The Bonds of Friendship

Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to the BBC, only the storyline is mine

White

The prince was sat upon his magnificent white horse, a blunt joust with the Pendragon crest painted on the handle in his right hand, held up with ease. The crowd cheered with strong enthusiasm and excitement when they saw their ruler to be as the next fighter; to them the prince looked firmly focused on the fight in hand, his back straight, shoulders braced and his head held up proud.

The truth was completely the opposite of the crowds' assumptions; Arthur was bored. He hated the contest; the knights just let me win anyway, and he would much rather be out hunting with Merlin or simply just enjoying some of their common banter. But as a prince Arthur knew how to sit, stand, talk and act as if he was enthralled by whatever activity he had to partake in because of his birth-right.

The only person who could ever see through Arthur's act was his pathetically skinny friend, not that I'll ever work out how he does, as I for one know that masking my thoughts and emotions is my best and practically perfectly woven skill. Arthur glanced over to where the boy was placed and for sure, there he was with a smug grin on his face, leaning against the barrier in a very lazy fashion. His friend had been staring in his direction already so when he noticed Arthur look over he gave him a small childish wave of his fingers before miming an over-exaggerated fake yawn and pointed towards the castle and then himself with a mocking questioning look on his face.

As Merlin took a long slow step in the direction of the castle Arthur's eyes threateningly narrowed and he subtly shifted his joust so it was facing in the direction of his snarky servant, giving it a small thrust forwards to get the message across; if I have to go through this then so do you!

Merlin's raised foot fell back to the floor and he rolled his eyes with an annoyed sigh, moodily collapsing back against the barrier. Arthur just shook his head in amusement, drama queen; Merlin glanced up from under his fringe and poked his tongue at the prince, and a child.

"…And his opponent, our very own Prince Arthur!" Arthur's head swung back to the arena at the sound of the introductory announcement. He lightly clicked his head to the left and rolled his shoulders, all to give the impression of preparation; he heard the crowd's cheers increase at his apparent bracing, my people; they'd probably still cheer even if I were to jump down and start dancing like a chicken!

The flag bearer turned to both knights to check they were ready before slicing the flag down through the air and just as quickly sprinting out of the two nobles' laid-out route. As soon as the flag was dropped Arthur spurred his horse into action with a careful yet forceful kick to its side. The horse broke into a gallop as soon as the prince's foot made contact, a spray of dust showering the stable-boy standing behind the prince's stead.

The horse and rider opposite the prince mirrored the action; both knights gripped their jousts firmly in their hands, their eyes set determinedly on the other as the gap between them quickly decreased.

What happened next was a shock to everyone and it was so quick that Arthur hardly had time to contemplate the consequences of his reaction. A young boy of about three or four years suddenly stumbled into the path of the speedily approaching horses; Arthur reflectively pulled sharply on the reins bringing his startled horse to an abrupt halt just a mere few paces from where the child cowered in fright.

But the prince's sigh of relief at the boy's safety was short-lived as he let out a sharp hiss at the feeling of something in his stomach. He slowly looked down to see a joust jutting out of his front, his pupils dilated with shock at the sight and he glanced up to see his opponent, a visiting knight, staring at him in horror, his hand still wrapped around the handle of the joust that was now embedded in his body.

Arthur felt the energy drain out of him and he proceeded to fall out of the saddle, the joust sliding out of him as he did so, leaving a messy bloody hole under the broken chainmail. Thump, the impact of the prince with the hard ground broke the terrifying surprised silence of the crowd as they tried to piece together what had just happened. High pitched screams and cries pierced the air and shouts of terror and bewilderment backed them up, the King's cry of pain and rage rose above all other noise as he jumped out of the royal box and scrambled next to his injured son.

Gaius appeared in an instance, his box of medicine already in hand; he didn't bother with comforting words to his old friend who was currently mumbling frantic pleas at his son as he stroked his hair, instead he hastily put his old hands over the open wound and applied light pressure to it, analysing the extent of damage. The physician started in disbelief at his conclusion and quickly placed his head over the prince's chest while simultaneously grabbing his wrist to feel his pulse.

