Camelot
Castle Ector
The storm had started gathering when the group had started to reach Castle Ector. The clouds above had begun to turn a downpour ready shade of gray and black as they trudged over the hill and came upon sight of the castle. From Arthur's descriptions, one would think it was the seat of the throne, admired by all and beholdened by others for its beauty. Impressive and awe inspiring.
It was not that.
The castle was on the lesser side of disrepair and had seen better days from what Arthur had sheepishly admitted on the walk towards the front gates. With the lack of reverence for the lordship of the estate, Arthur had continued with saying that Lord Ector had pinned all the hopes and aspirations on Kay, the broad shouldered brute son of his. Kay was their ticket to majesty and glory deserving of their seat, the hook that would pull them from the squalor and the muck that had settled onto their land as of late.
The walls of the fortress were beginning to lose bricks and those that weren't crumbling were collected in pieces held together by the mortar that held them in place. The paints chipped away to reveal the stone and mortar underneath. The halls were adorned with flags that were faded by the sun and stained with blood, mud and rain. Kuro had never seen a castle except for the pictures in the books he read, but he felt they had to be more majestic and more impressive than this sorry affair.
Merlin had come to explain to Kuro when the two were oft on their own while Arthur negotiated with the drawbridge guard to let the group of them in is that world hopping was rather frowned upon practice throughout the worlds, despite the wizard's own personal experience in the department of navigating to other worlds. Merlin had to explain that the act of, 'meddling' was a rather difficult thing to explain to the locals of these worlds. How does one explain the existence of not one other world, but many worlds beyond imagination.
Merlin explained that a single person could understand, but a people would lose their collective marbles at the thought of other beings from other planets. So, it was in the best interest to preserve the natural order to come up with the simple tale of Kuro being the apprentice of Merlin to explain the presence of the young man. A half truth, afterall. They didn't need to know that he came from another world.
And then there was the issue of Dusk. Merlin must've asked the question eight different times, each with a single answer. Kuro didn't know how he got Dusk to fall into line, even getting a personality of their own. Just that Dusk listened to Kuro's call. A side effect of Kuro's heritage, he had to guess.
So, rather than being a Shadow Heartless, Merlin then told Kuro that Dusk would be known going forward as a living homunculus. A truly befuddling result of the tampering of magic and scholarly study. The experiment would be of Kuro's, as his first attempt at Alchemy he had accidentally created whilst under instruction of Merlin. Needless to say, Kuro found this lie harder to stomach. This wasn't even a quarter of the truth. But these lords didn't need to know what Dusk was actually. A manifestation of the darkest intentions men could have, with a hankering desire to feast upon the hearts of people across the universe. So, homunculus Dusk was.
When asked about what exactly a homunculus is, Merlin simply told Kuro, 'That's what Dusk is.' And left it at that.
When they sat down for dinner, Kuro found it hard to pay attention to the hollering of the Lord and the disdainful words of his son due to being preoccupied with worrying about Arthur. Having given the lord of the castle a scare for being so late, Arthur was given four extra demerits and forced to work in the kitchen while the lord played host to the wizard and their companion.
The young boy was forced to serve the lords of the castle as well as the guests, which made Kuro feel sympathy for Arthur. He wanted to be a squire, not a servant. And to make him clean the dishes and serve the food to not just the lord and his aloof son but also the new guests. Kuro had to bite his tongue when the lord's son, Kay threw a half-drunk mug at Arthur to clean up as he made his way into the kitchen when they arrived. Kuro, having seen Arthur's gaze meet his own, offered a low toast to the younger man, one which Arthur reciprocated. Albeit, with a washrag and a playful smile.
The barking of dogs made Kuro cringe at their high pitched noise as he took hold of one of the two pronged forks and jabbed it into a thick cut of meat. The myoglobin pooled out onto the plate with that stab, Kuro then raised the slab of beef up and took a bite of it. The flesh was charred black and flaky while cutting up the roof of Kuro's mouth on the outside while squishy and soft on the inside. The bites he took smashed it into a paste in just a few chews, which was an odd texture to feel as he took a sip of honey mead to wash it down and smacked his lips. The thick liquid warmed his throat and his stomach, which he followed with a heavy sigh of content. His fingers combed over the froth that gathered around his lips, glancing over at the kitchen walkway and seeing Arthur peeking around and watching the group eat dinner. A bowl of soup in his hand as he eats his own personal dinner.
"So, you and the ward are from the woods? Out there practicing magic among the shadows, eh Marvin?" Sir Ector, the lord of the castle and the adopted father of Arthur. He was a rounded man with a wide gait and even wider stomach. His pants hung so unbalanced along his waist that he required suspenders to properly wear them. His huge, imposing size dwarfed everyone in the room, even his own robust and athletically inclined son Kay was comparatively small when next to his lord of a father. Ector's hands combed over his wide red mustache, combing away the foam that gathered on it from his poorly poured beer. Merlin sipped his cup of tea, giving the lordship a short nod of the head and smoothing out his bunched up robes. "Out there, out there in the dirt and the grime and the-the dark?"
"The name is Merlin. Quite so. Kuro and I are simply looking to expand our horizons and our journey to do so has brought us to this beautiful and exquisite castle." Merlin complemented, and turned to Kuro for such an agreeing statement. Kuro simply nodded, taking another sip of mead and swiftly swallowing it. His lips curled to a rather goofy grin as he felt his brain get hazy and his eyes got glossy. He had to remember he was an apprentice of Merlin's. And that he was training to be a wizard and that he couldn't tell anyone he was a Heartless. A world hopping Heartless. He didn't know what mead was when he was given a mug of it earlier in the evening, but it warmed his stomach and made his mind feel funny. He wanted more.
"Yes. This is a nice castle." Kuro grumbled with a loose hand pawing at the dining hall. Merlin knocks his elbow into Kuro's, making him sit up straighter and clear his throat. Kuro pounded his chest clear as he prepared for a proper praise worthy sentiment. "It's a very nice castle."
