tough on Uther. To watch the beautiful and compassionate Ward turn on him had been almost too hard to bear. Arthur had been forced to take charge, like he had when Uther had gone mad. But the Prince was beginning to falter under the strain of being temporary King, and he couldn't wait until Uther was better.
Arthur looked at the setting sun, and decided that they would camp for the night. He ordered Merlin to get some firewood, before sitting next to a tree and leaning on the solid bark. Merlin walked away, into the trees. Arthur smiled slightly at the view above him. He liked the forest. Here, it was like he had no expectations on him. He liked only having Merlin with him too – the servant was better company than the Prince would ever let on.
For Merlin, despite his appearance, was brave – he wasn't afraid to leap into the clutches of death for Arthur. He wasn't afraid of telling Arthur his ideals, and he certainly wasn't afraid to disobey orders. Most Nobles would hate to have Merlin as a servant, but not Arthur – he liked having someone to dispute with and he liked having the counsel of someone who didn't always agree with the laws of Camelot.
The servant in question stumbled out of the undergrowth with a large bundle of branches in his arms. He grunted under their weight before dropping them in front of Arthur.
Merlin stared at the Prince expectantly, and the Prince stared back.
"Well, what are you waiting for Merlin? Do you expect them to light on their own?" The Prince jeered. Merlin scowled,
"Well, Sire, I was waiting for my orders - after all you tend to want to do the lighting of the fire yourself," The servant retorted. Arthur cringed, remembering when he'd first asked Merlin to light a fire. They'd returned from that trip earlier than expected and with Arthur one shirt less. The poor garment hadn't been fit to wear – it had turned into a jacket with an uneven slit up the front and scorch marks.
Arthur arranged the wood, while Merlin sat down. After a little while the wood burst into flames, and Arthur sat next to Merlin. Silence followed and darkness fell. The small clearing that they'd settled in was cosy and kept the warmth in well. As the two men lay down, the moon centred over the ring of trees, and sent a silvery light into their temporary campsite.
"Hey, Merlin...?" Arthur began, wondering how to best phrase his question.
"Hmmm?" Came a slightly sleepy reply from Merlin.
"Answer me honestly here… Am I doing well as the stand-in King?"
"Yes. But you could be less of a prat to your poor servant," Merlin grinned, earning himself a jab in the ribs from Arthur's elbow, but it was half-hearted, and that showed Merlin that he should give the Prince a decent answer. Merlin thought for a moment, thinking of the actions that Arthur had been making, "I think you're doing well – considering the fact that you're worried about your father. But I think you should listen to Sir Leon and Gaius – and Gwen even more so. She knows what she's talking about, after all,"
Arthur thought about that. It was true that he'd made some mistakes over the past two weeks, luckily Gwaine, Elyan, Lancelot or the other knights protected him and Camelot in those times.
Merlin stared into the fire, thinking about Morgause and Morgana – if Morgause had indeed died, then Morgana would take revenge. If not, Morgause would take revenge for the destruction of the immortal army.
He'd really dug himself into a hole that he wasn't getting out of anytime soon.
"What do you think Morgana and Morgause'll do now?" Arthur asked,
"Wow, someone's really asking advice tonight!" Merlin responded, laughing. Although Arthur asking Merlin advice had become more common recently, it was never more than once a day. Today, Arthur had just asked Merlin for advice twice in less than ten minutes! "I think they'll want revenge for the warrior business…" Merlin stated, hoping that his statement wouldn't provoke more questions.
"Yeah…" Arthur trailed off, clearly thinking hard.
They lapsed into a thoughtful silence once more. Merlin delved into his sack and brought out some crushed vegetables in jars, "Want something to eat?" He inquired, looking at Arthur.
Arthur nodded impassively, and watched lazily as Merlin fumbled with various ingredients. Arthur was secretly impressed with Merlin's ability to squash so much into that one tiny sack. The warlock had produced quite a large boiling pot and a jar the length of Merlin's forearm. Arthur was suddenly quite glad that he wasn't carrying Merlin's pack.
The boy created a little stand for the kettle to hang from and then self-consciously stirred the aforementioned pot, which now contained vegetables and herbs.
