Morgana had woken up first between the five of them. Well in all honesty, she didn't fall asleep in the first place; she didn't want her nightmares to awaken her or her friends, so she didn't go to sleep. Not that it mattered much. She had sort of gotten used to the sleeping pattern now, never getting any sleep. Yet it wasn't just her lacking the sleep. Poor Gwen would have to rush into her room and comfort her every time, no wonder she was as tired as Morgana the next day. Morgana wondered whether Gaius could make a more concentrated remedy for her, even if it was to gain an extra hour sleep.

She considered where she sat and frowned. The thought of being warmed by the fire was very welcoming, but she was in such a comfortable position. She sighed and stood lazily- making sure to stretch first- and ambled her way to the round collection of stones, collecting tiny pieces of wood along the way. Literally dropping herself down onto the wooden log, she yawned, and began to start the fire. She grinned to herself in achievement as soon as the fire lit. As the fire gradually spread through the wood she took in her surroundings. Water droplets fell from the branches and leaves as the sun slowly melted away the light frost. It wasn't quite summer, as some leaves were yet to fall from the trees, but the temperature was soon dropping.

The crackling of the fire drew her gaze from her observing state. She frowned as she watched the flames change from orange to red, the memory of the night before clouded her thoughts. Merlin had managed to start the fire without any wood. He must have because Gwen used it all up cooking their supper. Yet it wasn't just that either, she could have sworn she heard him say… Well, that was the thing. She didn't honestly know what he said. Maybe she was completely wrong and she just imagined him saying something, or maybe she did eventually drift off to sleep. She licked her lips and shook her head. No, I was definitely awake.Except, she couldn't have been awake because no way could Merlin have miraculously created a fire, it wasn't physically possible. Unless he has magic. Morgana snickered at the thought, Merlin, a sorcerer. No, she must have been asleep...

"How long have you been awake?"

Morgana jumped out her skin. Startled at the voice, she instinctively grabbed a twig and pointed it to the enemy… Who was Merlin… Merlin's eyebrow rose as he regarded the deadly weapon. A twig? He put his hands up in surrender jokingly, only to notice Morgana blush and mutter something under her breath. Out of everything she could have used as a weapon, she chose a thin dainty stick. She heard Merlin laugh breathily as she budged over on the log, allowing Merlin to sit next to her. He took the twig from her hands and laughed once more, mocking her choice of a weapon. If it would have been Arthur mocking her like that Morgana she would have snatched that twig and beat him with it until he realised just who he was mocking… But as it was only Merlin, she just decided to laugh along with him.

"Sleep doesn't really come around often," she replied finally. She gave Merlin a weak smile as he put his hands out to the fire to warm himself. He licked his lips, the smile on his face slowly faded as he watched Morgana subconsciously frown. He understood Morgana had difficulty sleeping, he would always deliver Gaius' remedy for her, however he never really considered asking her about her dreams or nightmares. After all, if she wanted to talk about them then he was all ears, he wouldn't have pushed her into telling him about her troubles.

"I can ask Gaius to make you a stronger dose, if you want." Merlin offered with a smile, throwing the twig, which he still held in hand into the fire. Morgana turned to him and beamed. Her pearly whites reflected from the fires light.

"Thank you, Merlin." He nodded. They both turned when they heard shuffling, Gwen was slowly waking up. Her head popped up from her blanket, Merlin and Morgana laughed at the piece of hair that stuck up due to the static of the blanket. She dismissed them with her hand, rolling her eyes light-heartedly at their childishness. She carried the blanket with her as she joined the two round the camp fire, all the while giving Merlin and suggestive look. He furrowed his eyebrows and lowered his head, watching the fire flicker.

"Did you sleep well, my lady?" Gwen asked happily, her voice warm and content as she pulled out fruit from her bag that was on the floor. Morgana smiled as she took the apple from Gwen that she offered,

"I've told you. The both of you," she said looking at both Gwen and Merlin with a meaningful look; "you can call me Morgana."

"Yes my la-" Gwen froze, remembering what Morgana had just told her, "I mean Morgana." Morgana nodded with a sweet smile and bit into her apple.

