Thanks for the reviews, especially the suggestions for improvement. It means a lot to hear from people who read this. I don't own Merlin. Because, you know, enough people get confused that I decided it's best I just announce it.
Merlin had spent the last few hours of their walk in silence. He'd been thinking at first about what had happened, and the effects of it lingered even when he'd given up, bogged down in confusion, and moved his mind to other subjects. Arthur too had been quiet. They'd had to be more careful as they got further from Merlin's cabin and into areas where trees became more sparse and soldiers more common. Between that and the rockier terrain, their current progress was markedly slower than it had been earlier in the day. As Arthur paused to take out a water bottle, Merlin took the opportunity to look at their current path.
"Anything?" Arthur turned around, fiddling with the cap on the bottle.
"What?"
"I thought that the brief pause in the scuffling meant you were... looking ahead or whatever it is you do. Weren't you?"
"No, I was just, you know," Merlin stumbled to find an excuse before he caught himself, "Yeah, I was. All clear."
Arthur looked at him quizzically, "Alright then."
He returned his attention to the cap. After a few seconds, Merlin took the bottle and unscrewed it.
"It turns, see. I showed you this morning."
"Right," Arthur grabbed it back brusquely.
"You'll get used to it, the change, I mean. The time, how long you were gone, anyone would take a while to..." he drifted off under Arthur's gaze.
"Merlin. Stop blathering for once."
"Right. Yeah."
"Let's get going," he clapped Merlin on the shoulder harder than was necessary, and started to pick his way down the path again. Merlin grimaced, suspecting Arthur was more annoyed than he let on.
Merlin adjusted his pack and started walking, glancing up as he did. There would only be an hour or two before they'd have to stop walking for the night. A shadow blocking the sun shifted and he turned away from the glare. He sped up to close the gap between him and Arthur, his brow creasing in thought. He got the feeling that there was something going on that he had yet to figure out. The strange events earlier in the day practically confirmed it.
He glanced up at Arthur, his shoulders tense under the rucksack. It was strange seeing him in those clothes, seeing him through young eyes. It was strange seeing him at all. With all the thought he'd given over the years, and especially in recent months, to Arthur's return, it still managed to catch him off guard.
Merlin was so sunk in thought that he forgot to check their path as it took them around the corner of a cliff. With shouts and snaps a group of five soldiers descended on them, circling the pair. Excalibur was in Arthurs hand in one silver flash. Everyone stood, wary, the silence ringing around them. The soldiers carried knives, except for the leader, who held a gun. Merlin's gaze fixed on it. He slowly began to shift his stance.
"Who're you and what's your business?" The leader spoke in a growl.
Arthur's eyes flitted to Merlin before he answered, "Look, we mean you no harm-"
A woman holding a knife let out a barking laugh. As the others glanced at her, Merlin seized his chance. Eyes flashing, he flicked his fingers at the gun, and darted his gaze to a branch above them. Both fell to the ground, the branch distracting the soldiers long enough for Arthur to take action. He swung Excalibur in a smooth ark, twisting the blade to knock a knife to the ground. In another swift motion he brought the hilt down with a crack on someone's head. The woman who'd laughed crashed into Merlin, knocking him over. He glanced at Arthur to make sure he was busy before muttering a spell to bring the branch swinging into her stomach.
Behind him, one of the others started shouting, "Enemy scouts, help!"
Scrambling to his feet, Merlin took off running. After a moment's pause, Arthur bolted too. Looking over his shoulder, Merlin saw three of the soldiers running after them. Doing his best to keep his eyes on where he was going, Merlin cast spells behind him as he ran, tripping up their pursuers and snagging their clothing on branches. Merlin and Arthur managed to gain enough headway to lose sight of their pursuers for a moment, though they could still hear them coming. Still running, they rounded another corner of rocky outcrop and saw a cave. They both darted in and pressed their backs against the wall, panting. Peering out, Merlin waved his hand to cover their tracks, then, with a furtive glance at Arthur, sent another set leading off in another direction. For the next few torturous moments the pair stayed pressed into the mouth of the cave, waiting as silently as they could.
After a short time that felt interminable, they heard the noise of the soldiers passing. It seemed there were only two now, the third presumably having returned to their base. After they'd followed his fake trail, Merlin closed his eyes and relaxed against the wall. Arthur shrugged off his pack and walked further into cave, sheathing his sword as he did.
"Well, this seems a good enough place to stay for the night. I don't think we should go out again today."
Merlin nodded and took off his own rucksack. Slowly, he began to go about the process of rolling out the sleeping bags and pulling out food. There wasn't much, so he only took out just enough for each of them. Arthur watched him from the cave's mouth for a moment before speaking.
"Couldn't you do that more quickly?"
"I suppose. I always have been incompetent though."
"No, I mean with your... magic."
"Oh, right. Habit."
"After 1500 years? You're slower than I thought."
Merlin didn't answer, he'd lost the habit more years ago than he wanted to remember, but now... He glanced haltingly toward the mess he had made unpacking and began murmuring a spell. The bag's contents repacked itself neatly, leaving just their sleeping bags and food on the cave floor. Arthur pushed himself off the cave wall and sat down, unbuckling his sword belt and taking it off as he did so.
"Do we need a fire for this food?"
"No, they're called sandwiches. Vegetables between bread. We'll need a fire for the canned stuff, but I thought this would be better tonight." Merlin picked up the plastic bag and looked at the two small sandwiches, "I hope the bread's not mouldy."
Merlin took one out of the bag and tossed the other to Arthur, smiling as Arthur looked startled. Slowly, he pulled out the second one and peered between the bread, "Measly gruel, mouldy bread. I'm not sure I can take much more of this food."
Merlin took a bite. Swallowing, he said, "It's not mouldy. The vegetables aren't even that bad."
Arthur ate some of his cautiously, "I'm not sure what you're comparing this to, but I can't say I agree."
"I grew the vegetables. It's the only way to get good food, especially since I've been lying low."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you're an awful gardener."
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. Any feedback is most welcome. Also, special thanks to dmcmeel412 who, with this chapter, has begun acting as beta for these things, that should fix the missed letters and words infesting my work.
