Pretty sure I've fixed it. I'm so so sorry. That was absolutely horrifying. Please don't leave!

Continuation: Continued! Hopefully Successfully?

Merlin woke up with a grin on his face. He had had a full night's worth of sleep, leaving him feeling refreshed. He had also beaten the knight's yesterday. Dear Lord, he had beaten Percival! Yes, Merlin certainly was feeling optimistic. That is, for three seconds.

"Merlin!"

Arthur barged into Merlin's small room, knocking open the door. Merlin stared at him in annoyance. He had slept with his bandages on, thankfully. Wouldn't want Arthur to see his torso.

"What, Prat. I'm not late."

"Practice. Now. Hand to hand, again."

Merlin sighed, but was rather excited. This was one thing he quite enjoyed. Maybe he couldn't use a sword, but he was happy with his hands. Yes, Merlin was beginning to get quite excited.

"Alright, give me a minute."

Merlin quickly changed into his shirt and trousers, and then walked out the door after Arthur. He grabbed an apple on the way out. After almost tripping a few times. He might have been graceful when fighting, but he's still as clumsy as ever.

{RAVE BREAK}

Merlin walked onto the training grounds, and got in line with the rest of the knights. It was, once again, only the Round Table Knights, though this time Gwen stands to the side. Merlin wanders off towards her as Arthur has the knights do laps. He does enough running around just getting around the castle.

"Hello, Gwen."

"Hey, Merlin. Excited about today?"

"Just a little bit, yeah." Merlin smiles at Gwen. Gwen knew about his fighting skills, as she had experienced them almost firsthand.

Gwen was walking through the streets, heading home after a long day at the castle. It was night by now, but Guinevere didn't notice, so wrapped up in the grief of her father's death. She had spent the entire day crying in Morgana's arms. As she rounded a corner, she was suddenly grabbed from behind by a large set of hands.

"He-ey, purty lady." The drunkard's breath stank from where it wafted near her ear. Gwen pulled away, desperately trying to escape his grasp.

"Where you goin' d-darlin'?" His speech was slurred, but his grip was firm. Gwen managed to jab her elbow into his side, but this only served to make him angrier, as he spun her around and slammed her into the wall. She struggled in his grip, and managed to knee him in the thigh, but she was weak from exhaustion, and the man was more than twice her height.

He leant in close wrapping his meaty hand around her neck, and Gwen closed her eyes, terrified of what would happen next.

Suddenly, though, the weight was off of her, and Gwen breathed in desperately.

She looked to the side, and saw Merlin give the Man a quick left hook, knocking the drunken slug unconscious. He got up off the man's body, and quickly made his way towards her. Merlin engulfed Gwen in a hug, as she collapsed in his arms. They walked home together.

Gwen knew not to underestimate Merlin.

"So, how quickly do you think you're going to beat them, Merlin?" Gwen smiled up at her much taller friend.

"Arthur shouldn't take that long. He's too fat to be a problem an-"

"OI!" Gwen said, as she elbowed him "that's my husband!"

"Oh, right, of course, Your Royal Highness, Queen Guinevere of Camelot. I suppose, then, that these 'manly' matters are of no interest to one as delicate as yourself."

Gwen snorted. "Oh, please, I want to see Arthur get his pride handed to him on a platter just as much as you do."

The friends shared a smile.

"Anyway, Gwaine might be a bit more of a challenge. He learnt a lot from his travels. I wouldn't be ashamed to lose to someone as skilled as he is, however hungover."

"Mer-lin."

"Ah, excuse me, my lady, but duty calls!" Merlin walked off, but Gwen stopped him, and tied her handkerchief on his arm.

"My token to you. Go whoop my husband good, Merlin!"

Merlin smiled even bigger, and stalked over to where the knights stood, waiting.

"Alright, so, as we all saw yesterday, your hand-to-hand combat is horrible. Merlin beat you, that's how weak you were. I was, of course, more prepared, but Gwaine beat me, so it will be up to him t teach you fighting techniques."

Merlin looked at him, annoyance showing clearly on his face. The rest of the knights looked at him incredulously. Gwaine went so far as to stick his tongue out at the king's turned back. Though Gwaine was sure he could beat him, Merlin had beaten Lancelot, Elyan, hell, even Percival. He thought this was quite unfair, and decided to say something.

Merlin beat him to it.

"Are you kidding me? Are you really implying that it's the fact that the knights were too weak that led me to beat them? That I couldn't beat you, maybe even Gwaine, in a heartbeat? I think it's just your wounded pride talking, honestly."

Arthur turned towards Merlin slowly. A light grin stretched across his features. He was totally prepared for Merlin to make a fool of himself. "Alright then, Merlin; we'll fight. One on One, you and me. If I win, you go to the stocks for the week, an hour before sunrise until an hour after. And, if you somehow defeat me, you can teach the rest of us. Fair?"

Merlin grinned in anticipation. This should be fun. "Alright, Pratness."

The two stripped off their shirts, Merlin still wearing his bandages, although his shoulder didn't hurt much anymore. Arthur and Merlin stepped into the loose ring formed by the knights watching them. Lancelot looked smug, confident in Merlin's abilities, Elyan looked excited, and Percival looked quite happy, ready for Merlin to prove he could fight well. Gwaine looked on with interest. He assumed it would be a fairly even match, but was secretly rooting for Merlin.

