Here's a commission fic for Aini NuFire! I hope you enjoyed how this turned out ^_^
Hunters and Hunted
A Merlin Fanfic
Arthur could never figure out why everything bad that seemed to happen around Camelot came out of the woods.
It just seemed like whenever they stepped foot in the woods, something was bound to go wrong. And this time they'd just been on a hunt; partly for a little downtime, partly because there were a few wild boars spotted in the vicinity and they could be dangerous. They'd all split up in pairs to spread out and Arthur had gone with Lancelot, both of them hefting spears as they searched for any sign of the boars.
"We're a little far off the main trail," Lancelot commented after they had been searching for a while.
"Yes, and I would assume that the boars would be more inclined to be out here where fewer people would pass by," Arthur replied, even though he was starting to get bored. And maybe Lancelot was right. They hadn't seen any sign of boars at all. It might be time to go back.
A branch snapped and they turned, moving forward, only to find the ground under them exploding in a burst of leaves and their feet getting snatched right from underneath them.
Arthur and Lancelot both cried out as they were smashed together inside a large net, armor and weaponry leaving bruises, as they were crushed against each other in the net's restraint.
"What the hell is this?" Arthur growled as he fought to get purchase so he wasn't crushing Lancelot. The knight was doing the same but at that moment the sound of running footsteps crashing through the woods caught their ears and several men appeared, surrounding the net and looking up at the king and knight caught in the trap.
"Well, would you look at that," one said with a chuckle.
"Yes, we appear to have gotten caught in one of your hunting traps," Arthur snapped. "Would you be so kind as to let us down now?"
The men only got closer, cruel laughter bubbling up. Arthur looked around and saw more of them appearing from the woods. One man elbowed through the others, and Arthur thought he was likely to be the leader considering how the men reacted to him.
"Warren, take a look at what we caught," one of the men called.
"Very funny, let us down," Arthur told them.
The men only laughed harder and Arthur got even more furious.
It was Lancelot who spoke though. "Enough! Can't you see this is King Arthur of Camelot? You would do best to release us now!"
A hush fell over the gathered men, but it was not one of fear, more one of interest. Arthur began to get a bad feeling about this.
"Is that so?" the leader, Warren apparently, said, stepping forward. "In the company of royalty then, are we? Well, boys, you better let them down then."
A couple ropes were sliced through and Arthur and Lancelot gave a short cry as they were dropped to the ground.
Arthur tried to scramble to his feet, reaching for his sword, but he and Lancelot were still tangled within the net and it was wrapped around his sword hilt as well as the spear, leaving him defenseless.
The bandits or whatever they were, encroached on them, hemming them in and finally reached down to grab Arthur and his knight, hauling them out of the netting and relieving them of their weapons. Arthur and Lancelot struggled furiously, but there were too many of the men and they were all huge and strong.
"Unhand me," Arthur growled. "You do realize I could have you executed for this."
Warren, the leader, laughed, and it was not a pleasant sound. "Is that so? Well, frankly I don't give a rat's ass about the fact that you're the king. Your authority means nothing out here. I run these parts. You might find it's better if you bow to me and pay your respects. Boy."
Arthur bristled. He wondered where the others were, but knew they could be miles away and likely wouldn't even be able to hear them shout for help.
Not that they were going to get the chance, depending on what these men had planned.
"What do you want with us?" Lancelot demanded.
"Hm," Warren grunted, striding closer and looking them both up and down. "I work in slave trade. And two strong warriors like yourselves would fetch a fair amount."
Arthur blanched, horrified that someone could be running an operation like that practically under his nose. "You what?" he demanded.
"You heard me, your majesty," Warren said mockingly. "My business has been slim lately, but having you two in my next shipment will make up for the past fortnight of sparseness."
"How dare you!" Arthur growled, yanking against the grip of his captors. "I demand an end to your depraved business."
One of the men holding him slammed a fist into his stomach and Arthur doubled over as Lancelot fought against his own captors, trying to get free. But one of the men simply slammed the hilt of his sword into the back of Lancelot's head, putting an end to his struggling as the knight crashed to the ground.
Arthur shouted in desperation and tried again to break free. It wasn't that there would be much he could do outnumbered as he was, but he would be damned if he didn't do what he could.
Unfortunately, the slavers seemed to tire of his pointless fighting and simply decided to knock him out as well. Arthur collapsed heavily to the ground, the last thing he knew was the smell of the soil before he fell unconscious.
Arthur groaned as he came to, rolling onto his side, head aching. He tried to reach up to clutch it, but his hands wouldn't move, and it took a moment for him to realize they were bound behind him.
"Arthur."
He looked over to see Lancelot sitting up beside him, hands also bound behind his back, eyes pinched in pain. They'd both been stripped of their chain mail, he realized, which, while it was actually a bit more comfortable due to their position, Arthur was not happy to see that they had no protection or weaponry to use now.
