AN: On time :) but only just though. Well this chapter may be a little confusing, it contains details as to locations. It should make sense and it does to me but then again, I know what's happening. This chapter is a little shorter than last time, but it was 1111 words. I will try again next week to beat that length. Enjoy :)

"Merlin!" yelled Arthur desperately. The sun was now at its highest point in the sky and his and the other knights stomachs were protesting. They had been searching since they had woken with little success. The footprints left behind by the bandits and also Merlin, had been washed away in the small rain shower they had experienced not long ago. They had decided that the kidnappers would take Merlin through small paths away from the prying eyes of watchers. Because of this fact and the dangerous conditions of the ground, not to take the horses.

"Arthur, we should stop for a while and eat. We're no good to Merlin with no energy." Leon said cautiously to the king, ever the voice of reason. "We need to think about our plan, we can not just keep walking until we stumble upon him. Let's think where they may have taken him and for what reason."

Arthur paused for a moment. He knew Leon was right, hell when was Leon not right, they should rest. But he didn't think that he could really bring himself to eat. Ever since they had woken to find Merlin missing, Arthur had been blaming himself. If he had of been on watch he would have waited for Merlin to return. But he couldn't keep blaming himself. They would just have to find Merlin and then it would all be alright.

"Yes, Leon, you're right we should rest. But not for to long I want to be on the move again as soon as possible. Merlin needs us."

The band of knights sat in a small circle and pulled out some rations from their packs. With no horse or Merlin to carry them, they had had to carry them themselves. Settling themselves down with a few mouthfuls of bread and lots of water the knights attempted to formulate a plan.

"Ok, let's get what we know already, straight. We know that Merlin was taken by the river. There were tracks left there before it rained. They were headed East. We followed those and they stopped at that small bridge over the river. We crossed that and we are now headed west because we are following the river. There would be no point in us going any further east because the only thing that way is the lake. Got it?" The knights nodded. Arthur continued. "So lets keep heading this way and see if we can pick up any tracks that the rain missed, OK?" there was a murmur of agreement through the knights and Arthur took it as full hearted approval. Standing up Arthur stretch and began to pack his belongings up.

Not ten minutes later all of the knights had followed his lead and they were once again walking, in a straight line parallel to the river.

Merlin woke with a start, the sun was beating down on his crude shelter. It had just passed its fullest height and was burning hot. Merlin looked down at himself. He was soaking wet. The leaves which had been covered in mud, hand been miraculously cleaned and their previous mud now caked Merlin. Great, he thought looking down at himself. I missed a rain shower. Merlin sighed and looked around him, he must have been absolutely exhausted to have slept through that. He blamed it on the probably still present drug in his system.

He knew, even in his still groggy mind that he had to get moving. He was lucky no one had discovered him yet. Merlin looked over at the sparkling river longingly. Deciding that his need for water was more overwhelming then his need for cleanliness, he drank. As he drank a hawk peered down at him from one of the branches in a small tree. It had intelligent eyes, eyes that could locate its prey from high in the sky. Merlin had no idea that it was there until it shuffled its wings and flew off. He could have sworn he saw a leather band around its ankle*. Arthur sometimes used bids for hunting, their senses where more honed then most other animals, such as dogs. Arthur used to say to Merlin that if he were able to capture a merlin, that he would train it to hunt with him. It could replace a useless Merlin, with a hunter.

Snapping out of his little day dream, Merlin knew once again that he must find his way back. Arthur needed his protection. Gods knew that he could get himself into enough trouble. Smiling at the thought Merlin tried to recall the way that he had gotten here. Even though he had been unconscious for the most of it, Merlin could remember the sounds of a river and the sand crunched under the feet of the bandits as they dragged his over the bridge. To get back he needed to cross a bridge. Which is exactly what he did when he found one not far from his "camp".

Merlin also thought that the bandits would attempt to drag him away form the knights camp, for their own safety, that would mean that they had dragged him east. With this knowledge in mind he began to head west, back to the knights camp.

Merlin walked for what felt like, and probably was, hours. He kept heading west and wondered just how far the bandits had taken him. Thoughts of the knights filled his head, laughing at him for getting lost. The banter they shared always made him laugh and the witty insults kept his brain as fit as the servant work kept his body. It also strengthened their bond. Like him and Arthur he wasn't just a servant he was a friend, an equal.

That was the elation he was feeling as he saw the lights up ahead. He could hear joking and laughter as he neared it. Wait, laughter. Merlin had been missing for a day and they were laughing? Sure, Merlin could understand if not all of the knights were looking for him. Some had to stay at camp. But he never thought that they could laugh like that with him missing.

Merlin quickened the pace that he was walking at and soon reached the outskirts of the camp. The camp wasn't theirs Merlin realised with a jolt. He had just walked up to a, possibly hostile, camp. Did he learn nothing from quests with Arthur? Turning on his heal, Merlin began to move away. But as he did he heard the swish of an arrow. The last thing he thought after a bolt of pain shot through his shoulder was, At least they weren't laughing without me.

And there you go 23:55 …. done. Phew.

*Birds of prey were often used to hunt in medieval times but i'm not sure about Arthurian times :)

Please let me know what you think :)

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REVIEWS LAST WEEK :D