"Good one, Kuro." Dusk muttered with a warm stare, their golden hued gaze resting on their friend as he turned to the Heartless with a short chuckle. Shaking his head as he felt the alcohol sting his teeth and fog his head slightly.
Merlin squinted his eyes shut in mild disappointment as Kuro flashed the wizard an ignored wink and took another drink from his mug full of honey beer. Kuro glanced over at his plate, then turned towards Dusk, who was cautiously sitting beside him on the bench. Their small shoes dangled off of the side of the seat as they stared at their plate of untouched meat. Dusk didn't need to eat, and felt a little embarrassed that they served him a plate.
"Does the little one not feel hungry? What's wrong, tiny thing? Scared to talk?" Kay asked with a wide grin, before reaching over and grabbing the slap of beef off of the plate. Kay chuckled, waving the meat in Dusk's face before taking a rough bite out of it. Smacking his teeth harshly as he stares at the small Shadow. "Afraid of the meal? Think it'll bite you back?"
Dusk retreats into their large jacket, their golden eyes hidden behind the collar. Their wide brim hat lowering onto the shoulder of the jacket as a lid would close onto a jar, hiding their tiny form under a dense insulated blue coat.
Kuro's eyes narrowed as he tightened the hold of the two pronged fork, imagining if Kay would still be laughing if he got forked in the eye. As Kuro pushed his seat back, slightly inebriated and his glare aglow with fury, he stopped upon seeing Merlin catch his eye, having noticed the idea brewing in Kuro's head before waving his finger and pulling the piece of meat out of Kay's hold. The beef slab is tugged out of Kay's hands, levitating a few feet off of the table and slowly floating off down towards the end of the table. Returning to Dusk's plate with a slap.
"I would hope that we don't need to remind others that we need to keep our hands to ourselves now, do we?" Merlin asked, eyes darting from Kay and to Kuro, particularly Kuro who stabs his own plate full of meat with a downard jab, the tips of the prongs digging into the bottom of the plate. Kuro reached for his drink, only the mug to slide nonchalantly across the table, just out of reach. Merlin's eyes focused on the tankard as he whispered to the Heartless man. "I believe you've had enough there, son."
"Yes, sir." Kuro nodded, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his now half lidded eyes and letting out a short yawn. "Sounds good."
"So, a few parlor tricks? That's the making of a great wizard?" Kay chortled, his eyes squinted and his fist tucked under his chin. Eyes focused on the bearded old man. "I got a magic trick for you, real mystic artist I is."
Kay tucked his thumb into his left palm, and mimed with the right that he was removing the finger right off of the hand, lips pursed in amazement as he continued to laugh. The heartiness of his laughter started Lord Ector up as well. Whose boisterous chuckles and harsh intakes of breath pulled the flags towards his direction with every heave of his mouth.
"How I'm doing that? How I'm doing that?" Kay asked flippantly, his laughter breaking up his words every so often, necessitating him to repeat his questions over and over again at least three more times. Each time interrupted with a roar of applause from his father.
Merlin sat unimpressed, glancing over at Kuro with a bored expression, whose own eyes shot looks of disdain towards the lords and their teasing. Merlin, with a quick flick of his wrists, then clapped his hands together with an ear piercing snap, the lights in the room immediately put out and left the world in darkness. Kuro's eyes glanced around, lips curled to a rich smile as he waited for Merlin to put on a show.
Ector froze in his spot, his blood running cold as he was surprised and startled by the sudden darkness overtaking the room. Kay's hand had reached for his sword, only to feel the pommel skim past his fingertips as it moved out of his reach. Hobbling over to the other side of the table. Merlin's hands lifted up in the dark, a few specks of light beginning to swirl and gather above the table. The lights flicker specks of blues, grays and yellows, sweeping across the room as meteors and comets sail across the skies.
The shimmering lights linger in the eyes of the observers, the very fading and reigniting miniature stars mesmerizing and charming in its own way. The way the lights flicker out as candle fire does, only to reignite as lighting illumines gloomy dark skies. The stars spiraled along the room, forming a perfect storm of glimmering glints, the center most point of the spiral eating the stars into nothing while the edges gathered the light as a whirlpool drains water. Circling around and around, catching the breath of the room as it does so.
"There is only one thing that never fails. You may grow old and tremble in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by those of evil intent, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of your enemies' minds. There is only one thing for it then, to learn." Merlin's words echo deep, rattling the chest of his audience as though he spoke from every direction imaginable. Kuro heard his voice as though it echoed across the woods, bouncing off of the trees and landing in his ear. He felt the sound of its whisper as though Merlin were murmuring a secret against his cheek. He felt it rattle his bones with their bass, and felt it smooth his fingers as wind was caught on a brisk day. "Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for any of us. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."
Merlin's hands came to a clap and the stars collided into a giant ball of condensed energy, before dispersing in an explosion of blues, greens and reds. As the pieces of light drifted down as snowflakes floated down against the table top. Ector feels his arms give out from the excitement and the awestruck glory of the sight, sending him into the chair with a breathless huff. A snap of the fingers, and the candles are lit once more. Everyone looked surprised, the lord and his son in particular looked astounded.
"I, uh... I hope you don't go in for any of that black magic." Lord Ector with a gobsmacked expression on his face, his eyes these specs against his cheeks as the color drained from them. His teeth began to chatter and shake.
"Oh, no, no, no, no. Never touch the stuff. No. My magic is used mainly for educational purposes. In fact, that is why I am here. I have come to educate the Wart." Merlin stated with the utmost sincerity and warmth in his smile. Hands curling under his chin, tucking his beard under his fingers as he wiggled his fingers through them. Combing through his white hairs as he stared at the lord. "I believe there is such promise in the boy-"
"Oh, no, you don't. I'm running this place. And if you think you're gonna fiddle with my schedule...Then you've got another thing coming." Lord Ector shouted with a stern voice and a hammering of his fist to the table. Dusk shuddered at the sound, Kuro bounced back in his seat. Merlin didn't shift in his spot, not even an inch.
