... YEP, NO SLASH

Disclaimer : I don't own anything you recognize. I do own Ayleth, Tinnig, Leda, Fethryn, Mala, Enzo, the Keeper of the Forest, and... oh! And Peter. Wow. I own stuff :D
Warning : Set after season four, Reveal fic
May Contain : A band of Floofs, UNICORNS, Terribly written spells, Cliffhangers to annoy the heck out of you, Aithusaaaaa (and Kilgharrah), Catboy!Merlin, King Arthur Pratdragon, the Knights of Camelot, GWAINE, EEEEVIL, Morgana, and a whole lot of MAGIC~
I apologize for any OOCness that hinders your headcanons!
Thank you xXMistressMadHatterXx and merlinandfreyaFTW for letting me steal your wonderful ideas!

I'm sorry that my chapters are getting so short lol... I don't know why that is!

"Merlin," Arthur started nervously, not knowing how to come out with it, "Have you contacted your... friends?"

Merlin frowned. An ear twitched adorably as he tilted his head. "My 'friends'?"

They were in the privacy of Arthur's chambers, safe from Gwaine or anyone else. The matter of Morgana was still open-ended, and Arthur was willing to resort to something that he didn't want to accept. Arthur needed help. Magical help. And there was only one Merlin.

"Well, you know... your... friends."

"Arthur, I hope you realize that I have more friends than you seem to think."

"Prove it," Arthur scoffed, dodging the matter at hand.

Merlin sighed and began counting on his fingers. "Well, there's Gwaine, Percival, Elyan, and Leon too I suppose, not to mention all the other knights; and there's Gwen too, since she's the first person I befriended in Camelot; the serving girls have also been treating me a lot nicer now that I'm..." he said awkwardly, gesturing to his ears, "And they're acting kind of like Gwaine does; the kitchen people don't hate me anymore, they actually started trying to feed me! It's great, 'cause I was really hungry that day, and-"

"Merlin, most of those seem to have started when you became a cat."

"Well, yeah, but still-"

"What about me?"

"What about you?" Merlin retorted, but the cheeky grin on his face annihilated his words.

Arthur ignored him. "Merlin, I'm talking about your... other friends."

Merlin, unbeknownst to Arthur, had figured out long ago what the King was asking. He just wanted Arthur to suck it up and actually say it out loud. So he plastered on a befuddled expression and spoke, "I don't think I have any others, Sire..."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Didn't think you would," he muttered.

"Hey!" Merlin exclaimed indignantly, tail bristling. "I'll have you know, I have a plethora of friends!"

Arthur stared at him. "A what?"

"A plethora, which means... Sire, I really think this is beside the point," the cat stated, annoyed, yet slightly smug that he knew a word Arthur didn't.

Arthur blinked, plopping down on the side of his bed. "Right. Well, erm, Merlin... you know how you mentioned your... friends-"

"Arthur, really! Which friends?"

The King exploded. "You know your magical buddies living who-knows-where? Can you contact them?" he demanded, waving his arms around in frustration.

Merlin flinched slightly when the flailing arms came too close to him, but grinned all the same. "Oh, those friends!"

"Merlin, you're useless," Arthur groaned, scrubbing a hand over his face.

Merlin beamed. "Good to know you care, Arthur. Now, um, if that's all, I'll just..." he began, pointing at the door.

Arthur waited until he was halfway there before calling him back with a sigh. "Merlin, where are you going?"

"Um... I was just, I mean-"

"Will you or will you not contact your friends?"

"Friends?"

"Merlin!"

"Oh, alright. You're no fun. Well," the cat said, smoothing out his tail absentmindedly, "Gilli and Alator are coming, but-"

"They're already coming?" Arthur spluttered. "You can't do anything without my consent! Who gave you permission to contact them?"

"You did!"

"When did I do that?"

"You asked me to contact them in Gaius' chambers a couple days ago!"

Arthur paused, his mouth held open dramatically as he waited for a retort to come to him. Unfortunately, he recalled the incident, and he had indeed told Merlin to call his magical friends.

"What about the Druids?" he asked stupidly.

"They... they don't want to fight."

"What? Why not?" the King snapped.

"They say that they cannot interfere, that they are not the ones at stake! They can't mess with destiny, Arthur!"

"Well, can't you? I mean, can't you, you know..." Arthur then proceeded to wave his arms around floppily, wiggling his fingers and raising his eyebrows for emphasis.