"So Merlin…" Gwen breathed as she also offered him a fruit; he took one gladly and bit into it, automatically tasting the sweet flavour of apple. They were just right, not too ripe and not too unripe. And they were red too. Merlin blinked as he waited for Gwen to finish her sentence. "What's Ealdor like? Is it like Camelot or-"

Merlin openly laughed. Gwen turned to Morgana in confusion, she shrugged her shoulders slightly, not understanding what was so funny either. They both waited for Merlin to stop laughing,

"I'm sorry," he chuckled as he shook his head. "But um, no, Ealdor isn't much like Camelot, in any way."

Gwen frowned; she had lived in Camelot all her life, much like Morgana. She didn't have that much experience in the 'outside world', she was so intrigued, and plus it was Merlin's hometown. She didn't know anything about Merlin's life before Camelot, what his job was, who his friends were, what his hobbies were.

"Well, surely you can tell us something about it?" Morgana asked, intrigued herself. Merlin licked his lips; there really wasn't anything interesting about Ealdor- just many plain fields and an unlimited supply of boredom. If there was one thing he liked about his hometown it would be the people there. His mother, obviously. His next door neighbour, the farmers, the nice old woman who would always give him fresh bread every Monday, and the little kids that would prank just about everyone. But mostly his best friend Will. Merlin sighed, took his last bite into his apple and stood.

"There really isn't much to tell, well, stuff that wouldn't bore you to sleep anyway," he replied honestly.

A twig snapped in the distance, everybody's head instantly turned, all their smiles and smirks changing to worried, anxious expressions as they checked around them. Merlin lowered into a crouch, placing his finger to his lips, looking at both Morgana and Gwen, signalling them to stay quiet. They both nodded as Merlin tip toed out toward the noise.

He winced as a twig he trod on snapped. Damn twig. He searched around; mist was still in the air, making it even harder to see any oncoming movements. He gulped when he felt something sharp dig into his back, he knew somebody would have heard the twig. Merlin closed his eyes, waiting to be struck down.

"I'd ask you for money, but I know you don't have any."

Merlin's eyes opened as he turned around to the source of the voice, an all toothed grin spread across his face.

"Arthur!"

It was very unexpected, Merlin would have admitted that. It was Arthur, out of everybody that could have threatened him with a sword. Him. Lord of all Clotpoles.

"I saw the fire from the campfire, figured it was a good shot," Arthur smiled as he tapped his friend on the back. Merlin nodded as he led the way back to camp.

\\Merlin/

Morgana rose from the log, Merlin had been fifteen minutes, he should have been back. Gwen looked toward Hunith, who they had decided was best to wake, and gave her a reassuring smile.

"He should be back by now," Morgana confided as she moved toward her horse, and retrieved her sword. Gwen's eyes opened as she ran up to her friend,

"Morgana, you can't go out there. You could get hurt," Gwen worried as she tried to convince her friend, it was worrying enough having to wait for Merlin, not knowing Morgana too.

"Don't worry, nobody's hurt. Well, maybe Merlin's dignity but…"

"Arthur," both Morgana and Gwen exclaimed simultaneously as they turned toward the servant and the prince. Merlin laughed at how much their tone in voice and facial expressions differed. Gwen's face was in awe, obviously happy of Arthur's arrival whereas, Morgana dramatically rolled her eyes and her tone mocking, just to tease him and rile him up. Arthur and Morgana were so much like brother and sister it was untrue.

"Lovely to see you too Morgana," Arthur responded light-heartedly, as he walked toward them after throwing his sword into the floor. "And besides, didn't think you could leave me out of this friendly trip, right?" He added smugly. Morgana sighed, she would deny it if asked, but she did love Arthur. She was happy to see his smug, obnoxious self.

"Right, I'll umm, prepare breakfast then," Merlin offered as he collected the dishes and the food. Gwen nodded and rushed beside him,

"You do the dishes and I'll do the food, it'll get done quicker that way," Gwen instructed as her mind set on what she had to get done.

"Maybe me and Arthur can be of some use?" Morgana stated as she watched Gwen stab a stick through some meat and then place it on top of the fire.