"Begin!" called Gwen, from where she had joined into the small circle.

Arthur made the first move, as Merlin had anticipated. He rushed at Merlin, aiming to grapple. Merlin danced out of the way. They continued like this until Merlin met Arthur's grapple head on. They stayed locked in that position, gripping each other's forearms, for a few seconds, Arthur trying to trip Merlin up, but Merlin, having a slight height advantage, leaned his lower body away. Suddenly, though, Merlin switched positions, putting his foot inside Arthur's two, leaning away. He then pivoted, using the force Arthur had been using to push against him, and twisted so he was in a sort of lunge position, flipping Arthur up and over his shoulder. He kept his grip on Arthur's upper arm, and used his other hand to keep the King's shoulder down. After a few seconds of hard breathing, Merlin let go, taking a step back, and held out his hand to the fallen king. He smiled when Arthur refused it, standing up on his own.

They stood, next to each other, facing the knights. Merlin had a large, proud grin on his face, though not overly smug. Arthur, however, looked quite annoyed, and definitely had a hurt ego. Eventually, though, Arthur turned to Merlin and said, albeit grudgingly "You're better than I thought." He smiled, almost painfully, but it grew into a real one when Merlin clasped on the shoulder and said "I think you've got someone waiting over there to 'tend to your wounds'." They shared a smile, and Merlin watched Arthur walk off towards Gwen, who flashed him a smile before tending her husband.

Merlin turned towards the knights, who all looked proud of him. Gwaine looked rather pensive, though, making for an interesting sight, as Gwaine rarely seemed to think before his actions, if at all.

"Something troubling you, Gwaine?"

"I'm just wondering, mate… where did you learn to fight like that? Because I've seen, and done, my fair share of fighting, but I've never seen anyone fight like you."

Merlin shrugged, cheeks coloring slightly in embarrassment. "Well, when I was younger, we had a lot of bandit raids, and my mother wanted me to learn how to protect myself. But we didn't have the supplies for weaponry, so I had to learn to fight hand-to-hand. Me and my old friend Will fought each other a lot, to learn, but he was so much bigger than me that I couldn't just wrestle, like most people fight. So I figured, why not use that extra strength against them? From there it was really just a matter of learning how to manipulate people's energy, and how not to break my bones in the process. It wasn't so hard, really…"

"That, mate, is incredible." Stated Gwaine, clearly astounded by the slightly taller, yet much scrawnier, man in front of him.

"I mean, not really…" Merlin rubbed his arm behind his back, clearly a bit self-conscious. He knew he could fight, but getting praised for it was a whole other matter.

"So, Merlin, care to spar?" Merlin looked up to see Gwaine, a slight twinkle in his eye, smiling at him.

Merlin smiled back, feeling the rush of adrenalin preparing to course through him. This might be fun.

"Let's do it."

Gwaine stripped off his shirt, Merlin having already done so before his fight with Arthur, and the two stood, facing each other. The other knights soon noticed, and gathered around, followed closely by the King and Queen.

Lancelot said, loud enough to be heard by the whole group. "Are you both ready?"

The participants nodded in tandem.

"Begin!"

Merlin waited, once again, for Gwaine to make a move, but it seemed the rogue had learned from watching the previous match. Merlin began moving towards Gwaine, and Gwaine moved away, until they were circling each other. Merlin watched as Gwaine tensed suddenly, preparing to take his chance, but the warlock lunged before the other man had even moved. Merlin grabbed Gwaine's wrist tightly, knowing it was the easiest way to destabilize the man, and gain control of the situation. Gwaine, however, quickly twisted out of the grip, and jumped back, before lunging forward again just as quickly, aiming kick to Merlin's hip. Merlin elbowed the man's ankle, knocking him off balance. Taking his chance, Merlin jumped in with a side-kick to the top of the head, but Gwaine grabbed his foot and twisted it. Merlin, knowing it was the only way out, twisted with it, completing a horizontal 360. He pulled out of Gwaine's grasp the minute his foot hit the floor, and took a step back, gasping. They began circling each other again, and Merlin took the time to think over his options. Gwaine was clearly strong, but wasn't very flexible. Merlin knew he was faster than the man, but also knew that Gwaine had watched his last few fighting matches, and was therefore prepared for it. Suddenly, a thought struck him, just as Gwaine lunged. Merlin managed to dance away, but just barely, and Gwaine's fist caught him on his bad shoulder. Cursing his wandering mind, Merlin turned his attention back to his opponent, meeting the latter's quick blows only if necessary, and mainly just trying to dance away. If he could get Gwaine just a bit more tired, slower.

There! An opening, just as he had planned, but earlier than he was prepared for. Still, as Gwaine lashed out with his fist, slower than usual, Merlin grabbed the wrist with both hands, and, turning, managed to get behind the man, with his arm twisted uncomfortably behind his back. Kicking the man's knees lightly, Merlin got Gwaine on the ground. He then let go of the other man, and, without turning his back to the man, walked around until he was facing him. Gwaine, rubbing his sore arm, proceeded to stand up, and, once upright, flashed Merlin a brilliant, and rather astounded grin. Merlin then turned to the watching crowd.

"So, prat. Ready to let me teach my lesson, now?"

Okay. Lots of words. Whoops? (That's over 2000, by the way.) I did it, though! Liked it? Hated it? Also, give me recommendations. I can't be expected to do all the work.