AHAHAHAHA, YOU GUESSED IT. NO SLASH
Disclaimer : I only own the band of Floofs, Fethryn the unicorn, and the Keeper of the Forest. Sadly, I don't own the pure epicness that is Merlin.
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'm sorry if any out of characterness hinders your headcanons!
Thank you xXMistressMadHatterXx and merlinandfreyaFTW for letting me steal your wonderful ideas!
... Did I update yesterday...? Or the day before? Or... Well.
Oh! And did I say I would solve the cliffhanger from yesterday?
Yeah, I lied ^^
"Merlin! Where have you been?" Arthur screeched, a few hours later. The sun had set, and Arthur wanted dinner brought to his room. He ended up having it brought up by some innocent, quavering little serving girl, who had the fright of her life when the King nearly threw a goblet at her head.
"I told you, Sire. I was running errands—"
"No you weren't," the King interrupted, staring down at his mud-covered manservant. "Gaius told me you never reported to him."
Merlin smirked. "Oh, so the great Prat still is human enough to walk down to the physician's chambers to ask about his manservant."
"You're avoiding the question, Merlin."
"You're smarter than you look."
"Merlin!" Arthur said, having no time for their usual banter.
"Fine." Merlin paused, thinking about how he was going to say this. "I went to the forest."
Arthur stared at him expectantly. "Yes, why?" he demanded irritably when the cat didn't answer.
Merlin's eyes widened. "Oh, you know. Just... stuff."
Arthur raised an eyebrow exasperatedly. "'Stuff.'"
The other nodded stupidly. "Stuff."
The King raised his head. "So... do you perhaps have, God forbid, a girlfriend, with whom you do... stuff... or you're just hiding something from me?"
"Arthur!" Merlin exclaimed, blushing a shade never before seen on a human.
Arthur was unfazed. "Well?"
"I don't have a girlfriend!"
"Oh, so you're hiding things from me."
"Well, not really, but—"
"Come on, Merlin. I know you don't have a girlfriend. So, I'm only going to ask this once. What were you doing in that forest?"
Merlin was unmoved. "Nothing, Sire."
"Merlin!" Arthur yelled, standing up and towering over his manservant. "What were you doing?"
"What happened to only asking once?" Merlin retorted, shying away from the King's glare.
"Oh, I don't know, I lied. Much like you do so often, it seems."
Merlin sighed. It was clear that lying for years about his magic still stung Arthur deeply. "Arthur, you never cared before—"
"Yes, Merlin, I never cared before, because before, you were just idiot Merlin, the incompetent servant who couldn't do anything! Granted, you're still incredibly incompetent, but you... you..."
"Arthur," Merlin sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Nothing's really changed, you know. It was always like this."
"A lot has changed, Merlin. All those times you were gone, and I just figured you were at the tavern or something, you were getting yourself killed! Now I know that, and I want to know where you were a few hours ago!"
"Arthur—"
"Merlin," Arthur stated firmly, "I order you, as your King and master, to tell me what you were doing in that forest."
Merlin stared at him, aghast. As much as he seemed like a careless fool, he would never disobey a direct order. He groaned in defeat, hanging his head slightly. "You remember the Keeper of the Forest?"
"Merlin!" Arthur screamed, already getting an idea of what was to be said. His hands shook angrily at his sides as he looked around. "Need something to throw at you..." he muttered. He eventually settled for grabbing a pillow, slapping it across Merlin's face with all the force of a very angry seal. It didn't do much damage, but it sent the message. Merlin sighed and smoothed down his ears.
"Arthur, he can help. You heard him; he said I was welcome in the forest."
"Yes, but would he help Camelot? Merlin, I get that you're some weird god-cat-warlock-thing in the magical world, but Camelot still has many magical enemies, and nothing you can do can change that. He's probably more willing to join forces with Morgana—"
"Arthur," Merlin said calmly, creeping into the voice he used when he was letting out his occasional words of wisdom. "They were enemies of Uther. Not of Camelot. You will be the greatest King this land has ever known, and nothing you can do can change that. Prove yourself to them; they already want to accept you. You just haven't given them a chance, so they wait. Allow them to believe in you."
