Omigod, has it been a month, already? O.O I'm so sorry for not updating in a while - I've been on a writer's block with this story but after receiving some more follows/faves from you people, I finally went on my laptop last night and was like, "okay, you have to write."
Anyways, thank you so much for the support - don't give up on this story just yet - I'll try to update more often. :)
Chapter Seven. Nobody Said It Was Easy
The group was relatively quiet as they all sat down on the forest floor. Violet quickly occupied herself with fiddling around with the leaves on the ground, keeping her eyes fixed on anywhere but Merlin and Arthur.
God, her mind was still reeling. She couldn't quite wrap her head around the idea that Merlin was over a thousand years old and that Arthur had seriously come out of a lake. The Arthurian Legends were true?
Violet played around with the leaf in her hand and folded it in half. She could hear Arthur and Merlin speaking in hushed, low tones. Violet was a bit put out, to be honest—she felt like a third wheel, almost. Then again, she shouldn't be so quick to feel that way—after all, Merlin said that he had been separated from his friend for more than a lifetime, not to mention that she didn't even know Merlin that well.
Still…
Agh, shut up, Violet, she chided to herself. Leave the two alone. They probably want some alone time or something.
"I'm going to go scout ahead," Violet said out loud, standing up. "Um…just to check if it'll be safe around here."
"Of course. Thank you, Violet," Arthur replied, looking up at the younger girl with a grateful smile.
Violet bobbed her head and turned around, sticking her hands in her pockets. She could hear the two other men lapsing back into conversation and with a small puff of breath, she walked off. Within minutes, she couldn't hear Merlin or Arthur. The trees of the forest slowly closed in around her until she was in her own little world of thoughts.
Look at that, she thought to herself, looking up at the sky with a small, incredulous smile on her face. Just yesterday, I was wondering if Merlin was going crazy for talking to a lake and now we're running from…something.
Before she could stop herself, a laugh escaped from Violet's lips. This entire idea was an adventure—something that would come out of a fairy tale.
Except for the sorcerer part.
Violet bit down on her lip and her hands fell limply to her sides. The Sorcerer Act had played a role in her life for as long as she could possibly remember. Ever since she was child, her parents had told her repeatedly that all magic was evil. Period.
There weren't such things as good enchanters or nice sorcerers. It was always, always, always "magic is bad" or "the only good sorcerer is a dead one" or even "it'd be better to die rather than see sorcerers take over."
Back when Violet was a child, she had simply nodded and agreed with her parents. Sorcery was bad—she had heard her teachers and her friends talking about what happened to people who meddled with magic.
But Violet grew up—she watched as elders, teenagers and even children were taken away from their families and homes and frankly, she thought it was unfair.
And now Violet was running away with a sorcerer.
What a thought.
According to Violet's parents, the world hadn't changed much since the 21st century. In fact, it seemed that ever since sorcerers came out, all technological and scientific advances stopped. It was definitely odd, in Violet's opinion, but she supposed she couldn't blame those scientists for not bothering to come up with any new inventions or breakthroughs. After all, what was the use of science and instruments when magic was at work?
But it still sounded wrong to Violet, even now. She had heard her parents talking about it when they thought she was asleep. Violet remembered hearing that her parents were beginning to grow worried and tired of where the human race was going…at the time, Violet had pushed away those thoughts and simply decided that those concepts were too mature for her to understand.
The only real advance in society was probably the Sorcerer Act, but Violet hardly counted that as an advance. The way Violet had seen people being ripped away from their families seemed strangely barbaric in her eyes. Of course, she would never say that out loud, even if she was running with Merlin and Arthur.
What now? Violet thought, lowering herself to the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest. What's going to happen? Why did Arthur come back now? Is there something wrong? Are we just going to keep running?
Violet sighed and rubbed her temples tiredly. There were too many questions running through her head—too many problems that were left unsolved.
Violet shook her head and stretched out her arms—maybe she should be getting back now. Besides, there didn't seem to be much of a threat in these woods. As she stood up to brush herself off, something caught her eye. Violet frowned and looked back up, only to see a corner of dark cloth disappearing behind a tree.
