Yo! I'm alive ppl! Finals were a bitch. Much worse than writing for you guys! This is a shorter chapter because of the way I changed the plot... Oops! The next chapter will probably be longer because I will be on summer vacation. Maybe I can get my older brother to give me a hand while he's home from college...

On to the show!

The forest. A canvas painted with greens and browns and bits of vibrant others. And incedently, the perfect place for a certain young knight to escape a stuffy room full of fat old lords (read: bootlickers). No kings, no prats, no sorcerors hell-bent on destroying Camelot. It was perfect.

Well, perfect for napping anyways. Or it was, until a damn griffin decided to attack him. Merlin reached for his sword, only to remember it was at Tom's. Getting repaired. Great! The one time I need my sword, it's in the shop. Man, I have some shitty luck. Then some carzy man with a death wish stepped in front of him. He swung his sword at the beast, only to have it shatter against the tan feathered body. The thing bitch-slapped swordy guy before flying off to its nest.

"Thanks for the assistance."

He gave Merlin a weak smile. "No problem. My name is Lancelot by the way."

"Nice to meet you; I'm Merlin." He made a movement to sit up, but grunted in pain. Further inspection, Merlin found a wound in his side from the monster. Lancelot stared at it for a few seconds before fainting like a girl. Great...

Lance woke up in a soft bed surrounded by the smell of woods and smoke. The pervious week came flooding back all at once. Passing through Tarra, crossing the woods, fording that river. All so he could come to Camelot, and become a knight. Then his confrontation with the odd man and that thing in the forest. At least that explained why everything hurt, but why was he in a bed?

He cracked his eyes open and brought his hand up to sheild them from the glaring light. The room Lance was in was small; a small desk and the bed took up the majority of the limited space. A man a year or two younger than him with flaming red hair and bright green eyes walked in.

"Oh good, your finally awake. Lord Merlin will be pleased to hear the news. How's the pain, anything throbbing?"

Wait a second, Lord Merlin?! "Uhh... My side is killing me, but other than that, I feel fine. Did you say Lord Merlin?" He croaked.

The man-boy gave him a weird look. "Yeah, Lord Merlin of Tarra, Knight of Camelot. Unfortunately, he's out surveying damage inflicted by that griffin of yours." The red-head left, and Lance fell asleep again.

The naxt time he woke up, Merlin was sitting there, calmly reading a book. Lance shuffled over to the window. "You know, ever since I was a little boy, I wanted to be a knight. Raiders attacked my village, and knights led by a man named Balinor saved us. Ever since then, I have wan to help others in the same way."

Merlin nodded before adding, "Balinor was my father. Never met him though; he died at war before I was even born. My mother fled to a village in Estia named Ealdor, because my parents were engaged to be married. I'm technically a bastard, but I was the oonly heir to my father's title."

"I came to Camelot to become a knight. To help people the way your father did."

Merlin gave him a morrose look. "I am sorry, but only nobles may become knights. Although, I am in need of a new captain of the gaurd after an unfortunate accident involving one of my knights and my previous captain."

"I heard about that. Riane and Holblus had what was coming."

Merlin smiled weakly. "Indeed they did. Once this mess with the monster is cleared up, I will take you to Tarra."

"Thank you Merlin. For everything"

Merlin gave Lance a goofy grin. "No problem my friend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a monster to see to."

Arthur was in a mood, according to Merlin that is. Honestly, he was just a little pissed that none of the new recruits could pass the final test to become a knight. This was a problem- especially with the griffin attacking people.

"Buck up Arthur, I'm sure you'll find the knights you need some where."

"Grummund's the third one to fail this month. How am I supposed to defend Camelot with rubbish like that? Even you're half-decent with a sword," Arthur grumbled.

"Hey! I resent that; I'm better with a sword than you."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "As if!"

"Alright Mr. Super-Prat, care to test that theory?"

"Oh it's ON. Ten minutes. The training ground. Be there, or prove me right: that you're a girl's petticoat."

Arthur stalked off with every intention of beating Merlin, but they both already knew (read: Merlin) who did, in fact, win. But at this point, Arthur was used to it. Merlin's soon-to-be captain even came out for a round. He was phenomenal; he beat the prince and damn near beat Merlin. Or least came closer than any of the other knights that had spared with the raven man. The practice was good; it took Arthur's mind off of the Griffin that was prowling around the forest.

Arthur was fed up with that damn over-grown chicken. So mush so that he had decided to take his knights and hunt it down before it came to Camelot and killed off his future subjects. So they rode out in search of the beast, little did they know it was following them...

'Bregdan anweald gafeluec'

He chanted it over and over in his head like a mantra. Merlin still didn't know if he had enough magic to make the spell work, but there was little else he could do at the moment. His plan was simple, abeit risky: Shadow Jump to get the monster by surprise, do the spell, kill the griffin. It was perfect, except for the small issue of everyone seeing him do it. He prayed that everybody would look away for some odd reason when he did it.

In the end, they didn't find the beast: it found them. It was a blur of brown in the dark underbrush, nothing more. It was all the warning the knights had before it assaulted them.

In short order, all of the knights were taken care of. 'Well that's convenient' Merlin thought as he stooped to check if the prince was alive- which he was.

The raven stood and glared at the beast. He sprinted into a shadow to his left, only to pop out of one a good fifteen feet above the griffin.

"Alright Merlin, it's now or never," he muttered to himself, "Bregdan anweald gafeluec." Nothing. Shit. "BREGDAN ANWEALD GAFELUEC!" There was a burst of blue light from his sword, seconds before it imbeded itself in the gap between the wings.

"You did it!" Lancelot exclaimed. 'Well shit.'

"Lancelot, please. PLEASE. Don't tell anyone what you saw."

"I won't Merlin, I promise... So I take it that this means Tarra is more magic-friendly than I originally thought."

Merlin smiled. Lancelot burst into laughter and Merlin followed in suit. The raven walked over and slapped Arthur's face. Hard.

"MERLIN! You-little- I'm gonna get for that!" he screamed at the retreating forms of Merlin and Lancelot.

"See you in a few weeks Arthur- I'm off to Tarra!" Merlin called as he and Lance galloped off to the castle to gather supplies for the trip. Merlin knew he was going to pay for that when he got back, but he honestly didn't care. There was little that Arthur could do.

The trip was unusually quiet. No bandits, prats, or griffins. Mostly because the monster was already dead. They topped the little rise and saw the sprawling landscape below. It was dotted with trees and a moderate amount of buildings. In the middle was a small, white castle that burned orange in the setting sun.

"Welcome, my friend, to Tarra."

Alternate Title: When Lance sees a Teenager slay an Over-Grown Chicken.

There you have it folks! Next week, we find out found Lance settles into Tarra, along with a few supprises along the way. Stay tuned!

Until next time, stay jammin' my Faithful Readers!