Merlin felt the tingling feeling of someone watching on the back of his neck, but couldn't place where the feeling was coming from. Frowning uneasily, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he brought the soup to a boil. After ten minutes or so, Merlin poured some soup into two bowls and served one to Arthur. Arthur and Merlin stood around the fire as they ate their soup. Although the vegetable soup wasn't culinary perfection, Arthur was grateful for the warmth it brought.
A piercing shriek filled the air.
Arthur cried out and dropped his soup, desperately covering his ears. The cry pierced the smallest crevice in the wood, nothing escaped it.
It was not from the cry of a man, woman, or child. It was a cross between a howl and a screech, and it was filled with loneliness. Merlin gasped in pain. The screech was cutting through him, entering his very soul and burrowing into his mind. The pain running through him escalated until he could bear it no more. The magic in him flared outwards and then he collapsed forwards, oblivious to Arthur's worried and annoyed voice that called out to him.
Arthur watched Merlin clutch himself in pain, from wincing eyes. The sound was truly terrible, but surely not terrible enough to make his servant cry out in pain like he was. Still covering his ears, Arthur started to walk to Merlin in an attempt to calm the nearly hysterical boy.
And then suddenly a huge gust of… not wind but energy blew out from Merlin and knocked the Prince over. Arthur cried out slightly when he made contact with a protruding root, but then he stared in shock as Merlin collapsed to the ground without a sound. There was just the soft fwump as he crumpled on the floor and nothing else.
"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed, picking himself up and running towards the serving boy. He knelt next to Merlin and reached out a tentative hand, cringing as the sound grew less muffled.
And then his ears relaxed: the noise had stopped. Arthur listened in wonder to the silence, and breathed a sigh of relief.
His hands moved into motion again, pushing Merlin onto his front, so that Arthur could examine him again. The boy was paler than usual, his beige face turned white, dark circles outlined his eyes and his breathing was too shallow and too slow.
Arthur frowned, questions circling his mind – What had that blast of energy been? Why was Merlin unconscious? And most of all - what had been screaming?
Merlin woke several hours later to a Prince's worried face. Said Prince slapped Merlin's face slightly as he came round. It was beyond dark now – well beyond midnight, the small clearing in which they lay was barely visible through the light of the moon. The air was close, and it looked like a fog was rolling in.
Arthur had been afraid of going to sleep – the monster that had been screaming could easily come back after all. It had sounded like a deadly creature from the sheer power of the sound – it had knocked Merlin out from a mere sound.
Merlin sat up slowly, grimacing at how stiff he felt. Most of all, however, he felt tired and strained.
"How are you feeling?" Arthur asked, though his nonchalance was marred slightly by the worry in his voice. Merlin twitched his neck, checking himself slowly,
"I hurt a little, and I'm slightly stiff, but I'm okay," He replied, before standing, "Any idea what it was that was screaming?" Merlin questioned before briefly looking around their campfire. Seeing that there was no imminent threat, he sat down once more, shivering slightly at how cold the air had become.
"No clue, haven't slept in case it attacks us – after all just about everything magical wants to kill me or my father these days," Arthur murmured, shivering as well. He had let the fire die out just in case the beast found them from the light they were giving out.
"Not everything," Merlin whispered, becoming distant. He was, of course, thinking of himself – there was no way he'd use his magic to hurt Arthur willingly. In fact, he'd kill himself before anyone could try and make him.
Arthur didn't acknowledge that he'd heard Merlin, he thought that everything magical was evil and so he wasn't shocked at the thought of all magical creatures trying to kill him.
A twig snapping interrupted his thoughts and Arthur was suddenly alert, he quietly gripped the sword that was at his belt. Merlin noticed this, and reached inside his own leather jacket for the dagger within. But before either of them could do anything, two simultaneous blasts of light hit them in the chests, and then they felt nothing.
What the hell was that?
A.N. Oooo! Cliffhanger, I wonder what's coming next? This is where I'd usually do review replies, but there aren't any 'cause this is the first chapter… Oh well, those of you who review will end up with a special space on my next chapter ^+^.
Hope you enjoyed it, please review and comment, and thank you for reading =)
Kikwoka x