"I wouldn't dream of it, your lordship. I simply wish to work with the boy. When he's free and unburdened by the upkeep of the work, I would like to mentor him." Merlin suggested, seeing Lord Ector nod his head slowly and his tongue peek out between his lips to lick the warm alcohol still on his mouth. Before he could open his mouth to respond, there was the sounding of a horn bellowing just outside the walls.
Kuro jumped to his feet, hand tightly gripping the two pronged fork as he prepared for whatever the sound meant. Invasion, an attack, anything. Kuro saw the doors to the dining hall open, and the cloaked figure walked in. Wiry frame, long stilt like legs, and a wide broom mustache peeking out of his hood. The figure removed the cloak, the rainwater draining onto the floor like a flash flood, the pale man's face breaking with a glowing smile.
"I bring news from London!" The new guest shouted as he entered the hall, walking over towards Lord Ector with a friendly gait. Ector stood up from his spot, arms wide open as he approached the new guest, lips spread in a friendly smile as he walked toward him.
"Pelinore! Pelinore. Greetings, old boy. Wart! Wart, come bring Sir Pelinore a mug and a plate!" Ector shouted, and as the words left his mouth, Arthur charged out into the dining room with a mug of honey mead in the left hand and a plate of beef and a few root vegetables on the left. Arthur received a silent 'thank you' from Pelinore, who took the seat beside his friend Ector and took a quick sip of his drink. Ector sat back down, clapping a hand on his friend's back as he laughed and hollered. The new lord jolted forward on contact, nose burying in the dark drink as his friend continued to chuckle. "And what's all the noise about London, hmm?"
"Big news. Really big news." Pelinore mumbled, shaking out his mustache as one would shake out a dirty broom's bristles.
"Out with it, man, Out with it! Let's hear all about it." Ector retorted, taking his dirt encrusted nails and dragging them under his chin, scratching at the rotund fat underneath.
"They're having a big tournament within the week-" Pelinore began to say, only to be interrupted by Ector giving the man a harsh smack on the back once again, one that clapped harder than two hands would with a single huff coming from him.
"Oh, that's not news, dash it all. We all know of the tournament. It's held every year." Lord Ector grumbled with a shrug and a glance over at the flag adorned with his family's crest hanging above the dining hall door. "Which reminds me, Wart needs to ready the banner for the whole affair. Need to be presentable and such."
"Annually." Merlin mumbled as he glared between the two men. Fingers tapping against the tips of the other as he said so. Emphasizing every word. "That means 'yearly.'"
"Yeah, but, Ector... Ector, here's where all the excitement comes in. To the winner of this tournament goes the crown." Pelinore stated with excitement. To say that Ector was surprised by the news would be an understatement, the color drained from his face and his knuckles began to turn white.
"You mean... You mean he'll be king of all England?" Ector said with astonishment, eyes aglow as if he were holding the very crown in his hands already.
"King of all England." Pelinore emphasized with a wide grin and a nod of his head.
"Kay, lad, did you hear that?" Ector asked, turning towards his son with a gleaming grin.
"Pretty fair prize, I'd say." Kay grumbled as he took a bite of his meat, giving it a few open mouth chews with a slight glint in his eyes. "Smash a few knights, get to be king."
"Winner becomes king of England?" Kuro mumbled with a wicked grin spreading across his face. The image of a jewel encrusted crown along his head, a flowing robe around his shoulders and a scepter in hand. Just like the fairytale kings of the books he had read over the last month. He leaned back whilst daydreaming. "King of all England?"
"Don't get any ideas. You would be meddling if you even competed. Much less became king." Merlin mumbled, with a swift kick to Kuro's calf, making the boy jump and let out a yelp. Followed quickly by a short laugh from the young Heartless. Merlin rolled his eyes in his skull. "That is a fool's game, anyhow. King of England. Oh, bother."
"Yes, and you can win it, boy, if you knuckle down to your training steadfast. And we'll have you knighted immediately and shipped off to London. What do you say?" Lord Ector says to his son, shoving a sausage finger into his boy's broad chest and giving him a glowing smile. Kay gets nudged with the finger, and shuts his eyes for a moment to consider the idea. A moment.
"Sure. Why not?" Kay murmured with a shrug and an unimpressed grin. His eyes glanced up around his brow, as if to imagine the golden crown adorning him. Once again, he shrugged with an unenthused shoulder roll. "Why not?"
"Wart, lad, how'd you like to go to London?" Lord Ector asked, nudging his chin towards the lad as he picked up the dishes from the table.
"Oh, Sir Ector, you mean it?" Arthur said with a gleaming smile and a twinkle to his eyes.
"If you stick to your duties, you can be Kay's squire." Ector explained, hands held to his hips as he hollered over towards the kitchen doorway.
"Oh, I will, sir. I will." Arthur noted with great joy and excitement.
"I don't want the Wart for my squire." Kay mewled with a dissatisfied wave of the hand and a roll of the eyes. He looks over at Arthur, making a small circle with his pointer and thumb, shaking his head. "His arms are as thick as a mop pole. He's hardly fit to handle a scrubber, you think he is capable of handling a sword?"
"But Kay, I'll-" Arthur began to shout, only for Pelinore to clear his throat and interrupt him. Rising out of his seat with the tankard of ale in his hand
"Here's to London!" Pelinore shouted with a raise of the mug. Raising the drink to the banner belonging to their country.
"And here's to Kay." Ector said, shoving an elbow into Kay's own arm as his son chuckled and raising his drink as well.
"And here's to the banner of the Castle of the Forest Sauvage." Pelinore continued, praising the banner of the castle's lord and his friend. "Cheers!"
"Cheers, cheers." Ector said uproariously, crashing his mug into Pelinore's as he roared out a hearty laugh and sucked down his drink.
"Cheers." Kay muttered with low energy, kicking a foot up onto the table and taking a big swig of his drink.