"Sire…" Gaius whispered in a broken tone, but the King ignored him, he just continued pleading with his son to stay alive, his son who's eyes were already closed due to life drainage, the only sight of his consciousness being the slight flickering of his eyelids. "Uther," The King looked up to Gaius at his use of name, his eye's begging his friend not to tell him the truth, "He's gone… he barely has minutes left, there's nothing I can do…"

The sound admitted from the King's mouth was so heart-wrenching and broken that it brought tears to the most emotionally detached guard. He pounded the ground with his fist and stormed to his feet, moving with blind vengeance towards a single individual; Gaius fled after his friend with fear of another death.

Merlin was in a catatonic state where he stood; the scene repeating itself in his head as if on a loop. They're blunt jousts, he can't be injured, it's not possible… but the small part of Merlin's brain that could still see logic knew this wasn't true. Arthur's sudden stop, with his opponent still riding at full speed meant the force of the blow had been doubled, allowing the wooden weapon to break past the thin layer of chain mail and impale his friend.

Merlin wanted to run to his fallen friend but his body had seemed to have lost all motion, he could only stand and watch as Arthur's father ran to his son, as Gaius followed, as Gaius declared Arthur minutes from death and as Uther let out a screech of such pain Merlin thought it to be the sound of a creature rather than a human.

But only when both elder men left his friend lying on the ground by himself did Merlin's body finally decide to move. Merlin let out a cry and jumped the barrier in a way he would never be able to do in any other circumstance; he slid next to his friend a few seconds later and felt the tears pour down his cheeks. Merlin gently stroked Arthur's hair and held in a sob, "You can't die Arthur, not now, please…" His voice sounded so small and he resembled a lost child clinging for hope. No, he can't… I won't let him die!

Merlin hastily wiped his eyes and frantically racked his brain; he could… no, he would save Arthur! He wasn't going to let him die from a stupid blood wound! He could see Arthur's breaths getting shallower and his mental search turned desperate, I must know something, must of read something… wait!

It was extremely risky, a combining of two spells he's never practiced individually let alone together! I have no choice… Merlin speedily flung one leg over his friend's waist, positioning himself on top of the prince in a very awkward and intimate position if it were any other situation. He slowly leant down, being careful not to put any pressure on the wound, his face getting closer and closer to his friends until he was resting his forehead on Arthur's. Merlin then brought his hands to the side of his friend's head, his fingertips gently brushing the prince's temples.

Merlin took a deep shaky breath, not knowing if either of them would survive his spell… it's the only option. "Utriusque virtutis, ut iterum ponere unum," the spell rolled off Merlin's tongue, followed by a flash of gold.

Merlin opened his eyes and froze in confusion, instead of the unmoving face of his best friend in front of him he was confronting with white. White, everywhere. Merlin ran a hand through his hair, spinning around to try and spot anything at all but alas he was just surrounded by white.

Am I dead? Merlin felt that he should be panicking at this thought, if I'm dead then so is Arthur, but for some reason Merlin just knew that he was still alive.

"Merlin!" The rough voice cried out in relief and the owner of the name spun around to see the prince suddenly materialise out of thin air.

"Arthur!" Merlin ran towards his friend and flung himself at the startled blonde, "I'm so sorry, I didn't see it coming and then you were bleeding and I couldn't move and I…" Tears were freely running down the raven-haired boy's face and he buried his head in his friend's chest.

Arthur recovered from the shock of the empty white space surrounding him and he lowered his head to look at the boy desperately clinging to him. "It's not your fault Merlin, you can't blame yourself every time I get hurt, it's just stupid, I'm responsible for my health, not you."

The young warlock seemed to calm with the prince's words and he stepped away from his friend, wiping the tears off his face. "Sorry…oh I messed up your top."

"Don't worry, you can clean it," Arthur smirked at his friend's displeasing expression, "When we find out how to get home from this place." He muttered to himself.

But Merlin heard the prince anyway, "Well I don't have a clue where we are," Merlin replied, returning back to his slow spinning to search the area with his keen eyes.

"Well no change there then," Arthur returned, but he too had no idea what was going on. "Are you sure you didn't do anything?" He questioned, turning to face the still spinning boy.

"Well I did a spell I just made up in the moment to save you but…" Merlin was cut off by Arthur's weary shout, "Merlin! You did an unknown spell and we appear in a strange white world yet you didn't think to mention it!" Arthur couldn't believe his servant's incompetence sometimes.

