I just like to say in response to 'Alexandria' (whose review was added while not signed in, so I couldn't reply) this fic will have.. Eventually.. Merlin/Morgana, Gwen/Arthur, perhaps Gwen/Lancelot and maybe even a bit of Merlin/Freya (yes, I know!)


"They don't stand a chance," Morgana muttered to Gwen as she sharpened yet another sword. They had watched Arthur train the males of the village for the past three hours and still none of them were fully trained enough to take on Kanen's men. Morgana shook her head, she was stuck to sharpen swords when she could have been in on the action too. Getting out, training men and woman or helping the people in need- yet annoyingly Arthur dismissed the idea. He wanted all woman and children to stay in their homes when the bandits attacked, much to Morgana's irritation. She heard Gwen sigh softly beside her,

"I'm sure they'll be fine," she encouraged, though her facial features didn't match her optimistic attitude. Morgana hummed and continued to watch the men train. She saw Gwen shake her head as she got up from the rock they were sat on, Morgana turned to her, wondering where she was going. Gwen smiled slightly, "I'm just going to pass these," she turned to look down at the basket filled with sharpened swords on the floor and picked them up, "to the people that don't already have them." Morgana nodded her head and watched as Gwen walked toward a small group of men with a kind smile on her face, offering them each a sword. Morgana couldn't help but gulp when she noticed a young boy, slightly younger than herself, take a sword from Gwen and stare at it nervously.

"They're going to need all the encouragement they can get," a voice merely whispered in Morgana's ear, making her jump. She turned and noticed it was only Merlin; he was knelt beside her with some of the wood he must have collected before still in his hands. Morgana frowned when she noticed Merlin's apologetic expression- something she wouldn't have noticed beforehand if it wasn't for him being so close to her. She nodded as soon as her heart beat returned to its normal pace- she damned herself for being so easily frightened, it was only Merlin after all.

She didn't respond to him straight away as she continued to watch the men train, watching them stab at the sand bags the women had managed to create for them. Her concentration faltered as she heard Merlin shuffle behind her, she turned back to him to see he had placed the logs he was holding on the floor, so as he could sit beside her. The corner of her lip curved into the beginning of a smirk, Morgana couldn't deny the fact that her and Merlin's relationship had changed since yesterday. Since he revealed his secret. She realised she could appreciate him a lot more. He wasn't just a simple servant that so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time all the while. He was a lot more than what met the eye, which only helped Morgana be easily captivated and easily drawn to him- much like a moth to a flame. He was different than anyone else, and Morgana loved it. Morgana licked her lips before she spoke.

"I'll never understand men like Kanen," she admitted, her voice strained at the mention of his name. Merlin bit into his lip and thought over her words, she may have spoken in a whisper but Merlin still noticed the distaste in her assertion. He didn't really know how to respond, because quite frankly, he didn't understand them either. There were some people who just enjoyed watching the world burn and relished in the sight of havoc and devastation. He blinked and lowered his head, watching the reflection of himself in the puddle near them.

"I don't think anybody will, Morgana." Merlin responded. "You just continue life the way it is and hope that you barely come across men like him I suppose," he admitted as he looked up and rubbed his hands together- the weather had become that bit colder. Morgana absorbed his words and agreed, as long as she herself or anyone she loved didn't become one of them, then she would be content. As she continued to watch the men train, a thought came across her mind, she smirked to herself and then patted Merlin's leg.

"C'mon," she encouraged, her voice more upbeat. Merlin's eyebrow rose as he searched her facial expression, whatever it was she was planning to do it seemed to lift her mood. He picked himself up off the rock, remembered to collect the wood from the floor, and followed Morgana to Arthur.

"Looks like the battle's already fought and lost," she said as she proceeded to Arthur who was helping the young boy Morgana saw before know where to stab in order to badly wound. She grimaced when she observed the boy's attempt; he was throwing the sword all over the place. Arthur must have not heard her, either that or he was purposely ignoring her, as he grabbed the boy's sword and prevented him from hurting himself.

