Moorgarna has fallen asleep on him. He doesn't like it. It is awkward and annoying because if he moves he will surely wake her. He knows she doesn't want to wake up because if she did she would've done that herself. She also looks very tired. There are dark circles around her eyes. Tired people don't like being woken up. But it was still no excuse for sleeping in the middle of the day and on his shoulder.
She keeps jiggling around in her sleep, too. Saying things. He can't understand what she says, either because he can't remember what the words mean or because she doesn't say it properly. Every so often, she flinches a bit and digs her fingernails into his bare arm, gripping it tightly. It hurts and he is sure he has seen some thin, red dents in his skin already.
But he still doesn't move. He desperately wants to; his legs are starting to ache from being sat down for ages and he wants to go and check on the piles of berries. He needs to know which ones are poisonous or not. If he doesn't find out, they will either starve or eat the wrong ones and die. He doesn't like the sound of any of those options.
He keeps forgetting to ask Moorgarna where Ealdor is. When she is awake, he forgets to ask her. When he remembers, she is asleep. She is a very inconvenient person.
It wasn't like he could ask her, anyway. Not with words. It is hard to think of a way to explain it to her. He could try using the hand movements again, but they weren't very reliable and Moorgarna often thought he was doing other things that made her cheeks turn bright red and squeal with laughter. He wasn't sure what exactly she thought he was trying to say or do, but it made her happy so he did it all the more.
And what was that thing she had said about him being an elf? Were elves nice? Was she being kind to him? Perhaps he was an elf and that's why the red capes were after him. Maybe she was an elf, too. They did look alike. Moorgarna the elf... maybe not.
She is jiggling around even more now, muttering something he can't understand. He sighs deeply; he wishes he could sleep, too. It is so sunny and warm, his skin heated by the hot light from the sun, and there is a small, cool breeze blowing over them. He can hear the birds' chirping fading off into the back of his mind and he can feel his body relaxing and eyelids becoming heavier and heavier as he tries to keep them open. He could just let his head rest back against the tree, his cheek resting on the top of Moorgarna's head... he can smell her hair, it smells so nice... like flowers... if he could just sleep...
No, he thinks, snapping his eyes back open and shaking his head to get rid of the warm, fuzz that seemed to be filling it. If he went to sleep as well, then there would be no-one to keep lookout for the red capes and whoever Moorgarna was running away from. He might not be very good at fighting and he doesn't have a weapon, but it is his job to protect them. Especially if Moorgarna was going to fall asleep on him all the time.
But, if he wasn't going to sleep then he had to get up. Otherwise he might get really bored. So, he slides out of their semi-embrace and swivels around so he is in front of Moorgarna. She releases her hold of his arm and frowns in her sleep at his loss. He cups her cheek in his palm to keep her head upright while he unclasps her cape from around her shoulders, bundling it up into a ball. He places it down on the grass and gently guides her face down to lay on the replacement pillow. Remarkably, she stays asleep and he smiles his relief as she continues her afternoon sleep lying down.
Merlin gets up slowly, just in case he makes a noise, and treads carefully over to the piles of berries that were a few trees away and hidden behind some green shrubs. Grabbing a handful of leaves, he pushes the bushes to the side to get a better look at the berries.
The plan has worked. Only the lighter coloured berries remain and there is a small, brown bird next to them, twitching in the grass. Happy that his idea has been successful, he wants to call back to Moorgarna, to tell her that they can eat the dark berries, but then he remembers that she is asleep. She is very inconvenient.
He kneels down to scoop up the little bird. It is so small it can fit in his hand. It could even be a baby bird, fallen out of its nest and trying to survive. It must have felt wonderful when it had come across the berries. Of course, being a baby bird, it wouldn't have known which ones were poisonous, so it just ate the ones closest to it. And now it is dying and it is his fault. This makes him sad.
A cold, tingling sensation starts in his shoulder and spreads down his arm, heading towards the bird. The feeling makes him jump and shiver and he nearly drops the bird, but manages to hang on to it without crushing it. The icy prickling carries on right up to his fingertips and he stares at his hand as he tries to figure out what is happening.
The cold tingles turn into a boiling liquid, shooting up through his arm and around his hand. He yelps in surprise and falls back on his bottom, still holding the bird up. He feels the brown, feathery creature flutter against his palm as his vision flashes with a bright, yellow light, almost as bright as the sun. His surroundings blur and mesh together, the blue sky and green leaves on the trees mix with each other, the colours swirling around in the back of his eyes.
Then, whatever was happening to him finishes and his sight returns to normal. He is flat on his back in the grass, breathing heavily and staring up at the sky. The bird is gone. That had not been a pleasant experience.
"What happened to you?" Moorgarna stands over him with her hands on her hips, nudging the toe of her boot gently into his side.
The sudden sound of her voice startles him even more and he moves a hand up to cover his face from any attack. When no pain is inflicted, he brings his hand back down to face Moorgarna. She looks upset for a moment and as if she wants to say something, but then the expression quickly disappears and starts to wonder if he had imagined it.
"Well?" She continues, clearing her throat. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
He shakes his head violently and feels faint because of it. Moorgarna extends her arm out for him to take and he does so, with her pulling him up most of the way. Either she is very strong or he doesn't weigh much. "Not... hurt," he replies hesitantly, unsure of whether he is using the right words.
"That's good," Moorgarna says as she pats some dust off of his shoulder. "What were you yelling about, anyway? You woke me. How long was I asleep?" She asks accusingly.
He shrugs, feeling distraught. He had thought she just wanted to be asleep. He doesn't want her to be angry. Especially not with him.
Moorgarna huffs at him and kicks the leaves. "Well? How long? A few minutes? Half an hour? An hour?"
He is completely baffled by the words she is using, but decides on the last one. "Ahwa?"
Moorgarna looks like she is going to explode. She grabs hold of his shirt with both hands and throws him to the floor.
"You idiot!" She yells at him and he wants to cry. "How could you let me fall asleep for that long? In the middle of the day? What if Uther had found me? He'd have made me go back! Don't you see? He would've killed you! For God's sake, Arth-" She stops herself from saying a name halfway through. She sighs as she notices the distress on his face and the tears in his eyes.
"Sohrey," he whispers. He just wants her to be happy and smiley and laughing again. It was nicer that way. Much nicer. He coughs to get her attention and attempts conversation. "Berrees?"
She sits down at the roots of the tree she had slept near, exhausted from her fight with him. "I'm not hungry."
He is hungry but he doesn't want to eat the berries if Moorgarna isn't.
"Now what?" Moorgarna asks him, like she is expecting him to answer. "I need to get as far away from Camelot as I possibly can. What about you?"
He shrugs. The only place he didn't want to be was with the red capes and there were none of them around.
"We'll keep heading East then. We'll follow the river until we find some shelter."
He nods, all thoughts of Ealdor hidden in the back of his mind.
Hey, guys! Sincere apologies for not updating in four months, but I'm back with a new chapter! I haven't given up on this story, which you might be pleased to know, I was just busy writing another one. I hope you all aren't too enraged at me!
I suggest that as it's been such a long time since we last saw each other, you go back and read the first three chapters, to remind yourself what's going on in the forest. I'll try to get the rest of this done soon!
Please review to tell me your thoughts or just to let me know that you're still out there!
Thanks for reading!