A/N:
I wrote this up on the suggestion of xXMistressMadHatterXx! I hope I've done your thoughts justice! I will post more about this *cough* educational day, but we'll start with this. Enjoy!
Chapter 12 – Military Training...MARINE STYLE! - Part One
The sun was barely up over the horizon, and already Camelot's esteemed knights were out and running outside of Camelot under the Colonel's expert direction. For such big, strong knights, their heavy panting and groans of defeat did much to dispel myths of their indestructibility. Even their Prince-Regent fought to keep going at the halfway mark, and he glared daggers at his father-in-law's back. This was ridiculous! Nobody had to run this far to save their lives!
Arthur's head swivelled to watch as both Kelly and Merlin sprinted forward to run ahead of the Colonel. He rolled his eyes at this embarrassing display, turning a wide glance to Sir Gwaine. Gwaine seemed just as miffed at being made to look inferior to a woman, but pride kept him moving along...and sweating buckets all the while.
Somewhere along the way the Colonel broke out into song, to the astonishment of his charges. "I don't know but I been told..." He halted, waiting to hear a response.
The Knights all looked round at each other, shrugging in confusion. What were they to do with that?
"Camelot's pretty damn old!" Kelly's voice rang out loud across the landscape, and out of nowhere she jumped off a log to hit the ground alongside of the knights.
"But that don't give you no excuse," David sang out, turning a gleaming white smile to prompt another response.
"Put those guns to real good use," Kelly countered, playfully shoving Merlin off the trail. She sprinted forward, well past the knights, to avoid the warlock's quick pursuit. In the distance they could hear her yell, "See ya, see ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" And then, around the bend there was the sound of a shout and a scream, and the sound of water splashing.
"Gods, that woman can go," Sir Elyan could be heard muttering between heavy pants. "And for such a weakling, Merlin's got amazing speed..."
They had reached Lake Albion. Arthur was thoroughly irritated with the shameless display of endurance from both his wife and his manservant. They were behaving like siblings for crying out loud, and showing up every one of Arthur's men with their ability to run for long distances.
As the entire group slowed to a walk at the lake's edge, Gwaine spoke. "That isn't natural!" he huffed, panting as badly as the Prince. "We were not-" cough-" made to...run...endlessly!" It was slightly discouraging, too, when a woman could best his endurance. And Merlin, the scrawny little rat—his best and only friend—helped to betray Gwaine's weakness.
Arthur turned, hands on hips as they finally stopped for a bit. He watched in exasperation as they held an impromptu water fight further out into the lake. Arthur had finally had enough and yelled, "Are you two quite finished!"
Kelly and Merlin stopped, turned to look at each other, and then faced the Prince-Regent. Simultaneous cries of "He started it!" and "She started it!" broke the silence as the two got out, soaked from head to toe. And, quite honestly, neither seemed to care. It was a beautiful morning!