Note before I start: A few times in this story, I took events which actually happened in the movie and used them, along with rough quotations from the character's dialog. I am not sure if all of the dialog is correctly quoted, so I didn't mark these sections, but if you've seen the movie, you'll probably know which parts actually happened. I did try, for the most part, however, to change things quite a bit... and even though I loved Merlin in the movie, he's not in this version...

So... Disclaimer (which I always forget to do in the first chapter...) I don't known Shrek or anything about Shrek. I'm not making any sort of profit off this, nor do I intend to try to make any profit, nor do I think anyone would be willing to pay to read anything I've written. I'm writing this because I am bored. That is all. :)

Chapter 2

The joust hit right on it's target, the target sign on Arthur's chest. The impact knocked Arthur backwards, off of the horse and onto the hard ground, knocking all of the air out of his lungs in the process. For a moment, Arthur remained completely still, concentrating only on breathing. He shuddered as he finally managed to catch his breath, but stayed right on the ground where he had landed. He had landed hard and wondered if he might have any broken bones. He wasn't sure if he even could move if he tried, but at the moment he didn't want to move, and remained still. Maybe if Lancelot thought he was dead he would just run off, leaving him alone for once.

As he lay with his eyes closed, listening to the voices of other students, he heard someone say his name. He didn't recognize the voice, but didn't really care.

Arthur winced as he felt pressure on his stomach as someone stepped on him. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to find it wasn't Lancelot, but an ogre, accompanied by a cat wearing a hat and boots, and a donkey.

"Oops... sorry, kid," the ogre apologized. His voice was the one he had heard earlier, saying his name.

Arthur wondered how the ogre knew his name, "did you just say you were looking for Arthur?" he asked, wondering what the ogre wanted with him.

"That information is on a need-to-know basis," the cat cut in.

The donkey nodded, and the three of them walked away from Arthur, approaching Lancelot and his friends. Arthur took this to mean either the ogre was indeed looking for him and thought Lancelot was Arthur, or he hadn't actually heard his name, and the ogre, like everyone else, wanted nothing to do with him.

Arthur kept in mind the fact the ogre might be looking for him. Knowing his luck, the ogre was probably looking for him so he could eat him or do something horrible to him, so Arthur didn't want to stick around to find out what the ogre wanted.

He painfully pulled himself up from the ground and stood, waiting for a moment before leaving, as his head spun when he stood. He closed his eyes for a moment until he felt less dizzy. Removing the padding and bucket-helmet and throwing them on the ground, he turned and walked quickly away, looking over his shoulder at the scene of Lancelot being interrogated by the ogre. The ogre dropped Lancelot and glanced in Arthur's direction, looking right at him. Arthur knew the ogre was in fact looking for him, so he ran off as quickly as he could.

As he ran, he frequently looked over his shoulder, to make sure the ogre wasn't following him. In doing so, he wasn't watching where he was running, and ran directly into someone, causing himself to fall backward. He looked up at the person he had collided with. It was another member of the jousting team, a tall and muscular boy named Jack, who, like Lancelot... and everyone else, loved teasing Arthur.

"Sorry," Arthur lied, as he wasn't at all sorry, but hoped the older student wouldn't beat him to a pulp. He got up from the ground and glanced behind himself again. He didn't see the ogre, but he still wanted to get out of the general area, just in case.

"Why are you running?" the older boy asked, smirking.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, "There's an ogre... you might want to run too," He said, trying to scare the older boy into leaving him alone.

"Someone told me the ogre is looking for you," Jack said, "Is that true?"

Arthur shook his head, "no... I'm sure they were just making it up..." he lied, "why would an ogre look specifically for me? Whoever you heard it from was lying, obviously."

The jouster grabbed Arthur's upper arm, "let's go ask him," he laughed.

Arthur tried to pull away, but this boy, like everyone else, was stronger than he, "Let go of me!" he yelled, "why would the ogre be looking for me?" Arthur was beginning to panic. He didn't want to be turned over to the ogre for fear of what he would do to him, "There is no ogre!" he desperately lied, "there isn't an ogre... it's a rumour."

The older boy laughed, "I saw the ogre, Artie... and someone told me he was looking for 'Arthur Pendragon...' and that's you."

"But.... no! Wait!" Arthur pleaded. He pulled his arm away from the other boy, very surprised he was able to do so. Realizing he could run now, he did just that, running away from the jouster who was following close behind him.

"You're in for it now, Artie!" the older boy called after him, "what did I tell you about running away, hm? You've gotta be a man, not a little wimp who runs away all the time. And you wonder why everyone makes fun of you!"

This comment made Arthur angry. He wasn't a wimp. What was he supposed to do when the entire school was against him? What should he do when someone twice his size cornered him? It wasn't a fair fight. He would be a fool not to run. Nevertheless, this piece of logic temporarily escaped his mind as he turned around, ready to face the jouster. He knew facing Jack wouldn't make anyone think any more of him. He would lose the fight, and no one would praise him for standing up to the older boy. They would all hate him just as much. Nevertheless, he didn't want to just run... Not this time.

Jack caught up with him quickly. Arthur looked angry, which only made him laugh, "you gonna be all tough now?" the older boy laughed.

