The Bonds of Friendship

Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to the BBC, only the storyline belongs to me

Exams are currently getting in the way of writing - apprantely they're quite important - but this fic will keep going!

Thankyou so much for the people that have reviewed and the people who have favourited or put it on story alert, and to those people who aren't logged in so I can't reply to, a very special thank you - it all means so much to me xx

I hope you enjoy it x

Maps

The piercing echo of an experimental potion, rhythmically falling into an empty brewing cauldron from where it hung, sliced through the ears of the room's silent inhabitants.

The three men were spread among the tense atmosphere; Arthur was perched on the edge of the work bench anxiously twitching his leg, Merlin lay on the physicians worn bed staring blankly at the musty ceiling and the physician himself stood in the far corner of the room, his usually hunched over back stiffly held up as his mind attempted to comprehend the information that had just been relayed.

The prince's eyes yet again flicked to the unresponsive form of his friend and he had to physically bite his tongue to prevent ordering Gaius to stop contemplating and respond.

Arthur understood that the man required a moment to analyse the current predicament and that he had every right to have a period of extended time due to the revealing of secrecy he had been a victim to, but for goodness sake his ward is sprouting blood like a broken water pump!

A calm breeze shuffled over Arthur's mind causing him to wince in guilt, he shouldn't be straining his friend; the damaged warlock didn't need a tide of high pressured emotions adding to his condition. He tried to draw his gaze with an apologetic wave but Merlin's eye-line remained fixed upwards; from the over-exaggerated chest movements and fogged blanket in his head, Arthur could sense that his friend was using his remaining strength to ignore the pain in his arm as well as stay conscious.

The prince was urging to go and comfort the boy but since Gaius' death glare when finding the two were conducting a silent conversation in front of him, Arthur was too scared of the potential consequences to move from his assigned seat.

"This is my fault for waiting for admittance rather than simply demanding an answer." Gaius' gruff voice tiredly announced, breaking through the prince's inner panic. Arthur's attention snapped back to the physician who had resumed his hunched posture, symbolising the heavy weight that had fallen on his shoulders.

"You mean you knew!" Arthur cried, an accusing tone slipping into the exclamation. He didn't miss Gaius flinch in response.

"Yes, I had an idea," The man signed as he lowered himself onto a wooden stool, running a hand over his strained face; the guilt-ridden tone and deepened wrinkles seemed to double the poor man's age, highlighting the distress he was under-going. "Though I didn't think it to be this serious," his voice lowered to a mummer as if trying to console his own being, "I just presumed Merlin had taken a minor risk with the spell he cast to heal you and decided not to tell me. I was gradually becoming more frustrated; I would have questioned the matter in a few days…"

Gaius raised his head at the interruption of a wheezy gasp; a shadow of a smile lighting on the injured members face, showing it was an attempt towards a laugh, "So that explains your new found door slamming habits."

The physician quickly angled a path through the array of potions and books and gently settled on the edge of his occupied bed; placing a hand on his wards own he softly replied, "Sorry about that my boy, it seems my annoyance has a way of relaying itself to door usage."

Merlin let out an airy chuckle but it sharply cut off as another hit of dizziness invaded; he widened his eyes and tried to regain focus on the now double-layered ceiling but little change occurred.

Another palm landed on his arm and a worried voice entered his head, Merlin? Merlin, stay focused… come on, don't you turn princess on us now and faint… you'll never hear the end of it.

The warlock noted the attempted light-heartening action though he couldn't call on any energy to reply; even Arthur's voice sounded more distant than usual, everything felt… wrong.

Arthur's breathing hitched when a lack of inclination came from Merlin. He wasn't even sure if his thoughts were being received; a condensed mist was over-taking his friends mind and slowly dragging him further from consciousness.

A sickening realisation suddenly struck the frightened man, causing him to snatch his hand from the boy's arm as bile rose in his throat, is that what death looks like?

"He's slipping," Arthur croaked. He shakily turned his head to look into the face of his last resort and Gaius saw the blinding terror in the prince's eyes; they were both holding the same wish. Merlin couldn't die.