"Ugh," Arthur groaned again as he fought to sit up and failed a couple times before he made it, dizzy, head pounding. "Where are we?"
"I assume we've been taken to the slavers' camp," Lancelot replied. "But I just woke up too."
Arthur looked around. They seemed to be in some sort of supply tent, but he could hear the sounds of loud voices and rowdy conversation outside; the smell of wood smoke and something cooking.
"Do you think you can untie me?" he asked Lancelot quickly.
The knight glanced toward the tent entrance. "I can try, but I don't know how many men are out there."
"This might be the only opportunity we get," Arthur told him grimly and Lancelot nodded, motioning for Arthur to turn around.
They shuffled to get into position, Lancelot having to turn his back to Arthur's and crane his head to look back over his shoulder in order to see what he was doing. On top of the awkward position, Lancelot's fingers were numb and clumsy from being tied up for so long.
Unfortunately, they didn't get very far before the flap of the tent was yanked open and Warren, and one of his other men stepped through, eyes instantly going to their captives' bound hands.
"What's this? Trying to escape. Not gonna get too far," Warren snarled.
Arthur glowered up at him. "What exactly do you think you're going to do with us? My other knights are out in this forest somewhere, and they probably have already figured out we're missing. You don't think someone is going to come looking for me?"
"And just how far do you think you'll have to travel to sell the king of Camelot as a slave?" Lancelot added.
"Hmm," Warren mused contemplatively. "I suppose that selling the king off could cause more trouble than you're worth." He was silent for a few more seconds before he nodded. "I suppose I could be willing to offer a deal."
"Oh, yes? What kind of deal?" Arthur growled.
Warren cocked his head to one side, eyes narrowing. "I will let you go, your majesty, but I will be keeping your knight."
Arthur's eyes widened as his gaze shot from the slaver to Lancelot. "What? Absolutely not!"
"I know you're not used to this, your majesty, but I have the upper hand here. I have all these men at my beck and call and you only have one who is in the same position as you right now. You're not really in any place to bargain."
"Really?" Arthur countered, pushing himself further up on his knees. "And what happens when I walk out of here, hm? You really think I won't come back and shut your little empire down?"
Warren's eyes flashed dangerously, but Arthur continued. "I offer you another deal. You and I fight in a fair duel. If you win, you can do whatever you want with us. If I win, then you will let both myself and Sir Lancelot leave, and I won't try to stop you and your…business." Well, that was a lie, but he only had to bluff long enough for them to get out of there.
The slavers looked at him contemplatively for a long moment. The second in command leaned in and whispered something to Warren who nodded slowly, but then pushed the other man away. "Very well, your majesty. I will accept your offer of a duel. As long as you are a man of your word."
"Are you?" Arthur countered back.
They stared each other down for a long moment before Warren chuckled, but didn't reply. He nodded to his man who bent, pulling a knife from his belt to cut Arthur's bonds.
"Come on then. Let's see what you can do," Warren sneered.
Arthur glanced toward Lancelot who looked a little worried, but nodded. He knew well enough how skilled Arthur was with a blade. He'd won tournaments against the best knights in the land. There was no way he could lose against a man like Warren.
They trooped out to the center of the huge camp, and the other slavers began to gather around. Warren's second had a hold on Lancelot, keeping him off to one side, probably as collateral if Arthur tried anything.
Warren grabbed two swords and tossed one to Arthur who bent to pick it up.
"All right then, your majesty," the slaver said with a smirk. "Let's see if you can back up your confidence with action."
Arthur gave the sword a twirl to test the weight and fell into a fighting stance, staring at the man. "Same to you."
Warren didn't bother wasting time; he charged Arthur and Arthur dodged his wide swing, then caught the second blow. Warren's blow might have been powerful, but Arthur could already tell how wide he swung, and left himself open. He had a lot of strength and seemed to rely on that too much without paying enough attention to skill. Arthur was going to have an easy time using that against him.
Arthur struck out himself this time and Warren stepped back, parrying it faster than Arthur had thought he would. They traded several more blows and Arthur found himself getting pushed back toward the camp fire. He needed to change position quickly.
So he feinted toward Warren's shoulder, forcing him to bring his sword up to protect it. Arthur quickly dodged and skipped to the side, slashing his blade across Warren's ribs.
The slaver howled in shock and fury, and he swung around, his sword going right over Arthur's head as the king ducked just in time.
The next blow forced Arthur to execute a dive roll, coming up just in time to block another blow. He was panting from the exertion and his head still ached. He really needed to get off the defensive if he was going to conserve enough energy to win this fight.
That was when Warren made a mistake though. He kicked out at Arthur in frustration, but the king dodged and took the opportunity that arose when Warren left his body open.