"Quite so, what ho and the like. Anyways, I do wish to retire." Merlin mumbled, rising up from his seat and unbunching the robes that gathered along his lap. He nudged his chin over to Kuro as he remained with his focus on Ector. "Where shall we be staying?"
"Well, uh, all we can offer is one of the guest rooms, and Pelinore is a more prominent and earned friendship, you understand sir Marvin. However, we have another room we can offer." Lord Ector We'll put you up in the northwest tower. That's the premier guest room of the whole castle. It's a bit drafty in the winter time… but in this blazing hot weather, it's the best room in the house."
"Come along Kuro, come along." Merlin requested, Kuro nodding to get up and follow the wizard. Ector glances between the two, before clearing his throat and letting out a disgruntled sigh.
"The tower has an occupant limit, one guest. For safekeeping and all. Can't have the tower-well toppling." Ector shrugged before turning his attention back to the ward of the wizard. "Where can we throw you in, boy?"
"How about the stables? I'm sure he's used to being tossed around with the animals." Kay chuckled at the idea of Kuro resting along the sows and horses and cows, Kuro's eyes rolling in his head as he crossed one arm over the other. "I'll bet my best sword that the sod would be more comfortable in a barn than a bedroom."
"He can stay with me. I got that sleeping roll I use when I go hunting with Kay." Arthur spoke up, his fingers twiddling together as he nodded towards Kuro. Lord Ector gave Arthur a wave, disengaging his attention from the boy as he turned his eyes back towards his friend. Dusk turned to Kuro, golden eyes softening as they stared up at their companion.
"Do I have to sleep on a bed roll?" Dusk inquired, their eyes aglow with worry as Kuro gave them a shake of the head and glanced over at Merlin as he walked towards the tower room he was assigned. Kuro pointed to the wizard, and tapped Dusk on the back.
"Follow Merlin. He's getting a real bed. I'll see you in the morning." Kuro mumbled as Dusk gave him a quick hug on the side before jumping. They got off of the bench and waddled after Merlin. Almost chasing him up the stairs. Kuro wiped his chin and cheeks with a nearby napkin, before walking towards the kitchen and heading on down the stairs to find out where Arthur would rest his head for the night. The lights of the torches downstairs illuminated the end of the walkway as he made his way down.
"So, Arthur. I was thinking about getting some rest, I was wondering where your room was?" Kuro asked as he rounded the corner, a hand tracing along the stone wall.
The sink and counters were covered in age-old pots and pans and plates and utensils, all of them at various points of being cleaned or being ignored. The pot he was currently working on was halfway full of suds and warm water. Arthur was seen over in the corner of the room on the left side of the stairwell, unfurling a mat onto the floor besides a cot and a lumpy yellow stained pillow.
"Oh, this is my room. Lord Ector said, 'if you keep getting demerits, you might as well sleep in the kitchen' and lo and behold, he placed my cot down here one day when I was tending to the horses." Arthur said with a weak smile to punctuate his sentence. He rolls over into his own cot, hands folded on his chest as he stares into the ceiling. "I'd offer my pillow-"
"Don't. It's fine." Kuro interrupted with a grimace and a stern head shake. He could smell it from where he stood. He glanced over at Arthur, who gave him a short nod before stretching out his legs and yawning. "Did you eat well?"
"I usually eat after everyone else. There were a few ends of the carved up meat I had and a handful of vegetables. I threw it into a quick broth and had it while everyone else ate." Arthur noted, his hand absentmindedly running over his thin stomach as he said so. Kuro thought of the way Kay and Ector spoke to him all throughout the night, sucking his teeth in annoyance as he lowered himself onto the floor.
"I'm sorry about dinner tonight, Arthur." Kuro muttered as he settled down on the rolled out sleeping roll and rested his back down first. Staring up into the corners of the dungeon like kitchen quarters as he folded his arms behind his back to try and relax. Kuro yawned shortly after, stretching out his legs to the length of the mattress, The heels of his boots skipping across the damp stones of the floor as he realized the roll was made with Arthur in mind. And so, was a few inches shorter than what he needed. Kuro wouldn't dare tell Arthur it was an ill fit, he would surely offer his own bed as a replacement for the bed roll and Kuro couldn't have Arthur feel like he had to give up his own bed. "That wasn't very nice of them to treat you like that. Over nothing."
"It's not your fault. I shouldn't have been, 'galavanting off into the woods like that.' Making friends and talking to wizards." Arthur said in his worst or his best Ector impression, depending on who would ask. The bellowing of his false bass voice makes Kuro laugh in the dark as he shakes his head and waves off the impersonation. "'Worrying the living daylights out of everybody!'"
"Is Ector in the kitchen right now?" Kuro leaned up onto his elbow, glancing around with a pair of teasing wide eyes. The frantic glancing around the room makes Arthur giggle as he covers his mouth to stifle the sound. Kuro nudges his chin towards Arthur with a wicked grin. "Careful Wart! You might get a million demerits for impersonating the Lord of the castle so well."
Kuro chuckled with that smile of his, before seeing Arthur's eyes fall to a sullen stare, his gaze drooping to the floor as he traced his finger over one of the many holes in his personal cot. He 'hmphs' to himself. His shoulders slouching as he lets out a sorrowful sigh. A sound that made Kuro immediately drop his smile and get up on knees and sit back on the heels of his boots.
"What's going on, Arthur?" Kuro asked in a low voice, his eyes softening as he stared at the younger boy. Arthur shrugs, not focusing his eyes on Kuro as he continues to face the floor. "It was just a joke, I'm sure you won't get in trouble- well, a lot of trouble."
"I just… that name. Wart. It's not a good name. Warts aren't supposed to be something anyone is proud of. They are just… ugly things you're saddled with because of some bad luck." Arthur explained, his eyes getting glossier as tears welled in his eye. He wrinkled his nose and huffed with a disheartened tone. Kuro felt his jaw clench and his eyes squint in frustration as he thought of Ector and Kay. He reached out, immediately taking Arthur's hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "Huh?"
