"You're not going to need help with your horse are you Merlin?" Arthur asked half serious, half joking.

"No, why ever would I need help. I only got shot in the back." Merlin joked.

"So that's a no then?" Gwaine asked as he mounted his own horse. Merlin didn't answer, but only smiled mischievously as he carefully got on his horse.

"Arthur..." Merlin started to ask. "...are you sure you want to see what this druid is talking about?"

"Why, are you scared Merlin?" Arthur asked as he clicked for his horse to start moving followed by Merlin and then Gwaine.

"No, it's just that...I didn't really think you would so readily listen to a letter from a druid. How did you get the letter anyway?"

"I found it...it was attached to the arrow that shot you in the back." This caught both Merlin and Arthur's attention.

"Gaius said the poison was a sleeping draft mixed with an enchanted healing potion...he didn't say anything about a note." Merlin stated while keeping an eye on Arthur's reaction. He noticed that Arthur stiffened somewhat at the mention of how the letter was found.

"That would've been nice to know...yesterday Gwaine."

"My apologies, princess. You already seemed out of sorts, I didn't want to..."

"Shut up, Gwaine."

"Were you worried about me?" Merlin asked, his voice dripping with mischief and something akin to joy. "Well, Sire, I never knew you cared."

"I wonder...exactly how long one can stay in the stocks before they learn?"

"Learn what? That underneath all of that armor you actually have a soft spot for your servant?" Gwaine added trying to hold back a laugh.

"Good servants are hard to come by." Arthur said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Oh, but Sire, you'll always have George." Merlin laughed out.

'George?' Gwaine questioned in his mind with a sense of amusement.

"You will not allow me to suffer anymore brass jokes!" Arthur looked back and found Merlin bellowing out in laughter and Gwaine slightly confused, but still clearly enjoying the rise Merlin was getting out of him.

"If you say so, Arthur." Merlin grinned and soon realized that Arthur was making his horse run.

"C'mon, Merlin! You can make quips and joke at my suffering yet you can't keep up!?" Arthur laughed from in front of him.

"Well I would, if I didn't have my horse holding all of your stuff!" Merlin answered back as he honestly tried to keep up with Arthur, without pushing his horse too hard.

Gwaine followed close behind and for some reason this makes him remember back to when he first saw Merlin and Arthur, and he had to admit, for the briefest of moments, it was as if it were two brothers getting caught in a fight. It wasn't just then either. He sees them act more like brothers when they banter back in forth and the way they look after each other, and it makes him fill with joy everytime he realizes he has finally found a worthy King in Arthur and in Merlin he found his first real friend.

After about four hours of riding, Gwaine realized how dark it was getting and he looked above his head, past the trees. "Gentlemen, do you think we've traveled long enough? We should find shelter before the storm hits."

Merlin and Arthur both stopped their horses and looked up to what Gwaine was talking about. The clouds were a deep gray and the wind had started to pick up. "Merlin, gather some wood and attach it to Gwaine's horse."

"I'll help you Merlin." Gwaine said in mild irritation towards Arthur. "It's not like you got shot in the back or anything."

The repetition of his own words caused Merlin to laugh as he gathered some nearby wood. "Arthur, do you see a cave anywhere? Perhaps an old abandoned cabin?"

"There should be a cave not far from here. However, we would still have to leave the horses outside..."

"They've survived tougher things than storms, Princess." Gwaine added as he finished with his pile of logs.

"That may be true, but we need the horses to get to Matthis. It's a weeks ride, not walk."

Once Merlin and Gwaine loaded the wood and mounted their own horses, Arthur led them to the cave he spoke of.

"We should be safe here. I'm just still unsure about the horses."

"It'll be fine, Arthur. Let's get out of the wind!" Merlin tried to shout over the pouring rain hitting his body and the wind whipping his soaked hair.

They scrambled into the cave, each carrying a fair amount of supplies they would need for the night and in case it continues into the next day, and they set their stuff down. "Merlin, please tell me the bed rolls are dry? I've got your medicine pouch and the pots and bowels for cooking and Gwaine grabbed the food and the logs."

"They're dry, Arthur." Merlin answered as he began to unroll their bed rolls. and blankets. "I kept them under a few saddle bags in case it rains."

"You're smarter than I thought." Arthur quipped with a grin as he laid out the materials he had, so he could give them to Merlin.

"I keep trying to tell you that." Merlin shot back with a matching grin as he set the logs and kindling for the fire. "Gwaine, any food that survived?"

"Aye, mate. You sure now how to pack a feast!" He took out and carefully placed down on small plates...Apples, pears, boar meat, chicken, and venison. "Why all this food?"

"You clearly haven't seen our King eat have you?" Merlin laughed, causing Gwaine to lay back and observe the banter that would undoubtedly follow after that comment.

"With how often you say you're not doing it...it still sounds like you're calling me fat. Why is that Merlin?" Arthur asked with a half smirk.