Pushing off the bed, Gaius moved around the room at a speed he'd retired at the end of his youth. Snatching a variety of maps he swept a table clear, littering the floor with wooden bowls and rumpled parchment and dropped them on top. Then switching to the bookshelf, a collection of useless and valuable books alike were flung throughout the surroundings until his hand clasped a tattered ripped notebook which had been left and pushed to the forgotten alcoves of the shelf decades ago.

"Unfortunately I haven't encountered any magic like this before and with Merlin unable to tell me what spell he cast, I can't give any first-hand help; this strangers words are the only lead we have." The physician muttered, forcing down the sense of guilt of not having proper answers available, the timing of finding a gap in his knowledge was exceedingly frustrating.

"I've never come across the Caves of Animas which means with no clearer placement there are no map reference points to focus on," Gaius spoke with the pace he was flicking page after page, his determined eyes cutting the paper with rapid precision, "But that term, Nexa. I believe I've heard it before and if I'm right…"

His hand slammed down on the open book, releasing showers of dust into the air and his triumphant gaze switched back to the confused prince, "Nexa, meaning entwined… we've got a starting point."

Despite the physicians confidence burst, this new information had no epiphany effect on Arthur, "How does understanding a foreign term help us find these caves?" He asked, and with a quick glance at Merlin he moved to lean on the table which was now strewn with a few dozen maps of the entire entourage of surrounding Kingdoms.

Slapping the prince's hand off the corner of Caerleon Gaius proceeded to inspect the area with his enlarged eye due to the appearance of an over-sized magnifying glass; without halting his activity he replied, "That black book is a collection of my notes from my many encounters with the druids, more so from before your birth,"

Arthur leant over and grabbed the binding of battered parchment Gaius had indicated and skimmed through it to indeed find an array of words he'd never seen before, "I believed Nexa to be a druid term but needed to confirm the fact," Gaius continued, "And now that it's found that I was correct it considerably narrows down the regions in which these caves could be placed. Druids may be forced travellers but they always situate to the same settlements."

Crouching so that his head was at a distance that allowed his hair to stroke one of the maps, Arthur could just make out the small inscribing's that Gaius was studying. The maps were tattooed with hundreds of barely visible name places, from the title of a Kingdom down to a broken cottage on the edge of a border. The prince raised a questioning eyebrow, "Are maps normally labelled with this much detail?"

Gaius hissed a frustrated sigh and flung the map he had been examining into the far wall, collapsing another stack of scrolls across the infested floor as they became involved in the line of fire. Grabbing another map and repeating the searching process he tensely snapped, "Normal maps don't, my maps do."

Arthur bit back a sharp retort at the man's tone; they were both under the same levels of distress and he couldn't expect Gaius to retain his cool demeanour. Glancing to where Merlin laid the prince tried to stir his friend again by sending some reactive emotions to him, but the boy didn't even blink; his hollow eyes simply stayed frozen. He looked so similar to a corpse that Arthur had to turn his back and instead concentrate on the warlocks presence; the only factor that comforted him to remember that Merlin was still alive.

"Well what we planning to do when we find the caves?" The prince stiffly asked as he went to help look for the mysterious destination, although instead growling and storming to slouch against the wall on realising that he couldn't read the labels without a magnifying glass.

Gaius, who was now on his fourth map, shrugged his shoulders, sighing, "Travel to them and find this Keepay as instructed."

Arthur let out a harsh laugh, the high-strung situation leading his emotions, "Oh good idea, let's just follow the strangers advice and go to an unheard of place in a location we can't even find," he growled, his voice growing louder as he became more agitated, "Then we won't worry about the fact one of the travellers is lying half dead in the corner! Maybe I'll just drag him along behind me! It's not like he'd notice anyway! So what does it matter!"

Gaius' shaking form snapped up and with a flash of gold a hard-backed book smashed into the wall a few inches from Arthur's face, "What choice do we have!" He roared.

Both men stood with locked eyes in pools of rage, their breaths falling out in heavy pants; the elder hunched over in a withdrawn fire of emotions and the younger firmly straightened with his frights weaving off him for all to see.

A low whimper sounded from the far corner and the two pairs of eyes drew to the source before returning to each other, a sense of understanding passed between them and with an apologetic cough of "Sorry," the uncontrolled moment was forgotten.

"So will the caves definitely be marked on one of these maps?" Arthur asked, returning to once more cast an eye over the fine artworks.