"Hey, that's not what you are. You're not like a wart, Arthur." Kuro assured Arthur, giving him a secure nod of the head and unwavering attention. Making Arthur know that he had Kuro's undivided attentiveness. "You are not an ugly thing they are saddled with. You're a good person, and you're nice and funny. They should be glad to have you."
"I'm not, though." Arthur bemoaned, pulling away from Kuro's hold as he wiped away the tears that broke out down his cheeks and dribbled to his chin. "I'm just-just a Wart."
"To Hell with them, then." Kuro said, spitting on the ground with a fury swelling in his throat and a pounding that followed in his chest. He saw Arthur's glossy eyes meet his, and he gave him a brilliant smile. "Don't let them tell you what you are and what you aren't. You're better than that."
Arthur gave Kuro a nod in return, laying back on his cot with an emotion settling shudder of a sigh. Rolling out the last of his worries and feeling his body relax. Arthur felt his smile begin to numb his cheek, giving it a rub to ease the joyful annoyance. Kuro returned to laying down, arms folded behind his head as he settled into his spot.
"Thanks, Kuro." Arthur murmured against the dark. Kuro's orange eyes peeking a glance at the boy with his peripheral vision. Seeing the smile begin to settle into a more natural curl, making Kuro's chest ease as he slowly eased into sleep.
"You're welcome, Arthur." Kuro whispered back, just before nodding off to bed. He dreamt of nothing, although he could hear the snores of dogs and the murmurs of Arthur muttering in his sleep against the dark.
Arthur had decided to give Merlin and Kuro a tour of the grounds the following morning, which included the stables that housed Kay's horse, Dagonet. A trusty steed that Arthur was very familiar with. Often fitting the horse of their shoes and plenty of hours of grooming and feeding. Arthur rested any worries that might have come up to the degree of work that he was forced to do, stating that he would get his own horse when he is officially a squire. What kind of horse he would get, Arthur had no idea.
The kitchen, which doubled as Arthur's quarters, was unpleasant and unimpressive. The cot was shoved in the corner of the room, right beside the stairs leading up to the castle proper away from the central cleaning island and the counters that house the various pots and pans Arthur was responsible for. Arthur, as he so often had to do, began the morning with pounding out his cot for bed bugs and ticks, most often brought in by the hounds that had their dog beds tucked in the opposite corner of the kitchen. Near the window, as Ector explained to Arthur that the dogs needed the light and the fresh air.
Arthur joked to Merlin that he, 'got so many demerits, Lord Ector just threw the bed in the kitchen.' and he's been there ever since. Merlin didn't quite laugh as Arthur had expected him to. However, once he's a squire, he would be offered the dignity of his own quarters by Lord Ector of course. A dream that made Merlin's eyes roll.
"But boy, do you have any aspirations? Any dreams?" Merlin inquired, arms folding over one another as he paced behind Arthur as the group walked along the edge of the moat outside the walls of Castle Ector.
"Oh, sure. I'd give anything to go riding about on a great white charger. Slaying dragons and griffins and man-eating giants." Arthur murmured, glancing over at Kuro whose eyes traced along the edges of the waters as they walked. His sights lingering on the fishes that peaked above the surface and dove down into the murky depths. "Don't you have dreams, Kuro?"
"Can't say I have dreams like that. And I've fought my share of monsters, so I guess I can dash away that dream." Kuro shrugged, turning towards the younger boy with a passing glance. Arthur's eyes met his own, and he felt his lips curl to a smile at the thought of a dream. A destination, an endgame. "I suppose I just want to… find out what my purpose is? You know? See where my life takes me, figure out why I'm here. Then do it. Right now, it's practice magic."
"I can understand that. I've always wanted to be a knight. Ever since I was little." Arthur said wistfully, talking one of the long reeds out of the soft dirt and swinging it about. Imagining the shields he would buckle under his chops and the dragons he could slay if he only was a little different. Kuro saw the yearning in his eyes, the longing for this dream that sounded so far away for Arthur. Kuro's hands retracted to his jacket's pockets, shifting with a single shoulder towards Arthur as he sucked hard on his teeth to get his attention.
"Well, why aren't you becoming a knight, then? Why do you try so hard to be a squire?" Kuro asked, wondering what kept Arthur so pinned to the idea of being a squire to a dullard like Kay when he could aspire to be a knight of his own.
"Oh, no. I can't become a knight. You see. I'm an orphan, and a knight must be of proper birth." Arthur pointed to his own chest, shaking his head with disapproval and using himself as an example of his own existence invalidating the reality of his own dream. An image that stung Kuro's chest and made him grimace at the sight. "I only hope I'm worthy to be Kay's squire. That's a big job too, you know. Carrying his sword and making sure his horse looks nice and ensuring his banners are cleaned. It's not an easy job, but it's a good job."
Kuro had no rebuttal, only nodding to agree that being a squire didn't sound like an easy job at the very least. If Arthur's demerits were any indicator, Kuro wouldn't have the patience to work towards being a squire. Nor the kindness to withstand being talked to as such by Lord Ector and Kay.
"Well, Kuro, let us discuss some of the finer points of Magic." Merlin noted with a wide grin and a raised finger to emphasize his stature. Kuro waited attentively, a smile spread across his face as he awaited instruction. "Now, there are multiple schools of magic that I could educate you on. Divination, conjuration, evocation, polymorphing-"
"What's polymorph?" Arthur asked, snapping the reed against the water surface, displacing it with several chops and slaps. The fishes and frogs underneath the water dive deeper into the water to avoid getting knocked about.
"Oh, that's the art of turning yourself into a new form like say…" Merlin gestured to the waters with a wide grin. His eyes catching the shine of the morning sun off of a fish's scales. "Like those fish, over there."
"You mean you can turn yourself into a fish?" Arthur's surprise was so abrupt, he dropped the stick out of his hand as his jaw dropped. His eyes wide and full of wonderment, it was infectious that Kuro couldn't help but smile with him.
