[/ As promised here is Chapter One!

For future reference I try to keep my chapters at around 2000 words minimum (prologue excluded).

Also, I doubt you'll be wanting the next chapters that badly, but either way I'll be trying really hard to get you one new chapter up each week! (if you like it, of course)

Y'see, I've got work, two different evening classes (four days a week), and I'll be starting college (again) so while I'm not working I'll be practising stuff for that and...ugghh

~It's all excuses! I hope you like this chapter!

Again, I don't own 'Merlin' or any of the characters etc (do I need to put the copyright at the begining of each chapter?/]

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Thankfully, the harsh sun began to set and Merlin, still knee-deep in the Prince's chores, wished he were at the tournament. Having to make do listening intently to the sounds of the crowd's encouragement, he tried to judge how well Arthur was faring.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Merlin"

He paused to look up as the door gently opened and a sympathetic looking Gwen peeked in.

"I see Prince Arthur's overloaded you with work again. Do you need a hand?" she asked, stepping in and closing the door behind her.

"Gwen!" The young warlock beamed, relishing the company.

He stopped for a second, briefly wondering why Gwen would choose him over the festivities. "But you should go back and finish watching the-"

"Come on Merlin, we both know you want to find out how Arthur's doing," She said, lifting up a clean sheet from a pile and beginning to fold it.

"What do you mean? I-"

"Well you are his manservant, and he is representing our kingdom after all." Gwen interrupted again, still not looking up from folding. "Despite how hard he can be on you sometimes I wouldn't think you would want to see him lose!" She looked up at Merlin and smiled playfully, and on the gesture's return she placed her concentration back into helping out her friend.

Merlin's smile dropped into a look of vague satisfaction as he began to think deeply. Why was he making a big deal out of it? Of course he was interested in the Prince's welfare, he was his master after all. And when in the past has he not looked out for Arthur? Not to mention he's saved the Prince's life on numerous occasions…

"So how is Arthur doing? I hope he hasn't made a spectacle of himself like the spoiled prat he is!"

"Oh Merlin…" Gwen grinned and shook her head at Merlin's fearless insubordination. "Well he won the first two sections, knife throwing and spear tossing I think… came a close second in archery, and they were setting up the fourth round when I decided to check up on you, not that you needed it of course."

She stifled a laugh as she watched the young sorcerer fall backwards, attempting to kick free a shirt that had somehow become fastened to his ankle.

Recovered from the fall, Merlin contemplated the chances of the Prince not blaming his only loss on his manservant's botched attempt at restringing a bow. The outlook wasn't good.

Thinking it best to deal with that when it comes to it, however, he sighed and was about to say his thanks to Gwen once more when a seemingly annoyed Arthur suddenly burst the door open.

"Merlin! ..Oh, hello Gwen, I didn't know you were here." Arthur immediately halted his rush and tried to look nonchalant. "Do you mind leaving us for a minute or two?"

"Of course sire." She bowed and slipped out the door, giving Merlin a swift 'good luck' glance before Arthur quickly shut the door behind her and regained his previous pace.

"Right Merlin, no time for idle chit chat, help me get my hunting gear ready." He said before he briskly but casually strolled to his bedside and began unfastening his armour.

"Hunting?" Merlin said, confused. "Wait, didn't you already go hunting last week? And what about the tournament? And…hang on, why aren't you shouting at me?"

Arthur paused and looked round.

"Why would I be shouting at you?" The blonde said questioningly, a scrunched-up look of confusion on his face.

"Oh, umm, no reason… why are you going hunting again?" Merlin changed the subject, realising he had potentially avoided a bullet as long as he didn't mention archery.

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In Merlin's opinion it was stupid really. It turned out all the archery and knife throwing, among other things, were just crowd pleasers. The actual winner of the first part of the tournament was whoever brought back the most interesting hunt from the forest around Camelot.

"All parties must return by sunrise" The king had said. In other words they had to spend the night in the forest, no doubt without a break unless.. perhaps Arthur would be humane enough to…scratch that, he'd have to spend the night in the forest without a break. The only thing that the sorceror had to be thankful for was the noticeably cool caress of the night air, which he much preferred to the beating sun.

The journey into the dense maze of dark-green splendor held only boredom for Merlin and, after being told to shut up several times, it was a while before anyone spoke again.

"Shhhh." Arthur held out his hand in a signal for Merlin to stop.

"What? I wasn't even making any noise!" he protested, earning a bonk on the head from The young Prince's elbow. The pair had reached a small opening in the trees. Crouching behind a row of leafy bushes, Merlin noticed the stars were barely visable through the for a second, the brunette tuned into the sound of twigs breaking; no more than a few yards to their right. A slow and uneven 'crunch..snap..crunch..'.

Arthur drew his bow and, aiming at the source of the noise, he took a cautious step forward with the young sorceror inches behind him.

Merlin could vaguely make out the silhouette of a large boar, curled tusks the length of his own body.

Waiting till the whites of the creature's eyes were visible, Arthur let fly a carefully aimed arrow.

The next few moments were a blur. There was a metalic clanging sound followed immediately by an arrow darting towards Arthur's head.

Magically-enhanced reflexes kicking in, Merlin slowed time long enough for him to knock the small spear out of flight and return to where he originally stood.

Time pacing normally once again, they both toook a second to absorb what they were seeing.

Hit by patches of moonlight through the leaves above, the boars skin shimmered. It was coated in overlapping plates of armour, each plate appearing to grow out of the boar itself.

Too concentrated, or well-trained, to stop and ponder how a man-made mineral could merge with a beast, Arthur drew his sword and took a battle stance.

