Where is my mind?
Arthur was packing; he was going he didn't know... all he knew was that he had to find Merlin. He let out a dry laugh; this had to be the craziest thing he'd done since the time he tried to hide a puppy under his bed when he was seven.
The Prince rushed around the room in a mad frenzy; getting anything that popped into his mind, anything that he needed, anything that Merlin needed- because he would find him- that meant food, water... that reminded the Prince that he would have to make a stop at Gaius for medical supplies.
Arthur was so tired; all the energy he reserved seeped from his body and poured out onto the floors with every step he took. His body craved sleep, but the Prince denied it; whenever he tried to rest he always woke with a scream and in a cold sweat and then- even though he tried not to- cried into his pillow like a weak man- or was it? Was a man weak for showing emotion or did it make him a brave one?
Arthur walked over to the open window and looked towards the sun, it was already half way in the sky; Arthur shook his head in disbelief, half the day wasted, he promised himself that he would have been gone by now. With that note he took off in a sprint.
"Watch it mister, some of us has work to be doing!" A little boy with a head of messy brown hair shouted at the Prince before he knew he was yelling at; when he did it was all 'Sorry Sire, didn't know Sire, forgive us Sire."
Arthur didn't have time for the little boy today; he needed to get going and find Merlin! He sprinted down the steps and across the corridor to the old physician's room.
When he ran into the room he was quite surprised to find not only Gaius, but all the Knights and Gwen in the room with him, he needed to be quick on his feet, needed to lie, no one could discover what he was going to do; they would all say that he was acting crazy from grief and send him back to his room to 'sleep' didn't they realize that Merlin was alive, that he just needed to be found?
"Sire, what are you doing here?" the voice came from Gwen; god how Arthur wished he could tell her about the waterfall- but he couldn't, this was something he had to do on his own. Think, a lie, just a white one to get all the things he needed. The Prince racked his brain, he just needed one little idea to set the ball rolling, and then he had it; it was small and simple, but it would work, a lie so simple that it could fool many a man.
He walked from the door he was still gripping for dear life and proceeded to the middle of the room.
"I needed to get medicine supplies for Kind Apatchies visit on Friday. The King asked if I could fetch some of the medicine in order to lock it up to keep it all safe." Arthur tried to keep breathing at a normal rate and keep his lies flowing; the breathing and flow of the voice was the first thing to look out for if you wanted to know if someone was lying.
"Very well Sire; if the King commands it, I'll just prepare a bag to keep them safe."
"Thank you Gaius it's much appreciated."
Arthur gazed out the window and looked up towards the sun; as soon as he was done here, he would tack up his horse and ride out into the direction of that waterfall from that vision.
Arthur was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize that an awkward silence swept the room and every pair of eyes were on him.
"Maybe you should take a seat Princess; you look tired." Gwaine was sitting near the far left of the table, a beer in his hand.
"I'm back to my room to sleep for the rest of the day after I've delivered the medicine."
Murmurs of replies broke the silence as Gaius appeared with a bag of potions, he walked to where the Prince stood and carefully handed over the heavy coarse material
"Thank you Gaius, I'll be off now." Arthur nodded to him and the rest of the group.
As Arthur was at the door, a thought stuck him and he had to find out the answer to his unasked question.
"What are you all doing here by the way?"
"Well... Sire we were making the arrangements for Merlin sire." Gaius was the one to answer him, Arthur visibly stiffened as he gripped on the door handle for the only support he could find.
Arthur slowly turned his face to the side- not that the group could see his face, but his side profile. You could see his jaw tighten as his Adams apple bob as the Prince swallow a lump.
"And... none of you thought to spare a little time to ask me if I might want a part in the... arrangements?"
Arthur couldn't stay in that room any longer, he needed to make his move and fast, and he needed to find Merlin.
He stumbled around the corridor and up the stairs back to his chambers, fell to his knees to grab the hidden travelling bag and ran back out before anyone would question his motives.
When Arthur finally made it to the royal stables he found it strange that his trusty horse was already tacked up and ready to go, Arthur decided not to question it because he didn't want any unwanted answers. He quickly made his way out of the stable and into the courtyard- he got a few strange looks from the people who lived in the village- but no one of higher archery was there to stop him, which pleased the Prince just fine.
Night had approached in the forest of light. Arthur and his steed stopped near the tallest willow tree in all the land. The Prince was so tired that he had no choice but to stop and rest by the tree, he barely had enough energy to feed and water the horse plus make a fire to keep him safe in the night.
After the draining tasks were complete Arthur slumped into the grass and rested his head on the bark of the old willow tree and fell into a slumber.
A blinding light woke the Prince, he rubbed his heavy eyes, when he finally was aware of his surrounding, and he was stunned; in front of him was a little floating blue ball of light, the light was emanating from within the heart of the ball.
After a minute or so the light started to scurry away into the distance.
"Wait, come back little light!" Arthur shouted after the light as he ran to follow it.
The ball of light came to a stop at a shimmering pool of water, turned around to somehow face Arthur and spoke in a sweet, soft child's voice and said:
"Arthur... you must hurry; Merlin is alive but his life force becoming weaker every day! The cruel witch tortures him so harshly, you must hurry Prince!
"How can I find him?"
"You already know that Arthur, you do not have to ask, now GO!"
With that the light slowly disappeared into the earth.
"Hurry Lavender, he's having tremors and blood seeps from his nose."
"I'm coming, we have to carry him into the hut and keep him warm!"
The tall, muscle bond man picked up the shaking blonde into his arms and rushed him into his home, his wife running behind him.
"Moss, move the things off the table and make room." A small woman stood up quickly and whisked the plates from the wooden table and got a thick blanket from the chest for the young man that now lay on the table.
After the tremors subsided the man eased his grip on the blonde's shoulders and turned to his daughter and wife, a worried look crossed all their faces.
"Who is the man dad?" the young woman asked her father.
"I'm not sure sweetheart." The father replied and turned back to the man on the table.
"Come on we've got to clean the blood off his face."
The daughter grabbed a wet cloth and whipped the dried blood from the man's face.
"Who are you strange man?"
