Eloeehez

I uppose it's a bit of a shock to find out something like that, espacially if you grow up with afather like Uther... Poor Arthur...

Amethyst49

Yep, if he practises like a good student he should be able to control it... and get back at the others ;-)
Thank you :-) The fact that you guys keep reading and commenting really makes my day!

MrsMagnusB

Thanks :-)

Nance

Yeah, he should really start to appreciate all the things that he could do! Like getting back at the knights for lauging at him ;-)

Vaughntronic

Yeah me too, feel almost evil for all the bad things that keep happening to him... Am I a bad person for that? ;-)
No worries, I was only joking with you... I know you didn't mean it in a a preassure kind of way, and I'm really happy that people are so involved in the story, wanting to read the next chapter, commenting and making suggestions... Totally makes my day :-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from BBC to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Meeting the druids

A bad night's sleep, a good day's ride and a less dignified introduction.

The morning of the meeting finally came and Arthur was really nervous. He slept badly, got up long before Merlin and when his breakfast was served he only pushed the food around his plate. He changed his clothes three times, or rather, he made Merlin change them for him which the manservant did grudgingly. When he came to the stables his nervousness made his horse skitter and step on his foot and, to add insult to injury, his other foot got caught in the stirrup and he nearly fell over when the horse, scared from his shouting, tried to back away. It wasn't until Percival managed to get hold of the reins that the horse calmed down and Arthur mounted with a grimace, silently cursing his horse and his very heavy and, at times, very ill-placed hooves.

Finally they were ready to ride and they headed out through Camelot's main gate. Merlin, knowing their way the best, rode up front beside Gwaine and Arthur followed behind with Leon at his side. Percival ended the small procession and kept looking sternly at Merlin every time he seemed a bit too friendly with Gwaine. Arthur noticed this and thought with a small smile that he wouldn't have wanted to be both slightly jealous and also in love with Gwaine, the man that flirted with anything that moved. Still, he'd seemed a bit different lately, and he'd moved much slower with Percival than he usually did. Arthur really hoped that this was more than just something casual for Gwaine because he knew how deeply Percival felt about the other knight and he'd hate to see him heart-broken. But so far things seemed to be well between the two of them and Arthur hoped it would continue like that.

It was a lovely, sunny day and Arthur gratefully took a deep breath of fresh air. It had been far too long since he last went out riding. He'd spent most of his time cooped up in his chambers to avoid shifting form in front of anyone and before that it had been that slash to his thigh that had kept him in bed for the better part of a week, and before that it had been those negotiations that took forever and before that… It seemed to Arthur as if he'd spent more and more time in the castle the longer he'd been king and he promised himself to make sure to get out of the castle more often. But he didn't get to enjoy the ride for very long. Suddenly he started to get that feeling and immediately tensed up.

"Oh, no" he muttered, suddenly bent over with dizziness, and Leon whipped his head around to look at him.

"Sire?" he asked worriedly but then he understood what was happening and called out sharply at the same time as he moved to take hold of the reins of Arthur's horse: "Merlin! It's happening again." Merlin was at Arthur's side quickly and lowered him to the ground but there wasn't much that he could do. Apart from making sure that the king was safe when the shifts came it was nothing they could help him with, he'd have to learn to master his ability by himself. They stopped and knights spread out and scanned the forest for any enemies while Arthur tried to catch his breath. Merlin picked up his clothes that had fallen off and stuffed them into one of the saddle bags.

"All right, sire?" asked as Arthur straightened up.

"Yes" Arthur answered, trying to put on a brave face but Merlin could hear that he was a bit shaken. Luckily he'd managed to get off his horse quite fast instead of falling towards the ground and he seemed to be unhurt.

"Can you ride, sire?" Leon asked but it was soon clear that while Arthur probably could hold on to the saddle with his claws that would ruin the leather, and they would also have to ride very slowly. So Leon led his horse instead, and Arthur was, not overly happy, tucked into Merlin's arms for the rest of the journey.

Arriving, not only in the form of a cat, (a rather handsome on if anyone wanted Arthur's opinion, but still a cat), but also in the arms of his manservant wasn't exactly how Arthur had pictured his first official visit to the druids as a king and as they approached the village his already somewhat bad mood quickly plummeted when he saw the people who'd gathered to meet them. Merlin had this uncanny ability to know how he felt without Arthur saying anything and he guessed the reason the king was annoyed.

"It could have been worse though, sire" he whispered to the cat and Arthur's ears twitched in annoyance.

"Oh really, Merlin?" he said acidly. "Please do tell."

"You could have shifted back just as we rode into the village" Merlin smirked and left a mortified Arthur to thank the gods that it hadn't happened. To arrive as a cat in Merlin's arms was bad, to unexpectedly shift back and suddenly be human, completely naked and sprawled in the arms of his manservant was… unthinkable. Arthur shuddered at the thought and Merlin's grin widened.

"You see, sire, there are so much to be grateful for. You really need to learn to appreciate the small things in life" he said and Arthur scoffed at him, tail swishing back and forth.

"Shut up, Merlin."

They were met by the village elder, some young boys came to take care of their horses and then they were bidden to enter a tent and share the midday meal with the village elder and his family before talking about the matter at hand. Merlin knew much more of the customs and habits of the druids and Arthur let him take the lead for once. Besides, he thought unhappily, what could he possibly do as a cat?

"More than you might think, young Pendragon." The voice in his mind startled him and he found the elder smiling at him, together with Merlin. He'd gotten so used to only being able to talk to Merlin and Gaius while in feline form that he'd completely forgotten that the druids could also communicate with him. Before he had the time to think of an answer the elder spoke again, aloud this time for the benefit of the knights.
"Let us eat."

Arthur didn't recognize all of the food but nibbled at some of the different dishes and decided that he liked it. When the plates were cleared away he was a bit disappointed, but his cat-stomach couldn't hold as much food as his human one and even if he'd really wanted to taste the fruits as well, he was just too full to manage even a small bite. The meal would've been greatly improved, however, if he'd gotten to eat it sitting on a chair instead of atop the table, and with some cutlery instead of lapping it up like a, well, cat. No sooner had he thought that before he heard the voice of the village elder in his head again.

"Be careful what you wish for, young Pendragon."

Then Arthur felt it again, the dizziness was upon him quicker than before and he distantly heard the others talking to him but their words made no sense to him. Then all went black.