Gaius gave a slight nod from his returned scanning, "Most likely," he muttered before glancing up to the prince and raising a trademark eyebrow, "Meaning you need to go and request Uther's permission for a hunting trip."

A similar yet not as exaggerated reflection of the physician's expression lit Arthur's face, "You expect my father to allow me a relaxation trip despite his current hatred for both Merlin and I?"

Ignoring the prince's disbelieving tone Gaius continued his demand, "Your father doesn't hate you, simply… disagrees with your current views," A breathy laugh sounded from the blonde boy at the diluted description, "But either way, you can't simply disappear into the night. Uther would become incredibly dramatic and start killing citizens claiming that they'd all kidnapped you or other actions to that effect."

Arthur hid his face in his hands letting out an exasperated groan, Gaius was obviously correct in his predictions, but that didn't make the prospect of talking to his father any easier. Sliding two of his fingers apart, he cracked open an eye to see Gaius' firm gaze staring at him, "Ugh, fine!" The prince exclaimed, flinging his arms into the air before moodily striding to the door and forcing it open, "But just remember that this is all pointless if he kills me!"

Slamming the door behind him, the boy missed the physicians rolling eyes and despite the circumstances, amused smirk.


Twenty minutes later the same door got re-slammed with even stronger rage in the opposite direction as the red-faced prince stormed back into the room.

Gaius, who was perched next to his ward again, stopped filling a leather bag with a range of food and flasks to watch the fuming man with a blaze in his eyes and whitened knuckles due to his tightened fists forcefully land on the chair next to him.

"Well that was a waste of an argument! Luckily he didn't have his sword in reaching distance; otherwise I would have been its guaranteed recipient!" He huffed, throwing his hands about to emphasise his words, "I'll probably not have a voice in the morning due to the volume the conversation held!"

But the ranting prince was too caught up in his emotions to realise that Gaius was no longer listening and was instead continuing to pack a travelling sized bag. "He started by laughing at my request! That itself automatically proved he wasn't going to allow the trip! And then…"

The prince's hysteria was halted as a now full leather bag was dropped onto his lap. Frowning in confusion he turned his head to follow where the giver of the item was walking to pick up an identical object and stuff it with more clear flasks containing different coloured liquids.

"Of course Uther was going to deny the trip; he currently hates you." The physician stated in an off-handed manner, taking little notice of Arthur's gaping mouth.

Arthur blinked as he tried to understand why then, he had just allowed himself to be shouted at for a time period that had been too long for anyone's liking, "But… you said…"

Flapping his hands to move the lost boy off his chair and taking his place to lean over the currently more stable form of Merlin and readjust the new bandage he had place over the open wound, he replied in a tone usually retained for conversations with children, "Well I was lying. I needed to locate the Caves of Animas and your mood swings were distracting."

The blunt explanation caused Arthur's mouth to snap shut and he frowned, glancing around the room in self-conscious surprise, did Gaius just…

A rough scroll of parchment was thrust into his hands, signalising the end of the topic, and Gaius led into a new conversation, "That's the map you'll need, the Caves of Animas weren't specifically labelled but the general area had the Animas title and it includes a cave range so it's the best shot."

Shaking off his dis-belief at Gaius' manipulation, Arthur quickly un-rolled the map to study it, shuffling his body to the side as Gaius passed by to go back to the work bench. This seems to be a simple enough journey… and it can't be that far away; he skimmed the paper for the reference to which Kingdom the map was presenting, what…

"This is on the border of Lorem!" He exclaimed, the map rustling under his increased grip.

Gaius gave a sigh for the will of patience and turned to fix the predictably angered prince with a scolding expression, "I am aware of that Arthur," the physician reprimanded, momentarily forgetting the status of to whom he spoke, "And as you're currently doing, I have considered the idea of this being one of Cirion's schemes. But the placement of the caves doesn't alter the fact that this is the only course of action available; it's a risk that must be taken."

Arthur looked to Merlin and let Gaius' orders seep into his resistance, the boy's presence was still ever fading and at this stage it was likely his friend wasn't aware of any of his surroundings, meaning that an arrow or sword to the heart would cause him no pain if a trap was where he leaded them; this thought gave the prince a form of mild twisted comfort.

