Merlin turned his head to look where the girl had called out towards, a look of confusion on his face. "Doctor?" he managed to ask before a male voice rang out through the forest.
"Bree?" it called. "Bree where are you?"
"Over here!" the girl, Bree, called back.
Leaves crunched and footfalls sounded through the wood as a man and woman emerged from the brush, looking from Bree to Merlin as though expecting an explanation.
"Bree? Who's your friends?" the man asked.
Bree bit her lip, her eyes widening as she looked from the man to Merlin. "Ummm, I don't really know." She admitted.
Merlin stared at her unblinkingly for a moment before snapping back into reality, realizing he had been staring at the young woman. "Oh, uh… Merlin." He said finally, smiling at the girl beside him.
Bree smiled in return, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Hello Merlin." She said kindly as he took her hand and shook it. "I'm Bree, and this is the Doctor and Clara." She waved to her companions, who were currently staring at Merlin wide eyed in disbelief. Her smiled fell as she noticed the pair above her staring at Merlin, calling out to them before clapping her hands loudly, snapping the pair out of their disbelief. "Oi! Don't just stand around staring at the poor lad; he just took a nasty stumble! You don't even know if he's alright." At the last word she whipped her head around to look him with concern. "Are you alright?"
Before Merlin had a chance to reply, the Doctor bloke pulled out a funny looking silver and bronze stick out of his jacket pocket and it started to buzz, emitting a peculiar green light as he waved it over his body. Bree swatted the Doctor's hand away, looking at him sharply. "Doctor!" she said warningly. The Doctor looked at her disgruntled, not looking overly pleased that she had stopped him from doing whatever he had been doing; nonetheless, he flicked the strange contraption open and studied it for a moment before closing it and putting it back in his pocket.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine." The Doctor said, looking around. "Just a few bumps and bruises; nothing to worry about."
Grunting as she got to her feet, Bree offered her hand once again to Merlin, helping him get up off the ground to stand with the others. Compared to his skinny frame at 6'1, Merlin would have thought it to be a challenge for Bree, who only stood at 5'5, to help heave him off the ground; though surprisingly, the girl managed to pull him up with ease. Looking to her, he smiled, nodding his head in gratitude. "Thank you," he said.
Bree flashed him a smile in return. "You're welcome."
To the Doctor's left, Clara stood in her black and red dress, leaning over panting heavily. The Doctor looked at her in concern, putting his hand on her shoulder as he leaned down to meet Clara's eye level. "Clara? You okay?"
Clara continued to pant, looking up at the Doctor before looking down at her corset, pulling on it as though trying to loosen it. "How do you breathe in these?" she gasped, looking up to Bree.
Bree shrugged, gesturing to the bodice of her own gown. "That's why I wore this." She said simply.
Clara glared at her. "I didn't see that in the TARDIS." She said.
"Well, yeah." Bree shrugged again. "I made it myself."
Merlin took a look at Bree's dress, seeing that it was quite different from Clara's. The bodice was much like the vest-like garment the Doctor wore beneath his jacket, though, much stiffer and made of some strange fuzzy material which Merlin was quite sure was not animal fur. One other thing Merlin noticed was that it was not as restricting as Clara's obvious, and more traditional corset; but he didn't linger on that thought.
As soon as the words were out of the young woman's mouth, Clara simply shot her a look full of daggers. The silence though was quickly demolished though as another man's voice issued from the other side of the hill the group stood before, calling for Merlin.
"Merlin? Come on! Where are you? You've probably lost him by now. Merlin, come on!" the voice called.
Merlin looked to the top of the hill before looking back to the faces of his new acquaintances in regret. "Sorry," he said, "but I have to go."
The Doctor beamed at him, stepping forward and straightening the strange bow tied around his neck. "Oh, well, we'll come with you then."
Merlin looked at him in disbelief before laughing. "I don't know if that would such a good idea…" he warned.
"Why not?" the Doctor said, waving him off. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"You could be accused of being associated with magic and helping the traitor escape, and be condemned to death." Merlin suggested, all traces of joking erased. These seemed like good people to him, and he didn't want them caught up in something as serious as this current mishap.
The Doctor simply stared at him. "Oh, well in that case," he stepped around Merlin and started to walk up the hill. Half way up he paused to turn and look at the three below. "Let's get going then!"
Merlin started to protest, but Bree laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from saying anything. "Don't even bother Merlin." She advised him. "When he gets like this, there's no point in stopping him." She warned him as she shook her head, sending her loose hair flying.
Merlin looked to the ground, laughing a little before mumbling "Yeah, sounds like another person I know."
After that, he started up the hill after the Doctor, though tripping on another root before reaching the Doctor. Luckily, the Doctor managed to grab him before he hit the ground; though, he looked to his two friends who were still at the bottom of the hill.
"Well cummon you two!" he called out to the pair. "We don't have all day!"
"We'll just be a minute Doctor!" Bree called back. "I'm just going to help Clara with her corset."
The Doctor nodded, replied with a "Hurry up then", and after righting Merlin on his feet, the pair continued on their way up the hill.
A/N: More to come soon, thanks for reading and please review! :3