Arthur didn't say anything. Instead, he lunged at the other boy, knocking him off his feet. Jack was much stronger than Arthur, however, and soon stood up, dragging Arthur with him. He pushed him back against a stone wall, holding him firmly in place by the arms.

Arthur knew he had lost this fight, but wanted to try to prevent the other boy from hitting him, which it looked like he planned on doing, "You think you're so tough?" Arthur asked, "if you were really tough, you'd leave me alone and go fight someone else... like Lancelot. You're a wimp compared to him, and everyone knows it. He's the one you should be fighting with."

His attempt to advert the bully's attention elsewhere failed, "You do NOT call me a wimp, loser!" he yelled, clearly angry, shaking Arthur.

"If you weren't a wimp then you wouldn't be picking on me!" Arthur yelled, "You think I'm a wimp for running from you, but you're the wimp, for targeting me in the first place! What's the matter? You can't win a fight against anyone else? So you just pick fights with me? I know I'm not tough. I admit that... But at least I don't pick on people smaller than me!"

Jack looked very angry now, "I could win a fight against anyone... even Lance," he began, "I pick on you because you're a loser! And you're gonna be very sorry you called me a wimp!" Arthur felt Jack release his hold on one of his arms, but tighten his grip on the other. Jack had let go of one of his arms so he could hit Arthur with his free hand.

There was really no use in fighting. If Arthur struggled, Jack would probably just hit him more times, whereas if he just let the older boy get in a few good punches without a fight, he would probably end up less hurt. Arthur closed his eyes as he saw the larger boy draw back his fist, preparing to hit him. Before he was hit, however, Arthur felt the grip on his arm release. The boy's fist never struck him. He opened his eyes, wondering what he was waiting for. He jumped slightly when he saw the ogre standing before him. The older boy had run off, as apparently the ogre scared him... and he said he wasn't a wimp... Arthur thought.

Arthur was actually grateful of the new presence in place of Jack. Arthur had heard horrible stories about ogres in the past, but hadn't ever actually met an ogre. But this ogre didn't look too similar to the stereotypical images of ogres he had seen in books or had imagined. At least the ogre wasn't covered in blood or wielding some horrific weapon. He really just looked like a normal human, only bigger... and more green. Perhaps the ogre didn't want to kill him and eat him after all. Maybe he was here for some other reason.

"Are you Arthur Pendragon?" the ogre asked.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, "why?" he asked, "...who are you?"

"Shrek," the ogre answered, "I'm looking for Arthur because he is the heir to the throne of Far Far Away. Are you Arthur?" he repeated the question.

Arthur wasn't sure if the ogre was telling the truth, "For real?" he asked.

The ogre sighed, as if he was tired, "Are you Arthur or not?" he asked.

Arthur nodded, "Yeah," he said, only slightly reluctantly. At this point, even if the ogre did mean to kill him, at least he wouldn't have to live at the school any longer, "I'm the heir?" he asked, "is this some kind of a joke?"

"Not at all," Shrek replied, in a tone which was almost sarcastic.

"I'm the only heir?" Arthur asked, thinking there must be some sort of trick behind this, "I'm the next in line? Seriously?" He was not exactly lucky... and becoming a king didn't really seem like something that would happen to him in reality.

"The one and only," Shrek replied.

Though he still had a hint of doubt, Arthur couldn't help but feel excited about the possibility of himself becoming a king. He knew he had relatives in the royal blood line, but he assumed they had forgotten about him, "So... what do I have to do?" he asked.

"Just come with me, back to Far Far Away, and that's it... That's all there is to it," Shrek informed him, "We've got a ship; you just have to get on board, come back with us, and you'll be king."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. This was starting to look suspicious. Why would an ogre be telling him this? His family didn't really associate with ogres... No one did... So why was an ogre sent to retrieve him? Maybe his family hadn't forgotten about him at all, and decided to play a deadly joke on him. He sighed. He figured he might as well trust this guy... at least for now. After all, if the ogre wanted to eat him, he surely would be able to overpower Arthur even if he refused to go with him, "Okay," he agreed.

He followed Shrek, the cat, and the donkey to the boat, without even talking to anyone at his school first.

"Don't you maybe have some friends to say goodbye to?" the cat asked as they walked.

Arthur shook his head, "No," he said, not elaborating any further.

The cat and donkey looked at each other uneasily for a moment. Then the donkey decided to change the subject, running up and jumping right in front of Arthur, grinning widely.

"You must think we are so rude," the donkey yelled out... "Shrek is at least, for not introducing us. I'm Donkey," the donkey told Arthur.

Arthur raised his eyebrows, "and is that 'Cat?'" he asked, sarcastically, laughing at his own joke.

"No, señor," the cat cut in, "I am Puss... (in boots)."

Arthur smiled. The ogre was likely not going to kill him, he thought, or else he wouldn't be traveling with such odd companions.

They made it to the ship rather quickly, all the while receiving puzzled glances from the high school students. Everyone at the school knew who Arthur was, and no one liked him, yet they were all wondering why he was leaving with the ogre.

"I hope the ogre eats him," one of the boys laughed, talking to his friends.

Arthur ignored the other boy but looked up at Shrek, "Can we go now?" he asked, clearly quite ready to leave all of this behind him.

Shrek nodded. They boarded the ship and began their journey back to Far Far Away.

xxxxxx

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