Destiny
Gaius awoke to the noise of a door being slammed. Somewhat startled he bolted upright.
"Merlin?" He questioned wildly, the name of the boy he had so quickly come to think of as a son springing first to his lips. There was a loud clatter and a muffled curse and Gaius felt his confusion ebb somewhat. It was definitely Merlin then.
"Merlin, what on earth are you doing running around the castle at this time of night?" The court physician put more venom than he had intended into the words, but then, he thought on reflection, he was not a happy man. After all he had just been rudely awoken at who knew what time of the night by a young man who so far had given no justification for such an awakening. Gaius felt that he had every right to be annoyed. There was still no response and Gaius was just sucking in enough breath to give Merlin a thorough telling-off when he felt a sudden pressure on the edge of his bed as the boy sat down and Merlin's rushed words left his anger deflated and a sneaking worry beginning to take the place of his rage.
"Please Gaius! I don't know what to do! Arthur's missing! And he's had wine – you know what he's like with wine! Where could he have gone? And what's he doing going anywhere at this time of night? And-" Gaius cut off Merlin's tirade by raising one exasperated hand.
"Slow down, Merlin! From all that I managed to gather that Arthur has gone missing and is probably drunk also, am I correct?" Merlin nodded frantically, visibly restraining himself from saying anything more to give the older man time to process the information. "Do you have any idea where he might have gone? I assume you checked his chambers thoroughly," Merlin had the grace to look slightly sheepish.
"Not quite thoroughly, no... But he wouldn't have been in there Gaius, the way everything was laid out it was obvious that he'd just got up and left in a hurry! But I did check with the guard in the northern tower and he said..." here Merlin hesistated almost as if he was afraid that saying the bad news he had to bear might somehow make it more true, and put Arthur in even greater peril. "He said he saw a figure leaving the castle by a side door, not two hours ago. He called out but they didn't respond and they disappeared in the direction of the forest." Merlin's face was creased with worry.
"What does he think he's doing, Gaius?! He's never normally so reckless!" Gaius frowned in sympathy.
"If he's had as much to drink as you fear, Merlin, then he may not be thinking about what he's doing at all. But, the guard you spoke to, was he certain that it was Arthur he saw leaving the castle?" Merlin shook his head,
"No, he just said he saw a figure, he would guess to be male. But who else could it be, Gaius? Arthur is missing and the forest is one of his favourite places, I know he goes there to think a lot."
Gaius shook his head.
"Merlin, right now we know nothing for certain. Arthur could be safe and sound within the castle walls somewhere, sleeping that wine off as we speak. You can't just go tearing off into the woods on some hunch..." Merlin leapt to his feet, outrage shining in the depths of his blue eyes.
"No, Gaius! This is no hunch! I know Arthur is out there! The connection, the one that the great dragon is always going on about, well now I know what he means! Arthur is in danger! I know it!" Gaius looked pained.
"And I believe you Merlin, but the rest of the castle won't! They'll have to search the whole castle before they'll even entertain the idea that Arthur might be outside it." Merlin whirled to face Gaius, his face a mask of horror.
"But... but that'll take ages! Arthur could have frozen to death by then! Have you seen the storm out there?" Gaius swallowed and tried to think of a best-case scenario. Little came to mind.
"I can't deny that the situation is serious, Merlin. But think logically! They have to eliminate all other possibilities before they can launch an all-out search!" Merlin whirled again, this time ending up facing his room.
"Well, then I can't wait for them. I'll have to find Arthur on my own!" Gaius struggled out of bed.
"Merlin!" He chided, annoyance and concern leaking through in his voice, "That storm is furious! You'll barely be able to see where you're going, let alone see any trail that Arthur might have made! At least wait until the morning, when it will be light!" Merlin, however, was already in his room, throwing things into his bag.
"Arthur may not have that long! I can't afford to wait. How am I supposed to protect him if I'm just sitting here?" Gaius threw up his hands in defeat. Despite the worry that was twisting his insides into knots, he knew that nothing would dissuade Merlin once his mind was made up, especially where Arthur was concerned.
"Very well then! If you insist on following through with this folly, I intend to make sure that you at least go prepared!" So saying Gaius marched over to Merlin and took over the packing his bag. "Put on as many woollen clothes as you can find," he instructed the younger man, "they absorb less water and dry faster. I'm putting a woollen jumper and a blanket in here for Arthur, when you find him."
Merlin felt a sudden rush of warmth for the older man, who, despite being so dead-set against Merlin going out on his own, had still said 'when' and not 'if' he found Arthur. But Gauis was continuing on with instructions so Merlin snapped out of his appreciative haze to pay full attention.
"...and get him out of as many of his wet clothes as you can, putting on the dry woollen ones instead. Don't worry too much about him shivering, unless it gets really violent, but... Listen to me now, Merlin, this is important. If he stops shivering and stops really responding to you... Get him back to me as fast as you can. Do you understand?" Merlin nodded obligingly, but curiosity forced him to enquire further.
"But surely it would be a good thing if Arthur stopped shivering?" Gaius turned to Merlin, a deadly serious expression making his features seem incredibly severe.
"It would indeed be a good thing if Arthur stopped shivering, having been dressed in warm, dry clothes and indoors for a significant period of time, but if he stops shivering before that..." the ominous pause that Gaius left was enough to get through to Merlin the severity of the physician's warning. "Just get him back here, Merlin, and let me worry about that." Gaius finished with a strained smile that did nothing to alleviate Merlin's growing feeling of terror. He nodded determinedly nonetheless. He would *not* fail Arthur.
"I understand." He forced out, meeting the older man's gaze with a resolute expression in his eyes. Gaius nodded and smiled slightly, though this time the expression looked slightly less strained.
"Don't worry, Merlin," he added gently, easily reading the fear in the young boy's eyes. "You'll save Arthur. It is your destiny."
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Arthur stumbled onwards, the alcohol running through his veins making him completely oblivious to the bitter cold. Some part of his mind wondered vaguely why it was getting so hard to keep going, but that part was easily masked by the larger part that just kept telling him to continue walking, to where he had no idea, but he followed compliantly. Wherever he was going it was *away* from the castle and that was fine by him.
But as time went on his feet began to drag more and more and, as the effect of the wine on his mind began to lessen, so he increasingly felt the harsh chill of the weather. He had been walking for what felt like an interminable amount of time, before he noticed he was shivering. A very belated sense of self-preservation kicked in and Arthur whirled, as fast as he was able, back to face the way he had just come. Whether it was the alcohol, or the cold, or just plain tiredness that meant his vision was so impaired Arthur had no clue, but whatever the reason, his view of the landscape around him was a blurred, constantly shifting mess, making Arthur certain that there was absolutely no way he could make it back to the castle unaided.
He felt something like panic stir inside him, but he ruthlessly forced it down. No Prince of Camelot, no, he corrected himself, no son of Uther could afford to show fear. If he couldn't make it back right now then he'd just have to find somewhere to sit and either wait out the storm or wait until his vision repaired itself. Barely noticing the shaking in every limb, Arthur had scarcely made it to the nearest tree before his trembling legs gave out beneath him and he collapsed onto the cold, rain-soaked forest floor.
End Part Two