"But will he survive the journey?" Arthur whispered, Gaius took this question as an acceptance to go to the Cave of Animas and he moved to the prince's side, holding out a small flask that was half empty.

"I've given him a spoon of honey to attempt to increase his energy levels so his body can continue functioning for longer, whenever you sense him drastically slipping place another helping on his tongue. It's hardly ideal but it will have to do." Leaning forward to indicate Merlin's wounded arm the physician continued with his analysing tone, "I've dressed the wound with powdered bark of hemlock to lower the flow of blood and also added some yarrow to try and keep it from infecting. It'd be easier to treat if this magic wasn't blocking the cut from healing but since there's no sign of it currently doing-so, it's doubtful that it will decide to at a later point."

Gaius slipped out of his medical façade with the last line, and he subtly tilted his face from the prince's view to hide the water in his eyes at the thought of the true extent of the unlikelihood that his adopted son would still be alive when he reached the caves.

Protected from the truth of his friend's grave state, Arthur didn't notice the man's distress, "So when shall we leave?"

Gaius patted the prince's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze in an effort to convince himself that this man would somehow bring him back his boy with air still in his lungs. Switching his gaze to the light of the sun that beat down on the court yard he spoke in a blank tone to hide the heart that was breaking, "I wish I could say now… but you wouldn't even reach the lower town at this time."

The broken man looked to his son in all but blood and sent out a silent prayer as he whispered, "You'll leave under nightfall."


It was a clear night, the absence of clouds allowing the objects of the sky to illuminate the vast forest surrounding the castle and the gentle breeze carrying fragments of blossom, causing them to dance over the sleeping city; it was a beautiful sight.

Cirion snatched a shad of blossom from the air and crushed it in his palm, his face scrunched in disgust. He despised everything to do with Camelot and despite his hatred for the Kingdom, what made it worse was the logical part of his mind reminding him that Uther's land was by far greater than his own, and that boy doesn't deserve to inherit it.

The King would have preferred to not be torturing himself with the view of such a perfect Kingdom but the south wing tower was offering rescue from forced laughs and polite agreements in the court room where Uther and his knights were supposedly attempting some sort of casual meeting.

Cirion had only attended a gathering of such ridiculous notions as he'd considered that the prince would be showing his much-loved presence but unfortunately, he did not.

The royal had been scouting out Arthur for the entirety of the day; since he'd now released the servant from his command the revengeful man had been prepared to move along with his next scheme of attack.

He was sure the son of Uther the Magic Hater would find his friends secret very interesting.

Though despite his efforts, Cirion had been unable to grab a moment with Arthur; he had managed to catch the prince's sleeve as he stormed out of the throne room after an apparent argument with his father, but the obnoxious boy had pushed him off and slid away in a childish tantrum.

Aurea never acted with such rude manners, the thought emerged before he could block it; and a sad smile faltered on his lips as an image of brunette locks and brown eyes swum into his mind, those eyes that had been filled with so many tears…

He tried to forget the memories; they brought so many unwanted emotions and pain, feelings that he didn't want to deal with, if only I'd…

A rhythmic sound of hurried hooves cut through the King's thoughts and his head snapped up to catch the back of a horse carrying two people, disappearing into the forest; one of the riders had been hunched forward, obviously urging the animal to run with pace, where the other rider had been lying across the body, held in by his companions arms to prevent him from falling. Cirion cursed and slapped his gloved hand against the balcony stone, he could recognise that torment of blonde hair anywhere and it was no guess to who his fellow rider was.

With his mind focusing back to the situation which was less painful to handle, an animalistic growl rolled from the man's throat; if neither the prince nor his pup were present then how was he supposed to reveal his information and break them!

Clutching the edge of the tower, his eyes fixed on the tree-line where his plan had escaped the man's chest beat in heavy pants as the anger over took his body. His idea had been flawless! Now who else would care about a servant with magical qualities…

The realisation hit him like a ton of bricks and he flinched at his own stupidity; straightening up and smoothing down his hair that had flown wild in his fit of anger, the royal led himself back towards the side door, after all, it would be rude to leave his host without a fellow high-class member to speak to.

And he was sure Uther would be very interested in a certain topic he could bring to the conversation.

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