AN: Another chapter in the early hours of the morning! Well, it's early for me. Almost 1 am!

Anyhoo, I uploaded a chapter of Mirror Mirror so I figured it was only fair I uploaded a chapter of this as well. Cause that totally makes sense.

I also copy and pasted this one, instead of uploading a document, so if anything is weird because I messed something up, please let me know. And I am sorry.

This chapter also has my attempt at being scary. I may have failed completely, but I tried. I would love to hear what you think? I think I would be more creepy if it was like a movie. Describing decaying bodies is not my forte.

As always, thank you all for the fabulous support, whether it be in the form of reviews, favorites, alerts, or simply reading. All of it makes me smile! I love you all more than you can understand! Also, to the few people who asked if they could go to Gwaine and mine's wedding, OF COURSE! As soon as I finish my machine that will send me into fictional worlds I will let you know. I do plan on majoring in astrophysics, so maybe if I made a device that could take someone to other universes in the multiverse we could find one with a Gwaine just for me...Ok, now I am definitely rambling. Sorry.

And I don't own Merlin. I'm to tired to be funny right now, I need Gwaine to do something funny for me. I think he's sadly serious in this chapter though. He's going to be amazing in chapter eight, though, in case you were curious. He is also about all I think about, apparently...

Chapter Five: Nightmares

Merlin smelled smoke. He felt the heat of a faraway fire, and as he looked down at his too-small hands he knew exactly where he was. He peered through the oh-so-familiar trees down at his burning village. Horror swept through him, as he heard the screams of the villagers as he stood helpless above them. No! He wasn't helpless! He was Emrys! He wouldn't let them die this time; not when he had the power to save them. But, as he moved forward, the village began to crumble. He couldn't reach them quickly enough. No matter how quickly he ran, his child's legs kept him from making it to the burning buildings in time to do anything. When he finally did make it, he could see the knights of Camelot towering over him as they rode away, their job done. For a moment, the face of Uther Pendragon was locked on his. As the dark eyes bore into his, he felt frozen once more, locked in the king's gaze as he sneered down on him. It wasn't long before Uther's gaze turned, and Merlin's turned with him, looking at the destroyed town with fear as he heard the king laughing as Uther rode away. Merlin moved toward the destroyed homes as the laugh faded behind him, stumbling and tripping over every rock and root in his path. He eventually found his own home, its wooden walls charred from the flames. He expected to find nothing inside, just as he had all those years ago. He was wrong. Waiting for him inside were the disfigured bodies of his mother and father. Their burned flesh pealed from their faces; in some areas he could see the white of the exposed bones while others were simply covered with blisters and burns as they moved towards slowly towards him, their empty eyes locked on his trembling figure.

"Why didn't you protect us, Merlin? I loved you so much, don't you love me? Why did you let me die?" the rotting version of his mother said, stumbling as her destroyed legs tried to move forward.

"I do!" Merlin stammered, backing away slowly, "I was just so scared, I didn't know how to save you." Merlin could feel tears running down his checks as he continued to back away from his parents.

"All that time I taught you wasted." his father growled, his voice sounded strange as his entire nose was missing, leaving a cavernous hole in his charred face. "Why did you turn your back on us when we needed you most? You failed me, Merlin."

"I'm so sorry." Merlin muttered, as he stumbled backwards and collapsed against the back wall that still felt warm against his shirt. "I'm so sorry." he repeated, burying his head in his hands.

Suddenly, there was a small hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the blister-covered face of his best friend from childhood, Will. "Why didn't you save me?" Will whispered, it was hard to understand as he was missing a part of his bottom lip, exposing his small, white teeth, even when his mouth was shut. "I thought you were my friend."

Merlin continued to shake his head and mutter apologies as the burnt bodies of his friend and parents moved towards them. Then their hands were on him, dragging him out of the destroyed building into the streets of the once happy town. More disfigured people from his memories moved towards him, asking why he hadn't saved them, why, with all his powers, he hadn't prevented such a terrible tragedy. He felt thousands of blistered and decaying hands as he was dragged towards the center of the town where the fire was still burning. "No no no no no no!" Merlin chanted as he was brought towards the roaring fire, helpless against the destroyed hands of the people from his distant past. As he could feel the heat of the approaching fire, he started to scream and heard his name being called out over and over. Then all the voices were replaced by three very familiar ones, and he was pulled from his nightmare by Percival, Gwaine, and Lancelot. As he looked around he realized he wasn't in their camp he muttered, "What happened?"