"Of course! After all, I happen to be a powerful wizard." Merlin said with a dignified shake of the head and tug on the collar of his blue vestment. Chin held high as he smiled under his long thin beard.
"Could you turn me into a fish?" Arthur inquired, pointing to himself as his eyes glanced over to the surface of the water. Seeing his reflection against the murky moat waters.
"Well, do you have any imagination? Can you imagine yourself as a fish?" Merlin asked in return. A hand moving up to stroke his beard as he eyed Arthur thoroughly. As if he were sizing the boy up.
"Oh, that's easy. I've done that lots of times." Arthur admitted, with a gleaming smile and a shine to his eyes.
"Oh. Well, good. Then I think that my magic can do the rest." Merlin spoke surely as he pulled back on his sleeves and prepared the spell. Merlin fixed his glasses with a quick adjustment, teetering them along the bridge of his nose. "All right, boy. All set. Here we go. Aquarius aquaticus aqualitus quum. Aqua digi tarium."
The burst of light came off of Merlin's fingers as sparks broke away from the clashing of steel on steel. Arthur's skin began to shine bright and become almost blinding, before the boy slowly morphed into a small orange scaled fish. The flipping of his fins and the wild bouncing of the small Arthur was hard to track, disappearing in the tall grass one moment and sailing over the grass blades the next.
"Merlin, am I a fish? Am I a fish?" Arthur asked, as Merlin charged into the grass, the guppy slipping and sliding through his fingers as he desperately tried to get a handle on Arthur. If Kuro knew anything about fish, they needed water like people needed air.
"Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, you are a fish... but if you don't stop that flippity-flopping around... and get in the water, you won't last long." Merlin said sternly, finally grabbing Arthur by his tailfin and carrying him over to the water. Dropping onto a single knee to allow an easy transition from hanging upside down struggling to breath and into the waters.
"Now, now, stay right here in the tules and I'll... I'll play lifeguard while I help Kuro get settled." Merlin stated, Arthur's fins breaking water as he sinks into the depths. Merlin turned towards Kuro, giving him a tentative stare, before nudging his chin towards the moat water. "Care to take a swim?"
Kuro glanced over into the waters, seeing the orange guppy bump and crash into the sands and mud of the moat floor. Kuro shot a hesitant stare over at Merlin, before turning back and seeing Arthur had found their groove in the waters and finally began swimming properly and confidently. Disappearing amongst the reeds and grass.
"I say the spell? Yeah? And think fish?" Kuro questioned, placing a hand over his fast beating heart to steel his resolve. The thumping of his bloody organ made his fingers vibrate as he rested them along his left breast. HIs jaw clenched hard and made his teeth hurt as they gnashed hard together. "Alright."
"A-quar-ius a-qua-ticus a-qual-itus quum. Aqua digi tari-um." Merlin said with an added emphasis on every syllable to ensure Kuro says the incantation correctly.
"Aquarius aquaticus aqualitus quum. Aqua digi tarium." Kuro muttered slowly in tune to the rhythm of Merlin's words. Albeit, with a hint of hesitation, baring his teeth as he finished and waited for the transformation to take place. He waited to shrink, or feel less fleshy and more scaly. Begin to not breath and gasp for air. When he didn't feel the change, he muttered the words again. He opened his eyes, surprised he still had eyelids. He patted his arms, still wearing his leather jacket and felt the bone underneath. The spell either didn't take… or he couldn't make it work. He turned to Merlin, who rubbed his chin and nodded his head inquisitively. "Merlin?"
"Maybe you're too green for a spell like that? It is a moderately impressive form of magic. Now, let's not let you feel left out. Well, in you go! We will discuss more when you've got lungs again." Merlin noted, before murmuring the incantation proclamation once again and seeing Kuro's body begin to spark and glow. Merlin's head nodded in satisfaction as Kuro took to the waters immediately to not flop about in the mud and the grass just as Arthur had done a short moment ago.
Kuro's eyes blinked once, then twice, and then he couldn't close them again. He was wide eyed, and unable to blink. His breath got stuck in his chest, his throat feeling constructed and unable to open back up.
Kuro sees the wall of the castle, once not intimidating and underwhelming, grow into an imposing and staggering fortress right before his eyes. Kuro's chest crashes against the water, sinking into the depths and into the dark. Kuro could feel his breath escape out of his mouth, his gills filtering the depths as though fingers sieve through water.
"Arthur!" Kuro shouted, eyes glancing around the moat, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the depths. The shimmering morning sun breaks against the surface of the water, leaving glimmering pillars of golden shine to illuminate the murky moat waters. The broken arrowheads and missiles of ages old battles, the huge iron chains that suspended beneath the waters to lower and raise the drawbridge, patches of grass swaying in the ever flowing current of the waters. The ascending bubbles that came from frogs and fish as they swam past slowly moved up to the surface of the moat. Kuro's eyes turned towards the sight of an orange guppy that approached him with a permanently fixed smile and an astounded stare.
"Kuro! Isn't it fantastic? Look at us! We are fish!" Arthur shouted, quickly chasing his own tailfin, his speed and laughter causing a huge plum of bubbles to rise up to the surface in a variety of different sizes and speeds. "We are swimming!"
"It's pretty fun." Kuro murmured, his eyes glancing to the sight of a small frog moving in a short and measured breaststroke past the two of them. Kuro's eyes glanced up to the surface, finding the reflection of charcoal gray scales and orange eyes reflected in the water. Kuro focused on shimmying his tailfin, which felt akin to twisting his legs to and fro while both his ankles were tied permanently together. The fins on his sides moving and shifting as though he could only control their strength with the bending and snapping of his wrists. The sensation was odd and needed some fine tuning, but overall Kuro could find it in himself to begin to actually swim. His morphed body finding a steady rhythm to finally gather some speed and trail behind Arthur as he swam deeper into the depths of the moat.
