Title: On Arrows and Assurance
Rating: K+ - Just fluff!
Timeframe/Info About This Fic: Takes place anywhere before Season 4; no spoilers, no pairings
Disclaimer: If I owned Merlin, we'd all have red and blue scarves to wear
Authors Note: I've just been unable to stop producing little plot bunnies dealing with Merlin. This is sort of on the same track as "On Constellations and Concern," (thanks so much for all of the support you guys have given me on that story) but they aren't directly related to each other. Just fluffy Merlin and Arthur fics :D I hope you like this one. I always pictured Arthur becoming exasperated of having to constantly "save" Merlin.
It soon became painfully obvious to Arthur that a certain pale skinned manservant was going to stay under his employment for a while longer than he had originally anticipated. Not that he really minded—although Arthur would never admit that to anyone in a million years, even under sword point. Despite the pale boy's constant follies, he was a decent servant, Arthur would grudgingly admit. Even though Merlin was perhaps the most irritating and impertinent person the future king had ever met, sometimes his counsel could be…insightful. It took a while for his baths to be drawn, and rarely was the boy ever on time to anything, but for a servant, Merlin was okay. Besides, with all of the time and effort that Arthur had invested in training Merlin, it would just be a waste to sack him. He dreaded the process of training another Merlin, so for the time being, Arthur decided to do what no noble blood with a bad servant would do—continue to keep the boy as his manservant.
It wasn't until a hunting trip went horribly wrong did Arthur realize that there was another way Merlin would leave his employment as a manservant for good. Bandits appeared from nowhere and stormed the small hunting party. Arthur was confident they'd fight the criminals off without a scratch…until he noticed Merlin cornered against a tree, completely weaponless and helpless. Conveniently, the deceivingly sturdy branch above the bandit splintered, crushing the villain and saving Merlin, but Arthur deemed that was too close of a call. He decided that Merlin would simply have to learn some sort of self-defense. After all, he couldn't keep going around saving his servant all the time. Arthur had a kingdom to run.
Sword fighting was completely out of the question. There was no way Arthur was going to allow someone whose vocabulary contained the word "swordy" to hold an actual sword. Watching the thin boy struggle with the load of armor he was carrying, Arthur decided that they needed to find another weapon for the boy. Something that wasn't so heavy.
After Merlin spent two weeks in Gaius' hospital, Arthur was also able to cross maces and spears off of the list.
"Where're we going?" Merlin's question hung in the air as he trailed behind Arthur. That was the fifth time Merlin had asked, and the fifth time Arthur ignored it with gritted teeth. For all of the lectures Merlin gave Arthur on patience, the manservant certainly seemed a bit hypocritical at the present moment. Thankfully for Arthur, they finally reached their destination. He stopped and turned to face his partner.
They were standing in an open field with a tall, gnarled apple tree in the center. Remnants of stumps around the field revealed that this had been some sort of orchard a long time ago. Only the giant tree remained intact, large red apples dotting the deep green branches. Set up at various increments were hanging and stationary targets. Merlin turned to his master and blinked.
"You set this up all by yourself?"
"I was forced to." Arthur scowled. "Have you forgotten that my servant was absent for about two weeks?"
"What!?" Merlin nearly choked. "It's your fault! You hit me on the he—"
"I'm tired of saving your sorry hide, Merlin." Arthur interrupted. The future king didn't know if he was imagining his servant's eye roll or not. "You are going to learn archery."
The younger boy opened his mouth, but no sound came out. A loud laugh burst from his throat, and Arthur's scowl deepened considerably.
"I see I was wrong for trying to save your life," Arthur snapped. Merlin slammed his mouth shut, still trying to fight off hysterical laughter. Something about the situation seemed hilarious to Merlin, but Arthur didn't quite get what was going on. He didn't even want to know, and now his servant's unexplainable mirth was starting to become very annoying.
"I just didn't want to have to get a new manservant if something happened to you!"
The outburst was sudden and clearly unforeseen. Arthur turned away. "Not that you're any good or anything. You argue with me all of the time, you never listen, and I can't even remember the last time you polished my sword correctly." Arthur yanked at the sword hanging in its sheath for proof, but his jerky movements only made it stuck even worse. This served no purpose other than making the future king more incensed. His attempt at a cover-up was now turning disastrous and foolish.
"Arthur…" Merlin started. Arthur was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't hear his servant.
"It's not like I care if you die. If you died, I'd probably get a better servant who'd follow every order I give. I just don't want some fool who's more concerned about licking my boo—"
"Arthur."
"Besides, Gaius would refuse to continue treating the Pendragons if I got you killed. His services are too valuable to lose, unlike yours. And one more thing, Merlin—"
"Arthur!" The boy's shout brought Arthur back into the current moment. "If you want me to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow, I'll do it if it makes you feel better." Merlin paused. "You could have just said that you don't want me to get hurt; you didn't have to make a fool of yourself saying it." The boy gave him a toothy smile. "I didn't know you cared."
"I don't," the prince said in a gruff voice. Arthur tried to hide his relieved smile, and instead made himself look as if he didn't care about what the boy had said. Internally though, Arthur was glad Merlin was going to attempt to learn some sort of self-defense; it certainly would make his job easier without having to watch over a clumsy servant. He strode quickly to the spot where a heavy bow was leaning against a target. He picked it up and forced it in Merlin's hands. "Shoot," he ordered the boy.
Merlin blinked and pulled halfheartedly at one of the strings. It snapped back into place, sending the bow into a vibrating frenzy, which caused Merlin to drop it in shock. Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
This may be the hardest thing I have ever done.