"They'll toughen up," he reassured, loud enough for the surrounding people to hear. They seemed to smile at the encouragement and worked even harder on their training. Morgana hummed in response as soon as Merlin stood beside her. They both watched as the young boy was given the sword back and continued to use it like some sort of toy. Morgana shook her head and made her way to the obviously nervous boy, her face assertive as she watched his fighting technique- or if he had one.

"Turn sideways," Morgana suggested with a smile as the boy stabbed at the sandbag. The boy stopped and stared at her quizzically; she raised her eyebrow in return and gave him a reassuring nod. He did as she said and turned to his side, "okay, now. You need to work on your footwork," she added on. She smiled when she noticed Merlin had grabbed a sword for her to use as a demonstration, while Arthur watched with furrowed eyebrows. Morgana put her stronger, most preferred foot, forward and balanced herself with the sword in hand. The boy mimicked her movements and smiled when he noticed Morgana's wide grin. Arthur then decided to give him some pointers of his own; he walked over and raised the boy's chin and his sword,

"You want to be looking up at your opponent, not down," he suggested as he watched the boy nod and lick his lips in determination. Morgana then acknowledged that he no longer needed her help and passed her sword back to Merlin with an appreciative smile. They then both watched as the boy attempted to strike Arthur, his footing may have been misplaced and out of place but Merlin thought he did quite well, to say he was up against a fully skilled Prince who had been trained all his life. The boy had managed to skilfully snip at Arthur's arm and create a hole, allowing him the chance to take him down. However, Arthur was too quick as he easily unarmed him of his sword, making it fall to the floor where he couldn't reach it, and placed his own sword onto the boy's chest. Arthur stood there for a while, watching the boy breathe heavily and gulp, waiting for Arthur to strike at him, though that wasn't his intention. Arthur lowered his sword and patted the boy on the back with a pleased grin.

Merlin and Morgana noticed how everyone in the village had stopped and watched Arthur and the boy, looking at them in admiration and trying to learn their techniques. Arthur too had noticed this and breathed in heavily,

"We can stand up to them," he announced and then pointed to the young boy, "you just have to try. Go help each other, learn and teach each other your skills." All the men then nodded their heads, their enthusiasm boosted, as they began to train again with more eagerness.

As soon as the men and woman preoccupied themselves and stopped crowding around watching Arthur, Morgana stepped forward. She licked her lips as she waited for Arthur to finish speaking with the young boy and then proceeded to speak.

"Men aren't the only ones who can fight," she urged as she moved even closer to Arthur, observing him with a set glare. His first respons was to just blink, slightly baffled. He knew Morgana was very strong willed and cared for others, but the way she had advanced toward him, courage in her step, announcing her suggestion with pride was different. And as much as Arthur agreed with her, he couldn't risk it. He pinched at his nose and turned to the ground, not being able to look at Morgana's profound stare, and sighed.

"How are we doing for weapons?" He asked out loud to anybody, as if considering Morgana's suggestion. Her brow relaxed as she turned to Merlin hopeful, Merlin in response pulled a face.

"Err.. There isn't much, but we should be able to scrape together what you need." Merlin replied before he licked his lips. Morgana watched as Arthur thought about what he should do, Morgana knew it was a thin thread to pull at, Arthur never liked to put people in harm's way, but whether he liked it or not they needed more people. Morgana frowned, knowing Arthur needed more convincing.

"Arthur, you know I'm good with a sword. Let me train a few woman, I'll only train those who want to help," she offered. Merlin nodded, it sounded reasonable. "And besides, you haven't enough men. If they were trained soldiers, maybe you'd stand a chance, but they're not." She waited for Arthur to respond and sighed. He was hopeless. Morgana threw her hands up in the air and turned to Merlin for help, her face aggravated that Arthur wouldn't see reason. Merlin then shrugged his shoulders, if Arthur won't listen to Morgana, then he won't listen to me. But then decided it was worth a try and stepped forward to Arthur.