"We were rather hoping you could tell us. You alright, mate?" Gwaine said, while Percival and Lancelot nodded, looking concerned. The events of last night rushed back to him, the arrow, rushing through the castle with Arthur, calling to Percival, Lancelot, and Gwaine in the forest, and finally being treated by Iseldir in the camp. Merlin reached a shaking hand up to where the arrow had been, looking to see a small scar where it had been removed. Iseldir had obviously used magic; the wound looked far too old for only happening last night.

"I'm fine." Merlin muttered, sitting up slowly. The visions from his dream were still haunting him when he closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. His friends didn't seem to believe him as Percival said, "You were screaming, Merlin."

"It was just a nightmare." Merlin said, brushing away the comment. "I feel fine."

Still, he couldn't stop himself from shaking and the others must have noticed as they watched him nervously. Luckily, before they could question him about the content of his dreams Iseldir entered the tent, carrying a small bowl of porridge.

"It is good to see you are awake, Emrys." He said, offering Merlin the bowl.

Merlin nodded, and accepted the bowl. "Thank you." he mumbled, before digging in.

"How is your shoulder?" Iseldir asked, steering the worry away from his dreams. "It feels great!" Merlin said, trying to act cheerful to cover the lingering fear from the nightmare. "Sorry we had to bother you."

"It is no bother." Iseldir said. "Just try to be more careful in the future."

Merlin just nodded and continued eating, four pairs of eyes watching him with concern. He really didn't want to go through this with the entire village so he said, "We should probably be heading out soon. Did you guys get anything from the vaults before we had to run?"

Lancelot held up a bag that rattled as he did. Merlin could tell it was slightly less full than they had hoped just by the size and the amount of clinking it made as Lancelot raised it up. "Less than usual, but still not bad." he said.

"Good." Merlin said, happy to have moved the conversation away from him. "We should take that into the city tonight. Uther will need money to pay for whatever celebration he makes to distract Bayard from the fiasco last night, and we know who he will be taking it from."

There was silence for a moment before Percival spoke, saying "Alright, but you're staying in the camp. Even if you feel better you still need rest."

Merlin glared at him, but by the looks all the others were giving him they agreed, and there was no way he was going to win this argument. "Fine." He mumbled. Percival smiled at him, and Gwaine and Lancelot looked relieved.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay longer?" Iseldir asked. "You know you are welcome to."

Merlin looked at the rest before making a decision for all of them. He really didn't want to stay, he didn't like the way the people here treated him like he was some type of god. He knew Percival had reasons to want to stay, but he also knew that he never liked to stay long, there were too many reminders of his past here. Gwaine and Lancelot had very little connection with the town, so they had always been slightly awkward on visits, not sure what to do when surrounded by magic users. Taking in each of their expressions Merlin said, "Thank you, but I think we will be going."

"Alright. Know that you are always welcomed here. All of you." Iseldir said, focusing his gaze on each of them in turn. They each nodded, and Merlin handed Iseldir the empty bowl that had contained his breakfast. Merlin stood, and Lancelot, Percival, and Gwaine rushed to his side to make sure he didn't stumble. He sighed slightly, trying to show them he was fine by stretching and walking up ahead of them out of the hut. He wished he had let someone else leave first as he was greeted by practically the entire town holding vigil outside Iseldir's home.

"Uncle Merlin! Uncle Merlin! Are you ok?" Miranda cried, rushing through the crowd, followed by her younger sister and cousin. They each grabbed a hold of Merlin's ankles, looking at him with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine guys, don't worry." Merlin said, picking up Thomas who couldn't be more than two and handing him back to his mother who had followed. Percival helped free him from Miranda and Isabella's grip, picking them up and telling them over to his oldest sister Cecilia, and her Druid husband, Maddoc. The Druid children were watching from the crowd, all looking like they wanted to run forward as well but had been instructed not to by their parents. Merlin looked out over the crowd who were all watching him expectantly, as if waiting for him to speak. He took a deep breath and said, "Hello." nervously before he coughed awkwardly and began again. He had never been good at talking to the Druids like this. He felt like they had such high expectations of him, and he would let them down if he said one wrong word, which he usually did.

