authors notes: thank you for all the reviews! todays shoutout goes to klcutting, who reviewed first. thank you to everyone who reviewed and more shoutouts will come with every chapter. like i said i would worn you if it has ANY spoilers at all, so if this is a SMALL spoiler but if you do not know about gwaine it does mention him. like i said, small spoiler but i thought i would say ^^
arthur sat on his bed listening to his manservant's footsteps descend down the hallway. merlin was acting strange. he has never lashed out at anyone before. something must be wrong, maybe he is sick or something. i will have to check with gaius later. i don't want to be without a servant after all. arthur began to reflect on what merlin had said, but mind you he still had his pride. i will not go see giaus until tonight. if merlin comes to me, so be it, but i will not give up my pride to a servant. arthur thought. the only reason he was going to go see merlin at all was because of the fact that his behavior was so strange. he would NEVER admit it, but he was quite fond of merlin and worried about him a lot more that he let on.
it was growing dark and gaius was worried. merlin had told him he would be back before nightfall and night had just fallen. gaius trusted merlin, but he also knew of the boy's knack for finding trouble. not wanting to cause a scene, and also knowing that uther would not sent a search party out for a servant, gaius decided that he would give merlin 30 minutes and of he was not back then, he would go and look for merlin himself. the minutes crept by slowly and gaius grew even more worried with each passing second. a storm raged outside, a storm of epic proportions with lightning creating what looked like a rift in time and space. (DW anyone?) thunder shook the castle and more than one bottle fell to the ground, shattering instantly. twenty-five minutes passed. gaius stood and when to the closet that held the coats. grabbing the most waterproof one he could find, he slipped it on, grabbing a bag and shoving a blanket inside for merlin. gaius stood ready of face the storm and find merlin. he- the door burst open and prince arthur cold be seen standing in the doorway.
"merlin!" he called out, looking for the manservant.
"he is not here," gaius replied when arthur stormed into merlin's room.
"where is he? don't tell me he's off sulking somewhere!"
"no he is not." gaius replied calmly. he was surprised by the tone in the prince's voice. what did merlin do this time?
"i had asked him to go gather me some flowers that i needed for a tonic outside of the city walls. he agreed and said that he would be back before dark. as you can see he is not back, and i was just about to look for him. it's not good for him to be out in this weather alone."
"it is not good for you either, gaius. i will accompany you."
"arthur, don't trouble yourself. you must be here tomorrow, for uther's birthday. i won't be gone long"
"exactly. that is why i'm coming with you, you won't be long. if i don't have a servant to do all of the chores, how can i be ready for father's birthday?"
merlin continued walking slowly, step by step, inch by inch, against the wind and frozen rain. camelot can't be much farther merlin thought against the pounding in his head. from his experiences with gaius, he knew he probably had a concussion, for he felt as iff he had a nail embedded in his head. if i make it to camelot, i can get to gaius... don't pass out merlin... don't pass out...
merlin reached his braking point. he swore that his head would burst if he kept on. he reached out and slowly slid down against the trunk of a tree. slowly his eyes closed and the pain was the last thing he could remember.
"gaius, you should stay here in case merlin comes back!"
"if you think that is best, arthur. you should take gwaine with you, like you said you should not be alone in this weather."
"i will. if my father asks where i am please stall him for as long as you can, i don't want to have to explain to him why i'm out"
"i will stall him for as long as i can. you can be sure of that."
"thank you, gaius."
"be careful, arthur" gaius warned, watching arthur descend into the lower city. guises had sent for gwaine and he was waiting at the city gates. thank you arthur gaius thought, for he knew that if arthur did not help, he would have never been able to find merlin on his own. merlin, i know you will come back. don't give arthur to much of a hard time. gaius thought, hoping that wat he thought was true.
merlin woke up to the sun on his face. his head was reeled as he tried to remember why he was in the middle of the woods. slowly but steadily memories returned. he remembered his fight with arthur and how gaius sent him to collect flowers for a tonic. the only question merlin thought is how i ended up in the middle of a forrest at dawn. i was heading in the direction of camelot merlinrecapped wait... oh no! i must have- merlin winced gotten turned around. merlin stood and looked around. the trees covered the sky so merlin had no way of telling which way is north. i have to make it to the edge of the forrest so that i can tell which way i am to be going.
merlin began to walk to the edge of the forrest. the pain in his head had mostly subsided to a dull throbbing behind his temple. merlin walked toward what he thought to be the edge of the forrest. suddenly he felt himself slip and fell down one of the many slopes in the forrest surrounding camelot. merlin opened his eyes and realized that he had reached the edge of the forrest. merlin stood and looked out of the forrest
"what have i gotten myself into..." merlin whispered as he looked out at the miles of forrest that could be seen from the cliffside he was standing on.
merlin sat down against one of the trees and tried to calm himself down. he looked over himself and saw what shape he was in. he was tired, covered on scratches and he felt sick. merlin brought his knees up to his chest and rested his hand on his knee. what a day this tuned out to be
arthur met gwaine at the city gates. the rain had began to lighten but only just.
"what has merlin gotten himself onto this time, old friend?" gwaine said addressing arthur.
"gaius sent him to collect flowers for a tonic outside of the city, and he has not returned."
"well we'd better be off then" dwaine said as he settled his horse and rode out of the city followed closely by prince arthur. soon arthur and gwaine reached the edge of the forrest.
"MERLIN!" dwaine called out hoping that his friend was within earshot. "MERLIN!"
"i doubt he is within a hearing distance of us, and his tracks are undoubtably masked by this rain!" arthur shouted over the thunder. "let us gather what information we can and set up a small camp farther in. merlin couldant have gone far!"
"yes, sire!" gwaine replied in a half mocking voice. he would follow arthur anywhere but calling him 'sire' was just to funny sometimes. arthur dismounted his horse and bent down to the ground next to an area whose grasses and shrubs where upturned, most likley by a horse's hooves. hopefully not just any horse's hooves, merlin's horse's hooves.