"I've always wanted to know what it was like to be a fish! To breathe underwater, to-to swim like a fish!" Arthur exclaimed with such enthusiasm and joy, focusing his energy to swim on ahead through the underwater grasses, Kuro swimming behind at a slower and more measured pace. Kuro's eyes peeked through the blades of grass that shifted with each wave of the waters. Kuro's scaly body pushed through the leaves. His eyes turned up above, seeing several silhouetted figures swim above him. Before swiftly diving down. Their golden eyes meeting his oranges as they charged. Their webbed hands tearing through the water to get him.
Kuro dodged off to the right, missing the missile of a headbutt that sent the creature into the dirt. Knocking up a cloud of muck. The creature darts out of the puff of earth, revealing itself to Kuro.
The creature had the shape of a toad, and had a slick and smooth body. This toad stared at Kuro with golden bulging eyes with three webbed toes and feet. Their markings were predominantly a dark purple that bleed slowly into a black from shoulders and hips down to the bend of their elbows and their extremities. Along their back was the ever foreboding emblem of the Heartless, a bright blood red heart with a barbed X along the inside. The Bully Frogs swam forward, heading straight for Kuro.
"Arthur, run- er swim!" Kuro shouted, turning towards the frog Heartless as it approached and jamming his skull into the center of its chest. The Heartless is briefly stunned, before Kuro does the next rational thing and opens his mouth to take a bite out of the Bully Frog. Although not enough to completely bite through, he did get a solid grip on the head as he began to thrash around the water as though he were a fish on a hook. Trying to destroy it quickly.
Arthur bolted through the waters, dipping and dodging out of the way of incoming swipes from the pair of Bully Frog Heartless that had chased after him. Arthur dipped under missile shafts and fallen branches, trying to put as much distance between himself and the frogs as he could. Who effortlessly ducked and squeezed between the obstacles as though it were not difficult at all. Arthur glanced to his side, seeing Kuro thrashing about. Kuro, with a final slam, had bodied the frog against a nearby rock and caused it to burst into a puff of black and purple. His eyes darted to the other two frogs that were chasing Arthur. Kuro glanced to the moat floor, seeing an arrowhead protruding out of the mud and laid in a sturdy slanted angle.
"Arthur! The arrow!" Kuro shouted, nudging his head towards the arrow as he dashed after the two frogs. Arthur's chase led him down towards the mud, dipping between the weeds as he shifted and moved to the angled broken missile. Arthur, with a focused dash, swam directly towards the arrow and juked to the right at the last minute. The Bully Frog right behind him didn't have a chance to do such a maneuver, impaling itself through to the stomach before immediately bursting into smoke just as Kuro had done to its companion not too long ago. Arthur had moved to turn to the left, only for the frog to grab the end of his tail and sink its heels into the mud. Their webbed fingers gripping tightly as their mouth opened wide to try and take a chunk out of Arthur.
Kuro rose up before diving straight down, using the momentum of his descent to spike his body directly into the side of the frog holding Arthur, the frog's grip loosening as it got knocked down into the dirt. Kuro, once again, opened his mouth to bite only for the frog's webbed hands to grab the top and bottom of his lips and swing him down into the mud. The jagged rocks and loose wood shavings broke Kuro's fall, as the frog raises a heel and slams it into Kuro's side. Digging him deeper and deeper against a rather particularly sharp rock. The point scratching against Kuro's scales.
Arthur swam towards the broken missile tip, taking the arrow head into his mouth and dashing over toward the frog. With a precise stab, the Bully Frog was felled by the would-be squire Arthur. Whose makeshift spear skewed the Heartless and caused it to burst into its smoke. Kuro shook off the pain, turning to Arthur with a grateful sigh and a thankful nod.
"Thanks, Arthur. Any more and I'd be fileted." Kuro chuckled, before looking up to the surface and seeing Merlin watching them. He turned to Arthur, then began to make way to the top. "I've had my share of excitement, time to get out of the water."
Out of the corner of his unblinking eye, Kuro saw it. Moving towards them with determination and focus.
Its scales were a shimmering sight of deep blues and midnight black, the way the light reflected off of their surface making them glimmer into shining gold and blinding white. The beast was massive, even without taking into account the size they were currently. Kuro was sure he would have to carry that thing over his shoulders should he be regular bodied. The fins curved and moved with precision and skill, deliberately moving so slow to intimidate them. Their eyes a bloodshot red as it approached the pair of fish. In the center of its forehead, was marked that bright red Heartless emblem.
The Putrid Pike then increased its speed, charging at them intent to kill. Kuro did a quick body knock to Arthur to get him out of the way of the gnashing maw, before the Pike clamped its jaws tight around Kuro's body and slammed him into the moat's muddy floor. Kuro's body ran over every rock, branch, and should be lucky coin that was in his way before this Pike used the momentum of the lunge and drove him up towards the skies. The motion of the throw and the strength of the Pike ended up tossing Kuro clear against the surface, breaking it and leaving him suspended in the air for a moment before realizing he was out in the breathing world.
His breath once again caught in his throat as his eyes turned towards the water. The Pike, with its impressive strength and speed, dives up out of the water, mouth opening to reveal several rows of jagged and sharp as knives fangs to swallow him whole. Kuro twisted his body in the air, his tail smashing against the tip of the Pike's snout. The attack snapping the maw of the Pike shut with an impressive clunking sound. He had disorientated the massive Heartless fish for a quick moment before diving back into the water. Trying to get away from the beast. The Pike's lumbersome body flopped against the moat water, displacing where it landed and causing a current to chase after Kuro, giving him some extra boost to create some distance.
"Arthur! Get Merlin! We need to get back to normal size!" Kuro shouted, glancing over behind him to see the Pike adjust itself as to proper form. Arthur nodded, rushing to the surface and breaking it. Seeing Merlin watching the two of them in the water. His arms crossed as he saw Arthur break the surface to see him.
"Why, hello boy!" Merlin begins to say. Lips curled to a smile. Offering a short wave from the bank of the moat. "Having fun going to and fro?"