"Thank you for your concern, but you don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. I hope our visit didn't disturb you."

Merlin paused for a moment. The Druids were still silent as he stumbled through his address. Gwaine chuckled a little in the background, earning an elbow in the stomach from Lancelot and causing Merlin to blush even more. "I must go now, but I promise I will return. I believe that the days when we will be free are approaching quickly. And I promise, I will do everything in my powers to keep all of you safe until that day."

This seemed to satisfy the Druids, as they all began to move towards him, their earlier reluctance forgotten. Soon Merlin found himself surrounded by people offering him gifts, blessings, or thanks, and people who wished for his help, his knowledge, even his touch alone. This was why he couldn't stand the camp, he couldn't breathe here. He liked the children, but the adults were just too much for him on a good day, and today most definitely was not a good day. Luckily, Gwaine, Lancelot, and Percival noticed his plight and helped guide him through the crowd. When they finally reached the border of the village, Merlin had been covered in flowers, had touched quite a few babies, and was feeling quite overwhelmed by the sheer number of admirers he had. Percival kept a hand on his shoulder as they ran back towards their camp, finally free of the Druids who worshipped him.

Percival was worried about Merlin. And it wasn't just him; Gwaine and Lancelot were as well. Ever since he had woken up screaming in the Druid camp he seemed more reserved than usual. And the dark bags underneath his eyes were making Percival think that whatever nightmare he had had in Iseldir's tent was still plaguing him. Determined to get to the bottom of this, Percival moved his bed roll slightly closer to Merlin's, and pretended to go to sleep while everyone else started snoring. He watched the man he thought of as a little brother sleep for a short period. He was tossing and turning, and kept whispering "No" and "I'm so sorry." over and over again. Eventually he shot up, gasping and clutching his blankets around him. His breathing slowed slightly but Percival could tell he was still shaking as he got up and walked to the far side of the camp. Percival waited a moment, wanting to give Merlin some time to himself before he went to talk with him. Eventually, Percival stood, and made his way over to where Merlin was still standing, staring up into the sky.

"Can't sleep?" Percival asked.

"Nightmare." Merlin replied quietly.

"Same one you had before?" Percival asked, receiving a small nod from Merlin. "It's about your parents, isn't it?"

Merlin turned to him, a terrified gleam in his eyes and said, "I should have been able to save them! Why, with all this power, couldn't I save the people most important to me?"

Percival pulled Merlin into a hug, as the smaller body shook against his large chest. "It's not your fault." Percival said. "You didn't know what you know now. You couldn't have stopped Uther and his knights."

Merlin nodded slowly, pulling out of Percival's arms and wiping his eyes a little.

"You need to get some sleep, Merlin. You'll get sick."

"You sound like my mother." Merlin said with what looked like it was supposed to be a smile but was more of a grimace than anything else.

"I'm just worried about you, Merlin. We all are."

"I'm fine." Merlin said quickly.

"You can't lie to me, Merlin. I've known you for too long. You're not going to be able to fight if you make yourself sick."

"What's the use?" Merlin said desperately. "Nothing changes. Maybe we should give up, get as far away as possible. It wouldn't matter."

Percival was shocked. Merlin had never sounded so defeated. Whatever these nightmares were they must have been truly horrific if they had caused such a shift in the warlock. He grabbed Merlin by the shoulders, but Merlin still didn't look at him.

"You know that isn't true. You've saved lives, Merlin. Try telling that to the Collins, do you think they believe that none of this matters? You've given the people hope; you've given me a way to fight the injustice that destroyed my family. Without you, I don't know what I would be doing, but I know that I wouldn't be doing so much good. You can't give up now."

"Why not?" Merlin sighed. "Why can't someone else do this? Why does it have to be me?"

"You know why Merlin. You have suffered under Uther more than anyone else, yet you do not seek revenge, you only seek safety for others. You have all this power, and you don't use it to destroy, you use it to protect those who need you. And no one else has the support that you have. You can't give up now, Merlin. The people need you, not anyone else."

Merlin looked into Percival's eyes for a moment. Percival thought he looked a little better than he had at the beginning of their talk, but he still looked so tired. "You're right, Perce." Merlin said with a small smile. "Thank you."

"You know it's not a problem." Percival said, letting go of Merlin. "I just want to know you're alright. Why don't we go get some sleep?"

"You go ahead." Merlin said, "I'll be right behind you. I just need a minute."