"I wouldn't expect you to do anything like that Morgana." Gwen replied modestly as she moved onto help Merlin with the dishes. Morgana frowned, just because she was the King's Ward didn't mean she couldn't do simple tasks and help. She licked her lips and shook her head as she budged Merlin out of the way gently and worked on the dishes herself. She smirked at Merlin's surprised expression, be damned if she did nothing while they did all the working. She noticed Gwen smile and acknowledged that Gwen must have been too uncertain to say yes to Morgana request for help.

"How much further is it?" Arthur called over to Merlin as he helped Hunith pack all her things, earning a grateful smile from her.

"Er, maybe a few hours." He replied as he placed all the chopped vegetables into a pot, he whipped at his brow; the fire had made him sweat a bit.

"How many men does Kanen have?"

Morgana and Gwen both looked at each other as they awaited Merlin's response.

"Erm, I'm not sure. I think, from what my mother said," he spoken in a gruff voice as he nodded to his mom, "maybe as many as forty." Arthur licked his lips and stopped himself from sighing. They were outnumbered. Definitely outnumbered. He positioned his foot on a log and then placed his arm on his leg; his head leant on his hand. He gulped and then nodded.

"Right," he breathed out. "Okay, well, we should start travelling again after we've eaten and packed. We could get there before dark." Everybody nodded and continued with what they were doing.

\\Merlin/

Merlin grasped at his aching sides as they continued to travel to Ealdor, they were only minutes away, and he could smell the familiar scent of home- the roses and blue badories that grew around his village. He had been laughing for the last ten minutes, his sides and cheeks were killing as he listened to Arthur and Morgana's discuss, or rather argue, about their childhood and how Morgana used to beat him up when they were young. Morgana was currently glorified in the way she had so quickly riled Arthur up; he hated losing, specifically to Morgana. And she was just rubbing it in his face, Merlin found it hilarious.

"You cheated, Morgana!" He accused, his face had become red making Morgana laughing in his face even more, which would just infuriate him further. Arthur huffed moodily and then clenched his jaw. Stupid Morgana and her secretly amazing sword skills.

"Whatever you say Arthur. I just know for a fact that after you beat me," she expressed the last two words mockingly with a knowing grin. "You cried for days in your bedroom and wouldn't let anyone in." Merlin openly laughed at that, earning himself a death glare from Arthur. Actually, laughing at that was his worst decision as Arthur smiled evilly and turned toward Merlin.

"And what about you, Merlin." Arthur accused, punching him in the arm.

"Oh, leave him alone Arthur, what harm has he ever done you?" Morgana commented, giving Merlin a nod of reassurance. She knew, from many years' experience, that if Arthur was getting embarrassed he would always manage to embarrass someone else with him so as he didn't feel so stupid. Arthur's eyebrows creased as he pointed to Morgana, a goofy knowing grin planted on his face.

"You're very protective of Merlin, Morgana," he laughed as he looked to Merlin. "You'd think you'd have a crush on him." He added on, smiling in all his joy and glory, knowing that would have angered Morgana. Her face set and she scoffed,

"Please, you're just upset that Merlin's not on your side," Morgana countered, shoulder budging Arthur brutally. He rubbed at his shoulder mockingly, miming the words 'ow' just to annoy Morgana further.

"Honestly, you're like a pair of children." Gwen said out loud as she shook her head half-heartedly.

"The only child here is Morgana," Arthur whispered under his breath, loud enough for only Morgana to hear, who gave him a death glare in return and continued to ride on her horse.

"Kanen!" Somebody shouted, not very far from where they were. Everybody, Arthur, Gwen, Hunith, Merlin and Morgana turned simultaneously toward the direction of the yell. Arthur and Merlin didn't wait for anybody to say anything; they instantly pulled on the horses reins making the horse speed in the direction of the yell. As Arthur galloped toward the direction at full speed Merlin realised he had recognised that voice, it was somebody from his village, Matthew. And going from the shout he had heard he, Matthew was in trouble. Merlin waited impatiently to get to his hometown; nobody was to get hurt while he was there. No one.

\\Merlin/

Thank you so much you guys for all this lovely support. I've been going around all my preffered college open days, the past few days, and I'm choosing English Language as an A level, so this is brilliant practise. Again, all criticisms are open for me to have. The plot will definitely be thickening the next two chapters. Let's just say, that maybe Merlin isn't as good at keeping his secret in this AU. Hehe.