"Perhaps sire, if me and Morgana were to train the woman, you could continue helping the men." Arthur then looked up at Merlin, perhaps considering his suggestion. His face motioned for Merlin to continue. "I know I'm not the best when it comes to training-" Arthur scoffed loudly at that "- but with you and Morgana's help, we'd be training over forty people…" He then paused, noticing Morgana's victorious smirk as she knew Merlin had won Arthur over. Arthur slowly nodded his head and then placed a hand onto Merlin's shoulder,

"You're not as useless as you look, Merlin." He chimed as he pat Merlin on the back and sauntered past him, making his way to the sword fight practise. As he walked he spun round to look at Morgana and Merlin, "And Morgana…. Be easy on him." He teased, giving Merlin a mocking expression. Merlin falsely laughed and pointed at him mockingly, making it seem as if his joke was funny.

\\Merlin/

How do I get myself into these situations?

Merlin once again deflected another hard blow with his all trusted broomstick. After he stupidly suggested for him and Morgana train the woman of the village, they were both giving examples of how to fight properly with a sword to large crowds of woman.

"And if he comes from behind," Morgana then looked to Merlin, giving him the signal as she turned to the crowd of women. Merlin then proceeded to slowly walked up behind her, cursing himself for getting into this position, before Morgana jabbed him in the stomach. To the audience it was made to look brutal, giving them a realistic response; however him and Morgana had made a pact to not really hurt each other when demonstrating, so really it was just for show. The women watched with wide eyes as Merlin dropped to the floor 'in pain'. "Then you aim for the stomach," Morgana then finished off with a smile. "So… Any questions?" The group didn't say a word, still observing the moaning Merlin curled on the floor. "Okay..." Morgana spoke positively. "So if you team up into groups of four then you can train with one another with what we've taught you so far." All the woman nodded and soon scattered off into groups.

"Arthur wasn't wrong when he said you knew how to fight," Merlin commented briefly as he got up from the floor, brushing the dirt of his trousers. "I certainly wouldn't want to face you," he joked, giving her a smile. Morgana laughed lightly and sighed, correcting Merlin's scarf that must have messed up when they were doing their demonstration. "Oh, thanks."

Morgana seemed to ignore the thanks as she pushed him away roughly and picked up a sword that was held by the fence. Merlin looked at her puzzled,

"You know it's not just the woman and men that have to train, you do to." She affirmed, giving him a challenging grin as she narrowed him down to the corner with her sword. Merlin panicked, okay, wasn't prepared for this, and searched around,

"Fleoge," Merlin muttered as he looked toward the sword that was laid on the floor. The sword hurled up toward him and he caught it, a bit uneasily, but still. Morgana watched the spell with fascination, still not used to the captivating glow of his eyes that soon glowed after he started the spell.

"That's cheating," Morgana remarked, stepping forward and swinging her sword around to the side. Merlin was too preoccupied about not getting hit to reply to her little remark. He deflected her hit and then pushed her forward, making Morgana tumble back slightly, she looked up to him in surprise. So he can fight. She soon found it as a challenge and gave him a grin, making her blows harder and harder. Merlin gulped and grunted when Morgana tripped him over, causing him to drop his own sword. She laughed lightly and pointed his sword toward his chest.

"That's cheating," he breathed out, his chest heaving up and down. She regarded his words and raised her eyebrow,

"And," she looked around to see if anyone was about, "magic, isn't?" Her voice was hushed and quiet but her tone was still mocking and playful.

"Depends how you use it," he replied honestly, shaking his head as he lifted himself up. They both decided they had enough training for that day and made their way toward Hunith's home along with Arthur and Gwen.


I CAN'T WAIT FOR SOME OF THE UP COMING CHAPTERS! AH! Aha, after this 'episode' I plan to make a little add in of my own (it will all stay canon to the show, well besides Merlin and Morgana) but I know that many fans have said they've always wanted that particular thing to happen in an episode or such, so it will be amazing to write!