Violet froze, wondering whether to run or hide or advance. She felt her heart speeding up and clearing her throat, she called out, "Is someone there? Hello?"
When no answer came, Violet walked towards the tree. She extended one of her arms nervously towards the bark, bracing herself for whatever was to come out from behind the tree. Violet took in a sharp breath and pressed her hand against the rough bark of the trunk. Then, Violet whipped her head around the tree, only to find…
Nothing.
Violet felt a strange chill go up her spine—she had been sure she saw something behind the tree. Was it just her imagination? Violet swallowed hard and then, just when she thought she was about to calm down, a hand gripped her shoulder.
With a shriek, Violet jumped up in the air and whirled around.
Merlin frowned and quickly let go of Violet's shoulder. "What's wrong?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow.
Violet let out a shaky, shuddery breath and leaned against the tree. "It's only you." She murmured, hugging herself self-absently. "Only you."
"Of course, it's only me." Merlin said slowly, staring at Violet uncertainly. "Did you think I was someone else?"
Violet blinked rapidly and turned back around the tree with wide eyes, fearing that maybe the…thing might show itself this time. When nothing came, she turned back around and replied, "I thought I saw something. It might have been nothing, though, but…it's gone now." Violet cast another, uncertain look at the tree and took a few steps away from it. "Maybe it was just my imagination."
Merlin didn't look convinced, but he didn't say anything. He gave Violet a nod and said, "Come on, let's go back to Arthur. We can stop here for tonight and in the morning, we can create some kind of plan."
Violet raised a questioning eyebrow at Merlin and said, "So, there is a reason behind all this? About…why we're running, that is? Besides the obvious authorities-chasing-us-situation, I mean."
Merlin paused and replied with a tight smile, "I can't tell you that right now. I think today was already exciting enough, don't you think?"
Before Merlin could walk away, Violet asked, "Don't you think that's a bit unfair? I'm already here now so I think I should at least know part of what's going on instead of being kept in the dark." She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the warlock and when he didn't interrupt, she went on to say, "I understand why you'd want to hide all this—I really do. But seeing that we're together, I would think you could trust me a bit more to open up what's really happening."
Merlin stared and shook his head. "No." He replied quietly. "I'll tell you tomorrow, Violet. Not now, when we just got out—you already found out about so much today. I…don't think it'd be a good idea to tell you any more than what I already told you."
Violet made a small scoffing noise and shot back, "Try me."
"I won't." Merlin replied tightly. "Violet, let's just go back—"
"No way." Violet shook her head roughly. She stormed right up to Merlin so that he would be forced to look down at her. "Listen here, Merlin," she said in a low voice. "If we're going to playing some stupid game of hide-and-seek with the authorities, I have the right to know." She put her hands on her hips and asked, "Or is this just a silly game?"
Immediately, Violet knew she had said the wrong thing. Merlin's hands fell limply to his side and he pointed quietly out of the forest.
"If you think this is all a joke, just leave now." He said quietly.
Violet stared at him—Merlin's eyes were wide but unamused or surprised. If anything, they looked sad. Violet felt her heart sink and stuffed her hands in her pockets. She scuffed her shoes against the ground and said in a slow, deliberate voice, "I didn't mean it like that. I just…I'm tired of being kept in the dark in all this." She looked back up and added, "And I'm not leaving. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't made any notions of leaving and the fact that you think I should leave is ridiculous. We've been over this."
"You said that you thought this was a silly game, first!" Merlin shot back.
Violet opened her mouth to come up with a retort when someone cleared a throat awkwardly. Both Merlin and Violet turned around to see Arthur, who was staring at the two with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Er…are you two alright? Is there something wrong?" He asked slowly.
Violet looked back at Merlin and said smoothly, "Nope. Nothing wrong at all."
A/N: Well, I wanted to write in Violet's point of view, for once. XP
Please review, doods - I know there are more than three people following this story and if you guys can spare two seconds to hit that fave/follow button, I think you guys can spare ten more seconds just to tell me what you think of this story. I'll accept constructive criticism, but no flames, please.
