Yay! Time for Merlin's prank. I hope everyone is enjoying themselves today as we continue with this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

The sun wasn't even up yet. Dawn had just come over the castle, starting to fill the corridors with light, chasing off the darkness that had bathed Camelot the previous night. Though, Merlin's thoughts about the morning weren't quiet so poetic. Instead, it went something like this:

"For the love of God why did I think this was a good idea?" Merlin grumbled to himself. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the last bit of sleep that was still plaguing him. "Honestly, I should have just stayed in bed. This sucks. I hate Leon for coming up with this stupid idea," he continued to mumble. No one was out in the halls, not this early in the morning. Behind him, a few sacks were floating innocently behind him. Merlin refused to carry all six with him through the castle. He did want to be able to feel his arms by the end of the day.

On top of getting up at the crack of dawn, Merlin also had to stay up late the previous night to get his supplies. Bogs were now Merlin's least favorite place to take a walk. He had gotten stuck, twice! But once he was done with this, he could tiptoe back to bed and sleep until it was time to get Arthur up.

He couldn't very well do this later in the day, since Arthur would more than likely be keeping him busy and under constant watch. Percival and Elyan had really caused a stir. No one wanted Merlin to be alone for long.

But Merlin would definitely win this prank. When he managed to get some days off, he could go into the woods and practice some new spells. There was one that could turn flowers different colors. He knew how much Gwen liked blue flowers, but they were rather rare in these parts. He could also catch up on sleep. Just the thought of sleeping in made Merlin smile and pick up the pace. There was so much he wanted to do, and he would make sure it was done correctly. The knights may want to kill him after this, but it was all worth it for a win. Merlin smiled as he reached Percival's room.

"æbære" he whispered. The lock clicked open and Merlin ducked into the room. Percival was sleeping soundly in the bed. Merlin had put sleeping draughts in all their food the previous evening to ensure he didn't have as much to worry about. Merlin began to tiptoe towards the closet, one sack following him through the room. His foot caught an upturned corner of the rug, sending Merlin sprawling to the floor. Luckily, Percival merely shifted in his bed, continuing to snore. Merlin breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the bag, sitting patiently in the air.

"dælan" Merlin whispered. The sack opened and the contents split, one going towards the closet, the other hovering above Percival's head. Merlin stood up and went to secure the mess. Once he ensured it wouldn't happen too soon, he turned to the room and smiled.

"This is going to be great," he whispered to himself.

oOoOoOo

Percival awoke, having had a great slumber, the best he had had in awhile. He sat in the bed, a small smile on his face. He didn't think Merlin would do anything too bad. The kid was an innocent puppy. Then again, Elyan had pulled a pretty good prank. He wondered what Merlin's prank was for the day. Something told him that Merlin was not as innocent as Lancelot made him out to be. There was a sort of mischievous smile that Percival sometimes caught. It made him slightly afraid because it was always the quiet ones that could do the most damage. If Merlin truly were a devilish little imp, it could spell disaster for Percival's day. Percival rolled over and saw a little cup sitting in the corner. He groaned and rolled back over.

"I thought I got them all," he sighed. The little cups had completely covered the floor, each filled with water. He wouldn't be surprised if he found cups for the next three years. "Whatever, time to start the day," Percival said, throwing off his blankets. Shrieks from the knights echoed through the castle. Today was going to suck, Percival decided.

oOoOoOo

Gaius sighed and looked at the dirty men before him. He was starting to regret the decision to monitor this activity.

"This room is going to get rather dirty during this war, isn't it?" he asked the men. Lancelot pulled another worm out of his hair and placed it gently on the table. The worm squirmed uncomfortably on the table. Merlin jumped up and but the worm in a bucket with some of the others that had found their way onto the knights.

"Really Merlin, you had to put worms in with the dirt?" Gwaine sighed. He seemed resigned to the fact that he would not be getting laid during the war, mostly due to the state of his hair. Merlin shrugged and grinned.

"The dirt just didn't seem to be enough," he said, smiling like an idiot.

"I hope you know you'll be cleaning all of the clothes you ruined, Merlin," Arthur snapped. Merlin let out a loud laugh.

"You should have seen your face when you opened the cupboard," Merlin said.

"I'm never going to get this all off," Elyan sighed, picking out some bog plants from his clothes. Gaius let out a snicker but quickly schooled his features into one of discipline.

"Merlin, can you please explain what you did?" Geoffrey asked. Merlin nodded.

"Certainly. The previous night, I laced everyone's food with a sleeping potion and then went to the bog where I collected six bags full of mud, plants, and worms." Percival let out a screech, jumping out of his chair and sprinting to the other end of the room. "Oh, there might be spiders in there as well. Anyways, I then got up this morning and went around to each room. I put some of the dirt into a bucket that would dump when the blankets were thrown off the bed. The rest of the dirt went into the cupboard so that when they went to get new clothes, there would be an avalanche," Merlin explained, grinning the entire time.

"And now you have an avalanche of laundry to clean," Arthur muttered.

"I don't think the comparison works, sire," Leon said. He numbly noted that there was a worm currently squirming on the top of his head and one in his shirt. He didn't feel like removing it, though. That would just take too much work. Gaius and Geoffrey once again removed themselves from the table to discuss the prank. Once they returned, everyone quieted down to hear what they had to say.

"It was certainly messy, Merlin. And the use of worms definitely made it more gross than Sir Elyan's while still being more long lasting than Sir Percival's. However the dirt over the beds could have gone off at any time during the night and I'm not sure I approve of the sleeping potion," Geoffrey explained. Merlin nodded. Maybe his chances of winning weren't as good as he originally thought. The men excused themselves and made their way through the corridor.

"Do you have something good, Princess?" Gwaine grumbled. A trail of dirt was left as the men walked.

"I do. I just wish Merlin would have waited until after we were out of our sleeping clothes," Arthur grumbled.

"The embarrassment just adds to the prank," Merlin snickered. Arthur looked around at the other men. They were going to be green with envy when they realized what Arthur had planned. He was sure of it.

Oooh, what's Arthur got up his sleeve? Wait to find out!