Sorry for the ridiculous delay guys, but exams and Haitus and all that. This is the first fic I've brought off Haitus, so yippee! Thanks to all the followers and favers and reviewers and what-not :D Hope you all enjoy this chapter, and can't wait to see what you think!
And remember, Cookies for everyone who gets the Disney refrences!
Next chapter should be up in the next couple of days :D
Erec and Bedivere were cautious.
Understandable, seeing as they had the sense they were being watched... Never-the-less, they still continued on their search, deciding to head to the courtyard and stables to begin...
Poor brave fools, an old woman thought, as she watched them go, before smiling at the tell tale flick of a black tale, or the glimpse of a red neckerchief, which appeared here and there in the crowd of people, following after the knights.
Bedivere held up a hand as they entered the courtyard, both of them aware of the not so subtle looks people were directing at them... No, not at them... at something behind them...
He span, gulping at the sight which met him.
"Erec... Turn around... very slowly... No sudden moves..."
His partner turned, and finally saw the same thing as Bedivere.
Merkit, ears twitching adorably and his tail flicking back and forward, was grinning at them.
Whilst sat leisurely on top of a huge stack of hay bales.
Okay, so they had his location, now for how to get him...
Bedivere murmured to Erec.
"I'll distract him. Come up with a plan to get him..."
"But Bed, the danger of-"
"I know the risks, Erec. Just do it... Oh, and if I fall to the cuteness? You know what to do..."
Erec gulped, but nodded, patting Bedivere on the back.
"Go, my friend..."
Bedivere cleared his throat as he stepped forward.
"So... Morning Merlin."
"Morrrning."
Damn, that purr was so cute and- NO!
"I hear Arthur and Gwaine were their usual... Barge in without knocking selves this morning?"
"Yes... So, in all technicality, this here conundrum is solely theirrr fault."
Aww, and his iddle diddle cute voice with all the big words and his ickle tail flicking back and forward and- NO DAMNIT!
"Uhuh... So err... How's life as a cat?"
"Purrrrfect."
Aww! THAT WAS SO CURE AND ADORABLE! With the little purr, and the cute voice, and the ickle tail, and the twitchy ears and the wide, innocent eyes and... and...
Erec tried to pull Bedivere back, but it was no use.
Merkit bounded down to their height, and Bedivere found himself cooing over him, scratching him behind the ears and generally making a right fool out of himself.
And once Erec was within the reach of the ridiculously soft fur, he too fell victim to Merkit's charms.
Five minutes later, and they gasped as a bucket of water was emptied over them.
"Men..." Guinevere said, rolling her eyes as they shook themselves free from the cuteness.
"Damn it... Thanks M'lady."
"No Problem Sir Erec. Now I believe you had a task to accomplish?"
Bedivere was the first to remember why they were there in the first place, and gasped as Merkit bounced down from the hay and started skipping away.
"EREC! DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"
No chance of that, when Merkit seemed intent on causing them as much bother as possible.
First order of business? Slicing the ropes which kept the hay bales stacked up, and letting them tumble onto the knight,s burying them in a stack of hay.
They managed to splutter their way out, however, and they spent the next five minutes leaping, dancing around, running, tripping over themselves and Merkit, falling into wells, falling into mud, falling into piles of horse manure and generally being outwitted by a cat.
The best moment, for many of the watchers, was when they both ran into each other, Merkit nimbly bounding out of the way, and fell over, Bedivere into a horse trough, and Erec into a Pile of Manure.
Bedivere sighed as he pulled himself upright.
"I don't get paid enough for this..."
After a further few minutes of being humiliated, Merkit clearly decided that enough was enough and took pity on them.
A rope coiled itself around their ankles, and they both yelped as they were hoisted upside down, the other end of the ropes wrapped around a gargoyle higher on the castle walls.
Bedivere and Erec, simultaneously, sighed and crossed their arms as they span in slow corcles, ten feet up in the air.
"Erec?"
"Yeah?"
"Never let me get a cat."
"Done and Done."
_
Leon winced as Bedivere and Erec tumbled to the ground, into the pile of Hay they had put there. Percival had clambered up and cut the ropes, and the pair were now rolling out of the hay with identical half sheepish, half given-up-on-caring looks.
What happened?
The tale had both him and Percival wincing, and dreading their own encounter. It appeared that they would not be finding Merkit, but Merkit would be finding them...
Tale as old as time... Man vs Beast...
Leon told the pair of them to go lie down, worried about the muttering they were in the grips of...
Something about 'fearing the cuteness' and 'topsy turvy, everything is upsy daisy' and Arthur 'being the king of topsy turvy day'
Once the pair had stumbled off, he flinched at the sound of an adorable purring, and looked down to see Merkit rubbing against his legs.
"Leon... Good to see you!"
"Err... you too... Ahem, Merki- Merlin. How are you?"
"I'm good... You?"
"Good... Good..."
Merkit grinned, then started sauntering off towards Percival, who murmured to Bedivere as he was passing.
"Say goodbye to those who knew me..."
"You got it Perce..."
Percival held his breath and counted to ten as Merkit bounded up and sat on his shoulder, forcing himself not to give in and stroke him.
No! He refused!
He was a man, goddamnit! Not a mouse to be played with by the damned cat!
Merkit, as he jumped down, gave him an appraising look, as if calculating something beneath the cuteness, before he sauntered off.
Leon and Percival shared a look, before they started following him into the town.