"I'm not calling you fat, have you heard those words come out of my mouth?" Merlin said, feigning innocence. "This is just a precaution, Sire, I would never wish for you to go hungry as we're trapped in a cave." Merlin started the fire and gathered the materials needed to make Venison stew.

"Right, supper is going, we're all good friends trapped in a cave in the middle of a vicious thunderstorm...let's have a cliché moment and swap stories to keep our minds occupied." Gwaine beamed with giddiness at his idea. "Arthur, you've got any mischievous tales of yourself when you were a young lad?"

"Why would you want to know something like that?" Arthur scoffed.

"Like I said...we're trapped here, so might as well get comfy, and I don't know about you but silence is not in my vocabulary."

"We know." Merlin added as he finally sat back to wait on the food. "I have one for myself."

"No offense, Merlin, but you hardly strike me as the mischievous child. A lazy one maybe, bubut not one for mischief." Arthur commented as he drank some of his water while in truth he did wonder what about his servant's past he might not know. It seemed as if Merlin knew everything about him, yet refused to bring up anything about himself.

"My mother would tell you differently." Merlin lightly laughed before continuing. "When I was about...Eight, maybe nine...there was this kid who was much taller and stronger than me..."

"That's not hard to believe." Arthur snorted.

"Let the man continue! This is going to be good. I can tell. Go on, Merlin." Gwaine waved and leaned against the wall with his hands behind his head.

"Alright, well, he was taller and stronger than me, and he often liked to prove it...with violence. I was a bastard child so, the other villagers aside from Will...thought very little of me. Anyway, I saw him one day picking on Will because at the time he was even smaller than me...So, I ran up behind him, pulled his pants down, used my weight to knock him over which accidentally made him hit the well he was next to, and as he was passed out...I used a piece of coal to write the word 'Bully' on his head. His mother saw it and asked me why I would do such a thing, so I told her and she made makeshift stocks just for him. I was filled with pride and Will and I got a good laugh at it, but my mother said if I did something like that again, she'd put me in the stocks next."

"Well, well, well...who would've thought...our dear Merlin acting like a knight in shining armor for his friends even back then. However, I don't think that is a story of mischief as it is, bravery."

"Thank you, but I'm no knight. I'm the last person that should ever be knighted." Merlin shook his head with a false smile as he stirred the food so it wouldn't stick to the pot. "What about you, Gwaine? You should have more than your fair share of mischievous stories."

"You wouldn't really think it now, but actually I don't. You know my story Merlin, after all of that happened I kept to a firm set of beliefs. Royals were bad, every man for himself, be respectful to those who deserve it, stay on your guard at all times, if you find a woman make sure she knows how amazing she is, and when the world comes crashing down...drink until you drop...or until you get thrown out."

"Wait...Merlin knows something about you that I don't? Gwaine, you shouldn't be keeping things from me. I'm your..."

"Every man has his secrets." Gwaine interrupted. "Even you, I suppose. I trusted Merlin with this one because he was my first real friend...and that was something I thought I'd never find. He believed in me when no else would, saw worthiness when all I saw was worthlessness and a drunkard. You thanked me for that bar brawl but at the time...I despised Royals...Merlin was the one to show me differently...about you." Gwaine turned his head to look out to the thunderstorm and was thankful that the cave was on a large hill, as he noticed the down pour outside.

Arthur's eyes went wide before a moment before he simply nodded his head in understanding. "I apologize, Gwaine. So, my turn then?"

"Wait, did the great Arthur Pendragon actually apologize to me? Well, I must've been struck by lightning on the way over."

Arthur scoffed out a laugh. "You're just as bad as Merlin."

"I think you'll find that I'm one of a kind, Sire." Merlin smiled as he started to pour bowls of stew and handed them to Arthur and Gwaine before grabbing his own.

"That's undeniable...alright, my turn...Mischief...I remember when I was sick one time and Gaius said that I could only eat broth for the next week. For the first few days I was fine with it, because I still got to lay in bed and do nothing..."

"Now who's mister lazy?" Merlin quipped as he ate his food.

"Shut up, Merlin. Anyway, after about the fourth day, I snuck down to the kitchen to grab one of Cook's famous mini tarts and I was caught red handed by my father and Gaius, who were actually waiting for me there. Once I got better my father actually sent me to the stocks for an hour. I had worried him because after I ate the tart my stomach sickness got worse. To this day, I would probably do it again. I hated the broth Gaius had Cook make me."

"Was it the butter and chicken broth?" Merlin asked with a disgusted face.

"YES! Oh God, it was awful!" Arthur answered with a look that said 'Finally someone understands.'

"I know! At least you didn't have to taste how Gaius makes it. He adds medicine."

"By the way you two are reacting, I pray I never get a stomach virus."

"STAY HEALTHY!" Merlin and Arthur shouted at the same time, causing all three of them to break out into a small fit of laughter and the rest of the night they enjoyed their food, and listened to the down pour slowly cease it's attack outside, before they rested for the next day.