The smile he gave Percival reassured him slightly, so he decided to trust that Merlin would do as he said, and returned to his pile of blankets and fell asleep.

Arthur hadn't been sleeping well. Ever since he had helped Merlin out of the castle, he had been having nightmares. Most of them ended with either him or his father killing Merlin, or Merlin killing one of them. The first kind were much more prevalent, and he was thinking of asking Gaius for whatever he gave Morgana when she had nightmares. His father wasn't helping the process as he constantly found time in his busy schedule to tell Arthur about everything he had done wrong when it came to catching the thief. He also used these times to explain to Arthur plenty of ways he wanted Emrys to be killed. Each method has been more gruesome than the next, giving his nightmares plenty to chose from. The worst thing about the nightmares was always Merlin's eyes. Either the betrayal that lay in them as he was murdered by either himself, or his father with him watching, or the hatred that filled them when he would simply raise a hand and either him or his father would fall down dead, the life choked out of them with magic. He needed to do something to take his mind off of things, so he decided to go for a hunt. He had waited until he had a free day, gathered the supplies he needed and headed out to the woods, hoping the escape from the city would help take his mind off the constant nightmares.

Gwaine was worried. He could tell Percival and Lancelot were as well, but none of them really knew what they could do to fix it as Merlin retreated further and further from the group. They hadn't attempted to steal anything since Merlin had been shot; all of them were too shaken up by the injury to really think of going back to the city too soon. Gwaine looked around the small camp, and upon seeing Merlin sitting in one corner, staring off into space, decided it was time for something to be done to help him. Lancelot was not in the camp; he had probably gone off hunting or something, so Gwaine decided he would just have to get Percival to join him. Gwaine picked up his crossbow, looked significantly at Percival and then Merlin before saying, "Hey, Percy, want to go hunting with me? You can carry back the deer I catch."

Percival looked back at Merlin, who had glanced at Gwaine wearily before returning his gaze to the same empty space he had been staring at. Percival nodded at him and followed him as they walked out into the woods. Once they were far enough from the camp that Merlin wouldn't be able to hear them, Gwaine said, "Alright, I know I'm not the only one who's worried about Merlin. We need to do something to cheer him up."

Percival nodded and said, "I tried to talk to him, but I didn't work. He's been having nightmares."

"Do you know what about?" Gwaine asked, wanting to know as much as possible about whatever was bothering Merlin.

"He said his parents, probably their deaths by the way he has been acting. He told me he wanted to run away. We need to do something, and soon. He can't give up hope."

Gwaine mulled this over for a moment. If Merlin was thinking of running away, things were much worse than he thought. "But what about what he said to the Druids? He said he thought things were going to change, he sounded sure about that."

Percival's eyebrows knotted together slightly. He seemed to be pondering something before he mumbled, "Arthur Pendragon..."

"What?" Gwaine asked. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Merlin thinks Arthur might bring peace to the land. And he did say he helped him out of the castle. Maybe he could help." Percival said. Gwaine was rather surprised by the suggestion, but it almost did make sense so he replied, saying, "You think? He did seem quite happy after they talked back at our old camp."

"There's just one problem," Percival said. "We can't bring the prince to Merlin, even if it would help. He's too well protected up in his castle."

As Percival finished speaking, they heard a noise from the forests to their left, back towards Camelot and away from their camp. Thinking it could be a deer, and that even if they hadn't come out to hunt, they could still bring back some food, Gwaine followed it. It wasn't food though, it was something much better. Gwaine gave a wide smile to his comrade who nodded back before he rushed forward to catch his prey.

The hunting helped, a bit. Arthur was so completely focused on tracking a beast through the forest that all thoughts of Merlin, his father, and everything else disappeared. He was so completely enthralled by the hunt that he didn't notice the two men following him until they leapt out of the woods. Arthur had tried to fight back, but his exhaustion had slowed his moves and as it was two against one it didn't take long for his attackers to pull his hands behind his back and force him onto the forest floor. After binding his hands they moved in front of him and Arthur recognized his attackers as Merlin's friends, Percival and Gwaine. Gwaine looked at Percival and asked, "Do you think this will work?"

Percival just shrugged and said "Worth a try."