They both gulped when they saw he was heading towards the tavern.
If Gwaine ever found out... But he wouldn't. Because they were going to catch him...
On that thought, Leon pulled off his cloak and threw one side to Percival, who grabbed it.
They crept up behind Merkit, then, at Leon's nod, they went to dive down and catch him in the cloak.
It was a fraction of a second before they hit the ground that Merkit turned his head ans shot them a grin, as if to say he had been expecting it, before he sedately skipped out of the way, leaving the two men to fall and get themselves tangled up in the cloaks, before Leon hit a stall and a basket of apples fell onto their heads.
All in all, not their grandest few minutes...
They were both rubbing sore heads when they got up, knowing that they were going to form bruises on their jaws and shoulders, before they quickly scanned the street for Merkit.
They shot each other incredulous looks as they saw a stall holder wrap a small neckerchief-blue this time- on top of the red one already around his neck, before smiling and letting him scamper off again. The woman then shot a smile at the knights, before returning to her wares.
Trust Merlin to get another bloody neckerchief...
They both sighed as they ran after the cat, stumbling to a halt as they saw his little black tail swish out of view... Inside the Tavern.
They both cautiously entered, only to stand with their mouths open.
Merkit was surrounded by every bloody guy in the tavern, and every singe one of them was fawning over him. For Camelot's sake, they were full grown men! How the hell could Merlin be so damned cute as a cat?
They both sighed as they split up. Leon tried to fight his way through the masses and Percival guarded the door. Leon managed to reach the table, but as he lunged for Merkit, the kitten leapt out of the way-leaving Leo to face-plant the table- before landing on his head, and skipping down his back, leaving al of the people watching to 'aww' in unison.
Leon groaned as he pulled himself up, and began to fight his way back towards the door.
Percival, however, had more luck, and managed to grab Merkit as he tried to dart past.
He grinned as he held him up, looking him in the face, only to blink and find every defence he had built against the cuteness crumble.
Merkit was giving him the largest, widest, most innocent,cute and adorable look that he had ever seen...
But he... he couldn't... Arthur...
Then Merkit's ickle ears started twitching, as did his diddle whiskers and Percival found himself staring at the kitten in adoration, letting him down onto the nearest table.
He was just startled out of his trance as Leon whacked him across the back of the head, only to turn to find Merkit had already darted out of the door.
He shot Leon a sheepish look, as they both legged it out after him.
They chased him through the town, back up to the castle, and followed him into the halls, only to finally corner him at the end of a dead end corridor.
Then they started worrying. Merlin was well known to be more creative, manipulative, sly and generally non-merlin when he was backed into a corner...
Sure enough, Merkit span around.
They both flinched, stepping backwards slightly.
Never mind that he was tiny... Never mind that he was Merlin, well known for being, ironically, a pacifist as much as possible...
Because when the tiny ball of adorable fluff that was otherwise known as Merlin Emrys was staring at you with mischief in his eyes, a smirk on his face, his claws out, one of his paws stroking his whiskers, and a 'Come on, try me, I dare you' air about him, YOU. DO. NOT. MESS. WITH. HIM.
Instead, when he bounded forward, the pair span on their heels and ran, screaming, through the halls.
They kept running, in and out of rooms, over and under tables, through crowds, up and down corridors, but nothing could shake Merkit off of their tail, heck, the small fluff-ball didn't have so much as a hair out of place!
They finally ended up in the throne room, and started running around and around the thrones, Merkit merrily skipping after them.
Arthur and Gwaine, who had been sat there, knowing that Merkit would come to them eventually, and who had been completely ignored by the panicking knights, shared looks, then sighed.
Arthur mentally groaned as he waited for his chance to leave the Dais without crashing into someone or tripping over a kitten, before darting through and clearing his throat.
As quickly as that, everything stopped, and the two knights shot him relieved looks before inching towards the door.
"I see you... ah... Have everything under control here Sire." Leon said, bowing slightly. "We shall leave you to it." With that, they both legged it out of the room, slamming the door behind them.
Arthur gulped as he span back, to find Merlin sat in his throne, curled up and grinning at him.
He raised his paw, beckoning in a 'come get me' gesture, and Arthur sighed, flexing his shoulders and nodding to Gwaine.
Strength and Courage vs Magic...
The King and the Drunk vs the Sorcerer... Wait, the drunk-?
"Gwaine! Are you drinking?!"
"Damn right Princess. You know who we're facing right?"
Arthur sighed, nodding.
Yep... And he was shooting them the look which always preceded chaos...
Whilst sat on his throne.
Damn him...
But they had a plan... of sorts.
And he was only a kitten!
After everything else they had faced, a kitten was nothing!
… Right...?
me the RanDoMer: Thanks! And as for where I got the idea? I honestly have no idea… I just saw my cat one day-who has really dark fur, and went… huh… I wonder… Then thought about my mates that always make kitten noises, then put them together and, for some reason, Merlin popped into my head. Hence this, Lol :D
There you go, and brief and rare glimpse into how my mind works :D :D
Hope you enjoy the rest of the chapters!
Bmoonbdragon: You got it! *throws cookies*
Irene: A chapter after he's human again? Why gladly my friend, just for you :D
Oh, and a huge thanks to the other guest reviewers, Kuhn, Nance, guest, and ve as well! :D Glad you're enjoying the fic, and I'll see just how much cuter I can make Merkit :D
Till next time then :D
Raven xx