Enraged, the boar directed it's tusks and charged at the prince. Mere feet away from Arthur's body the monstrosity unexpectedly leapt at his head, but, ready for anything, Arthur twirled under the pig and pierced through a gap in it's armour whilst in flight.

He didn't have time to get every calculation perfect though, as a large hoof seemingly made out of diamond connected with the side of the blonde's head, knocking him unconscious.

As the startled boar landed Merlin rushed to the prince's aid, kneeling down beside him and holding his head up with one hand. Arthur was bleeding profusely from a wound in his skull.

The sorceror took a few seconds to absorb the turn of events, but by now the boar had turned and was charging again.

Merlin felt a particularly strong surge of magic flow through his body. He felt every vibration as it pulsed through his arms, rippled through his hands and shot out of his fingertips in the form of bright, white lightning bolts.

Striking the boar dead-on, it was sent flying for a short distance before it collapsed at a tree, smoldering.

Still hazy from the shock of events, Merlin clasped the sides of Arthurs head. Droplets were falling onto the prince's face, but it wasn't raining.

"Arthur! Arthur? Wake up! It's going to be alright! Can you hear me? Come on, you arrogant prat!" The night air grew colder as the wind drastically picked up speed. Merlin took off his thick coat and held it between his and Arthur's heads to stop the wind from kicking up debris into his wound.

Dizzy from trauma, Merlin could only just make out the faint voices in the distance, one female and one male, gradually growing closer.

"I'm telling you to stand aside!"

"We don't know who they are, they could even be the enemy!"

"Are you disobeying a direct order?"

"Don't be so foolish as to.."

"I'm foolish now, am I? ...move!"

"I'm not letting you risk your.."

"You just try and stop me. Draw your sword, I dare you"

"N..no. I'm didn't.. Wait."

Through dampened vision Merlin could see the figure of a teenage girl crouched beside him, an older-looking boy standing just behind her.

"Heal him." She said in a soft and compassionate, yet commanding voice, directed at Merlin. "I saw what you did. You felt it, didn't you? The sudden rise in your magical power? Heal him."

"But I don't..." The bewildered magician started.

"Do it." Interrupted the girl. She took Merlin's hands, placed them over the prince's head and the sorceror willingly allowed his magic to flow into his palms. Letting go, the girls iris' flashed scarlet and at this moment a blue-hued light shone from the sorceror's hands directly onto Arthur's wound. The trail of blood leading down the prince's cheek began to retrace it's steps, slowly edging it's way back up to the open wound which, after a few seconds, fastened shut leaving not even a scar behind.

With this the girl slowly stood up, but the boy grabbed her shoulders and hastened her movement, glancing over his shoulder at Merlin as they dissappeared into the blackness.

Too stunned to take notice in their leaving. Merlin was frozen in complete awe at what he had achieved, but through his tear-drenched smile a half-sigh-half-laugh escaped. He pulled Arthur's body to his own in a tight embrace and, listening to the prince's now rhythmic breaths, he drifted into a deep slumber.

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"Nnngh... Merlin? Merlin! What the hell are you doing?"

Merlin was used to the prince shouting in his ear, but not as a wake-up call. He sprang to life as Arthur wiped the his cheek free from the sorceror's drool.

Merlin grinned at the angry blond until realising he had him pinned beneath himself in a rather awkward position.

"Oh.. uhm.. sorry.. Arthur." He blurted as he scrambled to get up.

"What on earth happened?" The prince guffawed at the huge, metal, pig-beast that lay dead by the roots of a tree.

"Oh.. yes.. well.. you stuck your sword in it's neck, but it kicked you before it died and you got knocked out" Merlin blurted, all the while making melodramatic hand gestures to illustrate the events.

"Well.. It should count itself lucky that I killed it quickly!" Arthur smirked arrogantly at Merlin, soaking in as much pride as he could from the story, before turning back to the Pig.

"Hang on.. Why is it burned black?" The prince looked questioningly at Merlin again.

"Oh, that! I.. uhm.."

"Come on. Spit it out!"

"I... I.. got hungry and tried to cook it?"

Arthur paused, so bewildered that for a few seconds he was at a loss for words.

"How do you do it, Mer.. You know what? I don't even want to know." Arthur turned away and looked through the small gaps in the leaves above, admiring the purple-yellow haze of light stretching across the sky. He then realised that the sun was begining to peek over the horizon. "Dammit, Merlin! It's nearly sunrise! Help me lift this thing!"

Obeying his prince's orders, it seemed that Merlin would spend the next part of his day finding out whether or not his body could take the strain of carrying a massive, metal-coated boar back to the castle. All the while being bombarded with a mixture of Arthur's tales of how he won the fight and critiscism for all the things the sorceror had done wrong during their hunt.

Merlin would protest to these allegations, but as always, the sorceror would take comfort in each and every word that left his friend's lips. It was going to be a long, arduous journey, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

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As expected, I had an extra twenty shipments of commas delivered by accident so I tried to use as many as possible (aren't I funny?), but seriously, I'm sorry about that!

Please rate and review, constructive criticism would be loved, if you come up with ideas/things you'd like to see I may incorporate them (be warned, despite my inexperience I am very picky)

Whether you like it or not I'll be working on Chapter Two this week and I'll upload it if I get enough of you who want to see it (If not, I'll just scrap it and try again. It's only my first try, after all) ^w^

P.S. There may have been a lapse in my ability to portray Arthur/Merlin's charactersistics well, as I wrote the prologue a few months before this chapter and I haven't watched Merlin recently. I will be re-watching it all though, so expect the characters to come across as accurate/inaccurate as they did in the prologue. Thanks! (thanks?)