"Now watch me," Arthur pulled back the drawstring effortlessly and aimed his sight briefly before letting the arrow fly. The arrow spiraled through the sky, slicing the air with a whistling sound, and drilled into the farthest target with a dangerous thud. The future king lowered the bow with a satisfied smirk. He had yet to meet a weapon he couldn't master.
Merlin nodded and grabbed his own bow. He struggled with the pull back for a moment before Arthur sighed loudly and decided to help. Hooking two fingers around the taut bow string, Arthur pulled the string into the ready position. He let the boy take over the bow and stepped back. The moment Arthur's grip on the tight bow string loosened, Merlin let out a little squawk as he strained to hold back the force of the mighty bow. Arthur rolled his eyes and pointed to the target that Merlin was supposed to aim at. With another panicked shout, the manservant lost the strength to hold back the straining bow string. He jerked his hand backwards and the arrow flew up directly vertical in the air. Merlin raised a hand to block the sun and to watch where it went.
"Get back!" Arthur roughly grabbed the boy and yanked him away from the path of the following arrow. A second later, the arrow screamed back to Earth, piercing the dirt right where Merlin had just been standing.
"Thanks…" the boy panted, eyes wide.
"I think that's enough archery for one day," Arthur agreed. I think it'd just be easier to forget this whole thing. I'm going to end up killing us both. "I don't think you were meant to be an archer, Merlin."
The dark haired youth frowned. "Give me one more chance, Arthur!"
"You almost killed yourself, Merlin!" Arthur got slightly in the boy's face, his palms outstretched behind him.
"Trust me," the manservant smiled brightly. "Have I ever let you down before?" Arthur groaned. He didn't like the sound of that.
Merlin brought his own bow to their next archery practice. He claimed it belonged to Gaius when he was younger, and the old man certainly wouldn't mind it missing. Whatever the reason, the boy was able to pull back the drawstring without issue. Arthur raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. They were already making improvements…and Merlin hadn't even shot the bow yet.
"Shoot at the closest target," Arthur instructed.
Merlin licked his lips and tried to focus on the target. After a little bit of wobbly aim—which made Arthur cringe horribly—the manservant finally settled down. A gush of wind blew through the apple tree, rattling the leaves and juicy apples, and the arrow shot towards the target. It looked as if it was being dragged through the air by an invisible string. At the last second, the arrow jerked to the right and lodged itself into the apple tree trunk.
Arthur sighed. "And I thought you might've had it." He set down his own bow and walked casually towards the apple tree to inspect the damage. The future king leaned forward and lightly touched the still vibrating arrow. Odd. Suddenly there was a whoosh of air and a crackling sound. Arthur jumped and looked up in time to see an arrow slice through the thick branches. The screaming arrow shredded the thin stem that suspended an apple directly above Arthur's head. It fell to the ground, colliding with Arthur's head on the way down.
"Merlin!" The future king turned around to face the guilty servant, holding his aching head.
Merlin had a sheepish grin stretched across his face. "I'd say I'm pretty good at this. Maybe even better than you, Sire."
Bandit attacks in the forests of Camelot were about as plentiful as Uther's magical enemies. This time, the hunting party was just setting out for a hopefully successful day of hunting when the rough thieves appeared. Attacks were such a common thing that every man was already prepared to drive off the invaders. Even Merlin had his bow resting beside him on the horse (only because Arthur forced him to have it nearby at risk of losing his job though). When the first line of criminals let out their war cries to signify an upcoming battle, Arthur stepped back from the action for once, which nearly drove his fighter instincts insane, and watched how his manservant coped with the attack. Merlin slipped the bow into the ready position and loaded an arrow in one swift movement—just as Arthur had taught him to. Merlin lined the sights on an unaware villain and prepared to release the deadly arrow. A sword swipe at his left forced the future king to look away, and he missed the actual shot. But after the offender had been dispatched, Arthur's gaze returned immediately to Merlin just in time to catch the bandit falling to the ground, clutching at his chest. It was hard for Arthur to not feel proud of his once hopeless pupil.
The manservant was already preparing for another shot. One eye was squeezed completely shut while the other eye was narrowed to a tight slit. Arthur watched the boy's face and noticed that Merlin was mouthing something that he couldn't quite make out.
Probably some sort of prayer so he won't miss. He needs all the help he can get.
The younger man's narrowed eye flared briefly in a bright shimmer of gold, but Arthur discounted that as a mere flash from the sun. The arrow flew from the bow and spiraled through the air, landing in the gut of another unfortunate thief.
Soon the battle was over just as quickly as it had started. Arthur wiped his sword on the soiled tunic of an enemy and walked towards Merlin's back.
"You were not a complete danger with that bow, Merlin," Arthur fought a smile as he reached to clap the boy's back.
Merlin spun around, bow armed and alarmed. Unable to control himself, he released the arrow in Arthur's direction. The arrow took a nasty nosedive into the ground, skidded across the dirt, and skimmed the side of Arthur's chain mail.
The dark haired manservant lowered his bow and gave his master another guilty smile.
"Merlin!"
Immediately after that day, a new law was proposed by Prince Arthur that threatened to arrest anyone on the spot who gave any sort of weapon to a certain pale skinned, dark haired manservant.
The decision was met with unanimous support from all of Camelot's knights and every other member of the royal hunting party. In some situations, Arthur realized, it was just better to do things—such as protecting clumsy manservants—himself.
Do you guys like the cheesy ending? 'Cause I kinda do xD Thanks again for all of the kind words on "OCaC" and please let me know how you feel about this one. I also may continue this, so tell me if I should :D Thank you for reading!