"Merlin!" The pale boy was still spinning on the spot and gave no indication he had listen to Arthur at all, "Merlin!" Arthur gritted his teeth in frustration, "For goodness sake Merlin, stop spinning!" He grabbed his friend's scrawny shoulders and held him in place. "That's better," Merlin rolled his eyes and shrugged Arthur's arms off but did remain standing still, facing the prince.

"Right, so this spell, what did…" But Arthur's trail of thought suddenly reached a new point, "Wait! You did a spell! As in magic! In front of the whole of Camelot! In front of my father!" His voice hit a higher tone in his panic.

Merlin simply let out a deep sigh, "Yes Arthur, I did magic in front of everyone, but I had no choice! Besides you're father wasn't physically beside you when I did so, so maybe he didn't notice?" Merlin ended the sentence in a question, doubtful of what he was telling the prince.

Arthur gave him a disbelieving look, also not buying his friend's weak excuse, "Sure, because my father defiantly wouldn't notice my servant standing over me muttering a spell." He sarcastically jibed.

"Actually, I was more sitting on you…" Merlin's voice was weak with embarrassment at the remembrance of the position he'd put himself on the prince.

Arthur actually spluttered at his friend's comment, "You… what, you sat on me!"

Merlin shot him a defensive glare, "I was saving your life - there were more important things on my mind than my seating arrangement!"

Arthur gave him that, he wouldn't be concentrating on many things if Merlin had been severely injured either. "Okay, fine. But back to the whole performing magic in front of everyone! What are we going to do when…" The prince trailed off as he noticed his friend was shivering. "Merlin, are you cold?"

Merlin cocked his head in confusion but the action looked jerky to Arthur, "No, I don't think there is a temperature here. Why?" Arthur brought his hands to his face and roughly wiped his eyes, but it made no difference, Merlin's form was just not staying still.

"You're moving, or shivering, I can't focus on you." Arthur stepped towards his friend and put his hand out to grab his arm, but his fingers touched nothing but air. Both boys cried out in shock and jumped apart.

"What!" Merlin brought his hand to his face and stared at the flesh, what on earth… Merlin caught Arthur's eye through his hand neither knowing what was happening… wait! Looking at Arthur through my hand!

Arthur seemed to notice Merlin's vanishing act at the same time as there was a simultaneous cry of, "You're disappearing!", "I'm disappearing!"

Arthur could do nothing but watch his friend fade before his eyes, the last thing he saw was Merlin's frightened expression. "No!" Arthur finally moved but ended up lunging at thin air. He's gone… I'm alone…

Arthur frantically spun, copying Merlin's earlier actions, he raised his arms in a begging gesture, but as he's hands passed his face on their descent back down a change in their feature caught his eye. No… I can see through my hand!

Arthur scanned his body and took in the fact that he was following Merlin's act, well whatever's happening, Merlin should be wherever we end up. And with this vaguely comforting thought Arthur closed his eyes and felt a tingling magnify throughout his entire body, until there was nothing.

Two sets of blue eyes flew open, both taking in the sudden appearance of their friend once again. Arthur jolted into an upright position at the shock of Merlin's face just inches from his own. But the action didn't achieve anything, instead just left both boys still leaning against each other's foreheads, Merlin still sitting on his waist.

Arthur took in the sight of the arena out of the corner of his eye; the vibrant red and gold colours were a reassuring contrast to the emptiness of the white. He let out a shaky laugh at the sight of the blunt weapon that almost killed him lying innocently by his side; I guess when I told Merlin the joust was still dangerous I was telling the truth!

Merlin let out a drained laugh; well I did warn you to be careful! The two friends sat there shallowly laughing, feeling the hot breath of the other tickling their cheeks.

Their laughter suddenly ceased as something clicked in both of their minds and blue eyes met blue eyes as they both glanced up; shock present in both gazes.

I didn't say that out loud, Arthur slowly thought. Merlin's eyes widen at the comment and Arthur heard the reply in his own head, neither did I!

But the boys' new revelation was shattered by the furious and pain ridden voice of Uther Pendragon, "Guards! Seize the boy!"

Hope you enjoyed it, please review :) x