Arthur could do very little as Percival brought his fist to the side of Arthur's head, supposedly trying to knock him out so he wouldn't learn the location of their camp. The blow didn't knock him out though, just sent him down to the ground. He quickly considered his options. He could try to fight them in his sleep-deprived and bound state, which would probably just earn him another blow to the head which actually would knock him out, or he could act unconscious and probably get to talk with Merlin again. He might even learn the location of the camp, if they trusted he was unaware of where they were taking him and didn't move their camp afterwards. Choosing the second option, Arthur kept his eyes closed and his body relaxed as Percival lifted him up and slung him over his shoulder. Arthur tried not to think about how undignified he looked as he bounced against Percival's broad back. He was actually slightly glad they had bound his hands, as it kept them from giving away his alertness. Luckily for him, Gwaine had decided to walk in front of him so he could keep his eyes open and watch where they were going from his perch on Percival's back. It sounded like they had been talking, but Arthur couldn't really make out what they were saying as his head kept knocking against Percival's backside. He was quite relieved when they stopped and Percival set him against a tree. He kept his eyes closed until Gwaine started slapping his face and calling his name. He tried to look disoriented as he 'woke up' and looked around, noticing he was in a camp similar to the first, but now near a large cave. Merlin was nowhere to be seen, which disappointed Arthur slightly. He focused back on Gwaine who said, "Sorry about the blow, but we couldn't let you know where our camp is."

"Then why did you bring me here?" Arthur growled, trying to maintain any dignity he had left. Gwaine and Percival glanced at each other suspiciously before Gwaine said, "Merlin's feeling a bit down. We thought you might be able to cheer him up."

"Me?" Arthur said, inwardly worrying about what was wrong with Merlin, "How could I help Merlin? Why haven't you guys helped him?"

Percival glared at him and said, "Don't you dare think we haven't tried."

He then moved forward, looking murderous, but Gwaine grabbed him and said, "Why don't you go get Merlin? He won't be happy if we bring him a dead prince."

Percival nodded and stalked into the forest, giving Arthur a glare before he was out of sight.

"What's wrong with Merlin?" Arthur asked Gwaine who was working on tying him to a tree.

"Not sure." Gwaine said. "He hasn't been doing so well ever since he was shot."

"You mean when I helped him out of the castle?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah. I guess he did say you helped him. Why did you do that by the way?"

"He saved my life; I couldn't let him die when I could do something about it."

"I can understand that. He saved my life too. He's good at that." Gwaine said smiling at him. "Thanks for getting him out of there; I don't know what any of us would do without him."

Arthur just nodded. There was a brief pause before Arthur said "Why do you think I can help?"

"He was quite happy after he talked with you; we were hoping you could replicate that today. And he won't talk to us, so we're kind of desperate. He hasn't been sleeping much lately, and Percival remembered how he had cheered up after your visit, so when we ran into you in the woods, we figured might as well try." Gwaine answered with a shrug.

"Percival? I thought he didn't like me." Arthur said, surprised the large man could remember him with any positive emotions.

"I wouldn't say he doesn't like you, he's just really worried about Merlin. We all are."

There was a brief pause, apparently Merlin was quite hard to find so Arthur turned back to Gwaine and asked, "How did he save your life?"

"I got involved with the wrong people." Gwaine said, Arthur was slightly surprised he was talking to him but he didn't question it and kept silent as the man continued, saying, "My mother and sister needed the money, and I wanted to make sure they were alright. Unfortunately things didn't work out exactly as I planned, and I ended up on the wrong side of about twenty swords. If Merlin hadn't stopped the men, I probably would have quite a few holes in me, which I don't think would have helped my looks at all. It was funny really, all the men were all terrified of Percival when he stepped up, and didn't give Merlin a second glance until he waved his hand and they all ended up strewn all over the bar. He looked so excited when he told me to run; he saved my life before he even asked my name. When I learned what he was planning, I asked if I could join, sounded like too much fun to pass up. Plus he let me send a little of the money we got back to my mother, that is until she spoke with Queen Annis and got the pension she deserved for my father's service. I expect that you understand why none of us are going to let Merlin suffer, not after everything he has done for us."

Arthur just nodded and looked up as Percival came back, Merlin trailing behind him looking rather exhausted. Arthur thought he hadn't been sleeping well, but Merlin didn't look like he had slept at all for the past week. When his eyes landed on Arthur he froze, his eyes gaining a little bit of clarity as he said, "Arthur? What are you doing here?"