Merlin one shots

Fear in their eyes

Merlin had gone on a two year trip, and had returned months ago. Ever since then, Arthur had noticed many differences about the boy, and how people treated him. Many differences. In fact, he was starting to question if this was really Merlin.

..............

When Merlin had came back, he'd taken all his chores back without a second thought. No argument, no eye roll, and no sassy comments. This had been extremely weird for Arthur, but he had dismissed it. He had his best friend back, so why would he complain?

Complaints about going on hunting trips were brought down to a minimum. The disgust was still there etched into the very lines of his face, but the words were no longer spoken. It seemed Merlin had matured. Although, he still made jokes, and held the conversation when necessary. (which was mostly when Gwaine wasn't around)

His attitude had completely changed. As worried Arthur was about that, there were other changes that had caught his eye, and almost everyone elses.

.............

One long trip they took about a week after Merlin came back, they each needed to bathe. They all decided to go swimming together. (Ignore how bad that sounds, I couldn't figure out a better way to put it.) So they had each gone swimming in their undergarments. Merlin had been resistant to going swimming

When Merlin had taken off his shirt, none of them had expected what they saw. Abs and scars. Nobody had expected to see Merlin had muscle, but the scars were far more eye catching. He had multiple scars, burns, and a few newer marks. On his left hip he had a long line that had stitches through it. His upper left back had some extreme bruising.

Noticing all the eyes upon him, Merlin had demanded, "stop staring," and had walked into the lake to avoid their harsh gazes.

No one said anything about the scars, because he obviously didn't want to talk about it. That didn't stop them from gossiping about it later.

..............

Bandits were becoming more and more of an issue ever since Merlin had come back. It's almost like someone had been keeping them in line, but had stopped. Actually, if anyone thought about it, there hadn't been word about Morgana for a long time.

There had been rumours of a man known as Emrys across the five kingdoms. The rumours had said that the man was extremely powerful, and none could beat him.

Emrys had supposedly beat an entire army with his bare hands. Arthur had learned of this when an enemy king had come to him for help. The king had apparently run out of allies, and had asked Arthur for an alliance. In return, he would end the war between them.

According to the rumours, the Emrys fellow had saved a man's life and in return been trained and become the best swords man in the five kingdoms. Arthur was simply aching to have a chance to fight him.

There were many rumours, and Arthur knew how rumours worked so he was hesitant to believe any without evidence. Yet he had evidence to say at least some were true. Like an enemy king coming to him for help, bandit attacks becoming less and many more.

One thing Arthur definitely noticed was that Emrys' actions usually aided Camelot. Once again, Arthur desperately wanted to meet him. To thank him.

..............

There was one more main thing that had changed. How their enemies acted. Actually there were many examples of this.