"Merlin! Merlin! There's a big beast in the water trying to kill us!" Arthur shouted, nudging his head towards the Pike as it continued to chase after Kuro. Merlin sees it, nodding his head as he raises his hand and then pauses for a moment. With an inquisitive look, he then rests his eyes on Arthur. Who stares at him pensively.
"You're on your own for now, lad. Now's your chance to prove my point." Merlin said, pointing to the fish and giving it a few extra points to emphasize said point home.
"Wha-What point?" Arthur said in a worried state, huffing and heaving with panic as he glanced back into the depths. Kuro dipped under a missile shaft before he quickly ducked into the helmet of a discarded suit of armor. His spine backing up against the soft cushioning of the interior of the helmet as he sees clear down the beast's gullet as it opens its mouth to bite.
The Pike's jaws clamp around the helmet's cheek plates and the back of its mouth squeezes the chin guard of the helm. The teeth of this beast, trying its damndest to snap the metal in two, only got as far as puncturing the steel exterior of the helmet before the Heartless begins to thrash the armor piece about. Kuro's shouts of surprise leaving a trail of bubbles that float up the surface. His body gets knocked around the interior of the helm as he tries to remain safe within the confines of the metal.
"He's the brawn and you're the brain. Oh, now, don't, don't, don't panic! You use your head. Outsmart the big brute. I believe in you!" Merlin ordered, nodding his head with confidence as he kept an eye on the two young men. Ready to intervene should the situation become a little too dire and intense. Arthur ducks back under the surface, glancing around to find a way to outsmart the Pike. Who was now deathrolling the helmet in an attempt to snap it into two pieces.
"Outsmart it, outsmart it! Think, think, think!" Arthur shouts in an anxious panic, hyperventilating as he tries to find a way to outsmart the brute. That's when he sees the chains belonging to the drawbridge. These thick iron chains, much too thick to break even when properly sized and with a hammer. He swims over to it, making sure he can thread one of the loops of iron with his body as a twine through the eye of a needle. Once he did so, he did it once again before coming up with a plan. Arthur turns to Kuro, smiling bravely.
"Kuro! Lead it to the chain and then swim through!" Arthur ordered, before dipping down to reequip the arrow head he had used earlier. Fastening his teeth around the missile and preparing for his sneak attack.
Kuro listened, diving out of the helmet and swimming as fast he could towards the chain. He could feel the beast following behind him, gaining speed. Kuro focuses on one of the loops and like threading a needle, he finds his way through the loop. The Pike's snout finds itself lodged into the loop, thrashing and panicking as it gets stuck.
Arthur, with a missile in mouth, rams the arrowhead in between the flaps of the Pike's gills. The roars it emanates cause shockwaves to rebound through the moat. The Pike pulls back, turning their attention towards Arthur. Kuro watches as it chases Arthur through the moat's grass, following Arthur's example and grabbing up one of the loose missile tips and waiting in position. Arthur makes a wide circuit, weaving through fallen tree branches and stones before heading back towards the chains.
As before, Arthur threads the needle and the Pike gets stuck once more. Snout lodged in the loop as it did the first time. Kuro meets the opposite gill of the Pike with a missile tip, lodging it deep between their gills. This roar is even louder than the next, piercing the waters and making Kuro's body cringe. Kuro was sure even Merlin could hear the beast's cries from the banks of the moat.
The Pike thrashes once more, before trying to shove through the loop and break free. Kuro charges towards the missile he just freshly lodged in the beast's side, using his tail as a hammer would meet a nail and slamming it through, stabbing it deeper into the Pike's throat.
The Pike echoed out a screech of pain, barrel rolling and slamming its fin against Kuro's body. Rocketing the young man against the walls of the castle. The moss that had gathered on the stone cushioning some of the impact and keeping Kuro from being too dazed.
Arthur swam over towards the fish, and with a stern headbutt, followed Kuro's example and hammered the missile he personally had lodged into the Pike's throat and pierced it further.
The Putrid Pike agonizes in pain, having been stabbed by two different arrows, begins to cough and growl out trails of smoke in its wake. The clouds trailing past it as it slowly descends down into the depths. It's a long snout meeting the mud and muck before exploding into a dense cloud of smokey purples and clouds of black. Kuro huffs and heaves, before approaching Arthur and giving him a nudge with his fin.
"Great thinking with the chain, Arthur." Kuro stated, seeing Arthur laugh in response and hold his chin up high. The pair approach the water's surface, seeing Merlin raise his hands once more and wave them about above them. Having seen them conquer the Putrid Pike.
"Snick snack snorum!" Merlin's words caused a ripple along the waters, and as the surface bubbled and flashed with its golden glow, the two young men would then burst out of the stream and throw themselves onto the banks of the moat. Arthur's hands clutched to his chest in an attempt to steady his quick beating heart, and Kuro slammed his hands to his eyes as he bared his teeth and tried to settle his breathing. The water logging in his throat sprung up images of basins and roaring Beasts flashing in his mind as he felt the water cool his face. The pulsing of his blood etching out into his palms, making his forearms flex rapidly and his biceps twitch in response. He could feel his heart jamming harshly in his chest, his mind racing. "Well, my dear students? What did we learn?"
"Use your brains. Because brawn isn't always the answer." Arthur admitted, finally having caught his breath as he felt his smile creep across his face. He had just lived out one of his favorite dreams, to swim like a fish, and he could not begin to stop the sharp low laughs escaping his lips as he replayed the sensation over and over again in his head.
"I learned I still hate water." Kuro mumbled with an impassioned, seething rage. Eyes aglow in fury as he stares into the depths of the moat. He could see the shadow of a fish shifting under the surface. If it was one of the small heartless, he wouldn't know. Or cared. He was angry.
Using the heel of his boot, he shifted and displaced the water with an uncoordinated splashing kick. Trying to harm the water and its inhabitants as badly as it had harmed him. The splashing made Arthur laugh, and Merlin chortle. Kuro wasn't enthused. "I learned I still really hate water."