"That's not the point, Merlin! We've wronged these people for too long, yes, I'll admit. My father was wrong. But you can't be sure that I will be any better."
"Arthur," Merlin interrupted, placing his hands on his King's shoulders. "Please get this through your thick head. You are not your father."
He said it with such conviction, Arthur almost believed him. Almost. Arthur had been taught his entire life that magic was evil, and in a mere week, one man, barely more than a boy, had shown him another side to the story. He had to adjust.
Merlin, pretty sure that he'd done as much as he could for the time being, looked around the room for something to do.
And then he saw it.
It was a lot more menacing looking that Ayleth, and had none of the niceness that she kept within her soul. The foul rat was snaking along the wall, making its way to Arthur's boots.
Merlin narrowed his eyes. Oh no you don't.
The rat looked up. It sneered at him, showing off its hideous blackened teeth. Oh, look, a cat. Well, no cat can best me. I have bested the King. You can do nothing to me. Go back to your stupid master.
Merlin's tail bristled and his ears flattened against his head in irritation. Bad answer.
Arthur had been trying to get his manservant' attention, but Merlin was staring intently at the corner. Arthur was about to smack him, when his eyes flashed a vicious gold. Arthur flinched back violently when he felt—and heard—an explosion behind him.
He whirled around. There was a small dead piece of flesh, cooked around the edges and smoldering a little bit. Arthur stared, aghast, at the carcass. "Merlin!"
Merlin blinked innocently, all evidence of having blatantly used magic erased. "Yes, Sire?"
"You just used magic!"
"So what if I did? God, prats these days; no appreciation for good magic whatsoever!"
Arthur's eyeballs inflated. "What did you do?"
"I blew up a rat," Merlin stated nonchalantly, gathering up the dead remains.
Arthur stood still, staring at the spot where the warlock had just been. "You... blew up... a rat?"
"Are you hearing well, Sire? Should I fetch Gaius?" He plodded out of the room, eager to be rid of the burnt flesh.
"Merlin!" Merlin grinned, hightailing it out of there. He had just gone through the door when he heard the telltale clang of a goblet hitting the wall.
Merlin dropped the dead rat in the first pot he encountered in the kitchens, smiling at all the cooks so as to not raise suspicion.
He was sitting on the floor in the physician's chambers, scouring through yet more books. Gwaine had, at some point, come by and tried to kidnap him again, but he'd eventually settled for squatting down next to him and scratching his ears. Merlin managed to control his inner cat and continued to absorb the information. He still wasn't finding anything.
Earlier, he had come across a book, and the Keeper of the Forest was mentioned in it. Merlin had read the article, and, happy with the instructions, had gone to see the Keeper himself to see if it could be done. The suggestion had proved fruitful.
They had a piece of a backup plan.
But none of the other books were doing anything to explain what Morgana's secret weapon was, and it was worrying. Merlin threw down his book and pouted in frustration.
"I can't find anything!"
Gwaine flinched when Merlin moved, not having expected him to move until he had finished his book. He took it in his stride, continuing to scratch his friend's big, soft black ears. "Come see your new home, Merlin," he insisted relentlessly.
Merlin groaned and dropped down to his stomach, muffling his words into the floor. "Get a girlfriend, Gwaine."
Ahaha, nope, didn't solve the ol' cliffy ^^ and I SHAN'T, until much later :D
Why are the chapters shrinking...? I'll try and make them longer, when we get to battles and stuff (and we shall ;) )
I'm really sorry for not solving the cliff... but I never actually was going to! Please don't hate me lol, I will solve it eventually, unless I die prematurely!
So you can't kill me, because if you do, I will never update ;) !
I still love you, even if you hate me haha~! ^^
Please review!