Arthur brought the sword up, slicing across Warren's chest, and kicking out at the same moment, slamming his foot into the other man's sword arm.
Warren's sword fell to the ground, as he cried out in pain. Arthur swept his legs from under him and to a collective gasp from the gathered slavers, he stood over the fallen man and pressed his sword into Warren's throat.
The huge slaver was gasping, staring up with wide eyes as Arthur glowered down at him, pushing a little harder with the blade.
"I would say I won this fight, wouldn't you?" Arthur quirked an eyebrow, still catching his breath. "Now, I'm taking Sir Lancelot, and we're going to leave."
He jabbed the sword into Warren's windpipe one last time, making the slaver gag, before he turned around, heading for Lancelot, hoping they could get out of there before the slavers changed their mind.
Lancelot looked relieved for only a brief moment before his eyes grew wide. "Arthur! Watch out!"
Arthur whipped around at Lancelot's shout of warning to see Warren rising onto his elbow, drawing a dagger from inside his tunic.
Lancelot started running, and before Arthur could react, the blade was thrown and at the same time, Lancelot slammed into him, bearing them both to the ground.
Lancelot gasped from the impact and as Arthur sat up, dazed, helping the knight, he was horrified to see the dagger sticking out of his side.
"Lancelot," he gasped.
"Don't…worry about it," Lancelot gritted out. "Get out of here!"
"Get them!" Warren shouted.
Arthur leapt up, hauling Lancelot with him who cried out in pain. Arthur didn't have time to worry about that right now thought. They needed to get out of the camp now.
He yanked Lancelot toward the campfire and grabbed a rack of clothes that were drying above it, toppling them into the fire. They caught and fire began to spread toward the food tent, causing some of the slavers to scream and rush to start putting it out, while others continued in their pursuit of the escapees, only to get tangled up with the men trying to put the fire out.
It gave Arthur and Lancelot enough time to escape, but Arthur was pretty sure their luck wouldn't last long.
Lancelot was already flagging, and Arthur was practically carrying him now, not even having enough time to cut his hands loose.
"Come on," he encouraged the knight. "There must be some place we can hide for a while."
"Ar—Arthur," Lancelot groaned, stumbling and falling harder against Arthur's side. "Just…leave me. Go save yourself."
"You're insane," Arthur told him firmly. "I'm not leaving you out here."
Lancelot gasped again and tripped over a branch. Arthur hauled him closer and supported more of his weight, glancing around frantically for any place that might make a good hiding spot.
"Arthur," Lancelot gasped. "I—I have to stop."
Arthur bit his lip and looked around. He could still hear the men shouting. They were in the woods looking for them, but it was starting to get dark, so they might just have a better chance of hiding now.
That was when he saw the huge tree ahead with a hollow under the roots. Arthur sighed in relief and renewed his grip on Lancelot. "Just a little further."
Lancelot groaned, but didn't protest. Arthur pulled him toward the tree and was grateful when he found the hiding spot was big enough for both of them.
He lowered Lancelot inside first, and then slid in next to him.
It was dark, but Arthur managed to untie the knight who sighed in relief as his hands were finally freed, groaning as his shoulders protested.
Arthur used the last of the dim light to reach over and inspect the small dagger that was still sticking out of Lancelot's side, moving with each labored breath.
"How bad?" Arthur asked, feeling bad he hadn't had the chance to even tend to Lancelot's basic needs in their haste to escape.
Lancelot groaned. "Don't…think it's too deep. But…GAH!"
Arthur swiftly pulled it out, and bunched up the edge of Lancelot's tunic to stop the bleeding as the knight curled up, a clumsy hand pressed to his mouth as he fought not to make a lot of noise.
"Sorry," Arthur whispered, feeling completely out of his element. Merlin was the one who usually did the healing, since he had learned from Gaius. At least he knew enough to know he had to stop the bleeding. And there was a lot of blood. Arthur could already feel it coating his hands. Maybe he shouldn't have been so hasty in pulling the dagger out.
He bit his lip and then set about tearing the skirt of his own tunic, to make bandages. He maneuvered Lancelot to a partially sitting position and pulled his shirt up as he began to clumsily wrap the makeshift bandages around him.
Lancelot tensed and groaned, trying to be quiet, but Arthur knew it had to hurt. He tied them tight, hoping it would help to stop the bleeding and then sat back on his heels, not knowing what else to do.
Lancelot was shivering, and Arthur was worried. It wasn't exactly cold out that he could tell, but maybe it had something to do with the blood loss—which was even more worrying. He carefully propped the knight up against his chest, trying to share a little body heat with him to see if that would help. Lancelot seemed to be mostly out of it now, eyes closed and breath coming in soft, labored gasps as he wrapped his arms around himself.
Arthur thought he was asleep, until Lancelot opened his eyes briefly to look up at him. "You…you should leave. I'll be fine here. But you need to get…back to the…others." Lancelot swallowed hard and winced, shifting against Arthur as a wave of pain washed over him.