Merlin's ear twitched irritably. "It doesn't work like that, Arthur!"

"Well, it should!"

"Ugh! Why does everything always have to work exactly to your preferences?"

"I'm the King, Merlin! It is as much my duty to serve the people as it is theirs to serve me."

"You can't control everything!"

"And you can?"

"I never said that, Arthur. But I'm quite sure I can control a lot more than you."

Arthur scoffed. "Right, Merlin. I'm sure that everything you point your little tail at withers to dust."

"I can make it happen," Merlin huffed. He was fine with everyone making fun of his physical weakness, but no one had the right to downplay his magic. Especially not when they had finally come close to understanding it.

"Merlin, clean the room, will you? I've got to meet the knights."

Merlin smirked, bowing politely. "Yes Sire." He waited until Arthur was looking away before releasing his magic into the room, eyes flashing gold. What was a messy room was suddenly sparkling, every inch of wood having sunlight bouncing off like a mirror. Merlin again addressed his master. "What else may I do, Sire?"

"Merlin, I told you..." Arthur trailed off as he turned around, seeing the room. A second later, he realized what his manservant had done. "Merlin!"

"Yes Sire?" Merlin said, smiling his trademark grin, hands folded neatly behind him.

"What did you... you know what? Don't tell me. It would take too long to arrest you. Go muck out the stables, clean my armour, wash my clothes, and then do whatever Gaius tells you to. I don't want you slacking off now that you use..." Arthur didn't continue, rolling his eyes and walking back out the door.

"Yes Sire," Merlin said robotically, but he wasn't finished. As Arthur passed the guards, his eyes flashed gold once more, and Arthur's trousers descended to the ground. Arthur nearly tripped over before he noticed. He emitted a loud squeak.

"Merlin!" he screamed, grabbing his pants. The guard snickered, and Arthur shot him a death glare.

The warlock stepped past him to get on with his chores. "My, what a day it would be when the people of Camelot realize that their King has so little control over the world that even his trousers defy him." He gave his fuming King one last cocky grin before skipping off down the hall.

"Merlin!" Arthur screeched. Merlin smiled to himself as he turned a corner.

He set off towards the stables.

The mucking of the stables went by surprisingly easily, what with Merlin's newfound friendship with the horses, due to their communication.

Merlin was sitting beside his pitchfork, sighing in content at a finished job. It had still taken long, since he couldn't use magic with the stable boy eying him uneasily the whole time. The stable boy was scared of him because he wasn't completely human anymore, but he'd quickly warmed up to him when he realized Merlin was still the same person.

Unfortunately, 'warming up' means that he stayed in the stables with him, helping out every now and then.

And now, Merlin was exhausted after three hours of mucking out every single stable in Camelot. The horses were staring at him, their interest piqued by the strange cat-boy that could speak to them. They all wanted to spend time with him.

Well, Merlin thought to himself after staying for fifteen minutes to converse with the equestrians, better them than Gwaine.

Merlin ignored the horses as they tried to shove their faces into his so he would listen to their various problems, and left. He walked across the field, happy to be rid of the crazy animals. Before he went to the stables, he'd allowed the armour and clothes to wash themselves, and they'd finished scrubbing and drying themselves hours ago. According to Arthur's 'list', Merlin now had to report to Gaius and do whatever he needed, but Merlin had something he'd been meaning to do.

Merlin was going to do something that Arthur would never allow, which was why this was his only chance. As much as it would be... lovely... to run around for Gaius for the rest of the day, this was more important.

The warlock stood at the edge of the massive forest, swaying slightly in the breeze. He took a breath, steeling himself, and plunged into the darkness.

He looked behind him a few times, just to make sure no one was there, and then broke into a run. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, to a place he knew well. Merlin skidded to a stop in the middle of the clearing; the same clearing where he had contacted Kilgharrah more than a few times.

He spun around, trying to figure out how to make contact, when a voice behind him made the warlock stop.

"May I help you, Emrys?"

Merlin spun around, almost smiling at how easy that was.

"I need to know if you can kill me," he said, facing the Keeper of the Forest.

WHOO, I just made an effin' cliff hanger. And I actually MEANT to!
I HOPE IT'S CLIFF HANGEY ENOUGH.

Don't worry lol, it'll all make sense next chapter ;)
No, Merlin isn't suicidal. I would never do that. Stay tuned for what exactly the hell is going on!

I still love you all! I'll try not to torture you too much with my nonsensicality (totally a word).

Please review!