But Arthur shook his head. "No. I'm not going to leave you here."
"But you're the king!" Lancelot protested. "Your life is more important than mine."
"Not to me," Arthur told him simply.
Lancelot looked desperate. "Arthur!"
"Yes, I'm the king, Lancelot, which is why I refuse to obey your orders," Arthur told him with a small smile. Lancelot sighed heavily. "I'm not leaving one of my best men to die," Arthur continued, firmly.
Lancelot shook his head but closed his eyes again.
They sat like that for a while, until Arthur could hear footsteps in the woods, and muffled talking. He sank further back into the small hollow, tightly gripping the sword he still held and pulling Lancelot back with him, hoping it would be enough to keep them hidden.
"I got something here," a voice said. "Looks like some blood. They must have come this way."
Arthur held his breath as he heard the men getting closer and closer, and then finally one gave a shout.
"Hey, what about this? Looks like there's some kind of hollow under this tree!"
Arthur braced himself, sword pointing upward, ready to stab anyone who looked in at them.
A face loomed out of the darkness and a wicked grin spread over his lips.
"Well, look what we have here. Two cornered rabbits!"
Arthur gave a shout, stabbing upwards, and catching the man in the shoulder.
Chaos ensued after that. The man Arthur stabbed screamed and fell back, but there were more shouts from the other men and the sound of clashing swords.
All of a sudden, Merlin appeared, looking into the hollow.
"Arthur!" he cried, relief obvious in his eyes.
"Merlin, thank god," Arthur sighed, shifting. "Lancelot has been hurt. Can you help me get him out?"
Merlin nodded, calling to Gwaine who hurried over to help and between them, they pulled Lancelot's now unconscious form carefully out of the tree hollow. Merlin instantly set to inspecting his wound as Gwaine reached down to help Arthur out as well.
"We were worried when you two never made it back to camp. Figured something must have happened," the knight said.
Arthur sighed gratefully. "Thank you." He glanced toward Merlin who was inspecting Lancelot's wound. "How is he?"
"We need to get him back to Camelot," Merlin told him, lips pinched in a worried frown. "I can't really see all the damage in the dark, but it looks like he's lost a lot of blood."
The slavers were being rounded up by the rest of the hunting party and horses were brought for Arthur and Lancelot. Merlin got up behind the injured knight to keep him in the saddle and they started off back to Camelot.
Arthur was still worried about Lancelot's condition, but he was also relieved that they were headed back home. He had some amazing men who were always there when he needed him.
One of these days, though, he really wanted to just have a relaxing hunting trip.
The next day, Arthur went to visit Lancelot in Gaius's rooms first thing in the morning. He'd been reluctant to leave his friend the night before, but knew he was in good hands, and that he would only get in the way. Still, he was eager to see if Lancelot's condition had improved.
He came in to Merlin making breakfast, some kind of porridge from the looks of it.
Merlin looked up, surprised. "Oh, Arthur, I'm sorry, I didn't think you would be up yet," he said, looking a little guilty.
Arthur raised a hand to wave him off. "I'm fine. I figured you would be busy with Lancelot. How is he?"
Merlin smiled. "He'll be fine. Gaius is with him now if you wanted to go see him."
Arthur glanced toward the back of the room where a screen had been put up, behind which were a couple cots.
Arthur stepped over and found Gaius finishing up tying new bandages around Lancelot's middle as the knight blinked sleepily.
"There we go," Gaius said, patting the wounded maan fondly on the shoulder, then looked up to see Arthur. "Oh, sire, I didn't hear you come in."
"It's all right, Gaius, I just wanted to see how Lancelot was doing."
The knight looked up at him and gave a small smile. He looked exhausted and a little pale, but better than Arthur had expected. "I'm doing okay, sire."
Arthur felt relief flood through him. "I'm glad. I'm sorry we ended up in that situation to begin with. But you…you didn't have to risk yourself for me. That was foolish."
Lancelot shook his head at him. "You're my king. Of course I would give my life for you if I had to. You're also my friend."
Arthur was a little surprised at his honest admission, but found himself unable to help a smile, if not one that was a little pained. "I know I should be over people sacrificing themselves for me, but…I suppose it's not something you can get over easily. I'm just…glad that it turned out okay this time."
Lancelot smiled and his eyes looked heavy. "Me too."
Arthur realized how exhausted he looked and cleared his throat. "Well, I should probably let you sleep. I'm sure you'll make a swift recovery."
Lancelot nodded. "I'm sure I will. Thank you, Arthur."
Arthur nodded with a small smile before he left Lancelot to his rest.
He counted himself lucky. It was one thing to have loyal knights who would die for you because you were the king, but it was another to have true friends. Arthur knew he would prefer the latter any day.