Merlin One-Shots!!

Heart of a dragon

"I wanted to escape my father for a while." He says, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. Merlin copies the action, but remains a safe distance away. "So why are you here?"

"I live out here. I...I'm not like you Arthur. I'm a freak." Arthur's face softened at the statement, said so matter-o-factly. Arthur couldn't possibly see why he would think such a thing. He looked completely normal to him. Merlin seemed to catch on to his confusion. He took a deep breath, preparing for the inevitable outburst and unfolded the huge feathery mass on his back.

Arthur did a double take, falling back into the stream. Merlin bit his lip out of nervousness, refraining from helping the boy up in case he freaked out.

"You- you have wings? Why do you- How in the...what?" Arthur's arms flailed about as he spoke, ignoring the fact that freezing water was soaking through his clothes.

"The dragons tell me I am a dragonlord, the last dragonlord to be precise. I was shunned by my village and sent out here to fend for myself. Apparently my power allows me to bond with animals, so I was never truly alone. My magic helped me a lot-"

"Magic!" Arthur shrieked. Merlin simply nodded and carried on.

"Yes magic, do pay attention. My magic helped start campfires and find safe havens to hide. Never once in the nine years I have been out here have I come across a person. Until you."

Arthur suddenly forgot about the magic and the wings and focused on the heartbreaking truth Merlin unwittingly disclosed. He never said another person, he said a person. Does Merlin not consider himself human? Wings and powers doesn't make him any less of a person, does it?

"I'm sorry, I can tell your uncomfortable. I should go." Merlin backed himself into the brush to make a quick get away, but Arthur stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't go. You said you haven't met another person until me. Maybe this is fate...or something that sounds less cheesy. I don't know. This can't be a chance meeting, if your magic hides you away from everyone else."

Merlin's brow furrows and he pouts slightly as he thinks. Arthur has to force the blood from his cheeks. He would never admit it but Merlin looked adorable.

"Okay. I guess you have a point. So...I have told you about me. How about you? Where does Arthur come from?" He plops himself back on the dirt and flashes a goofy grin that makes Arthur's stomach flip.

"Well I am actually the Prince of Camelot, but don't worry I will not say a word about you to anyone. I know how ruthless my father is in his pursuit against magic. I hate it." Arthur clenches his fists. He has always hated his father's ways. He couldn't wait until Camelot was under his rule, he could finally change his kingdom for the better.

"Your father is Uther Pendragon?" Arthur nodded in disgust at the name. "I'm sorry." Arthur huffs out a laugh and smiles crookedly.

"When I rule I will change everything my father put in place. I will make Camelot a safe place for all my people, not just the ones that put gold in the noble's pockets."

"Well I can't wait to see that." Merlin laugh reaching over to playfully punch Arthur's shoulder. However when their bodies touched a strange force erupted, launching the two apart. Sparks lingered where the magic exploded. Both Merlin and Arthur looked terrified.

"I promise that was not me! I don't know what just happened." Merlin defended before Arthur could even think of a single accusation.

Shimmering specks hung frozen in the air, refracting light across the clearing. Against Arthur's better judgement, he shuffled forward to touch the sparks. Merlin looked on as if the prince had grown another head, utterly bewildered that Arthur would do such an idiotic thing.

The Prince's fingertip barely grazed the shimmers before a second erupting occurred. However, unlike the first, this one pulled the two together making them hover a decent height of the ground. Merlin's wings beat furiously trying to get out of the spell. Arthur was to in awe to even fight it.

Two balls of light formed in the small gap between the boys. The chased each other around as if they were alive. The longer this went on, the more life like they became, until they morphed into two creature: a dragon and a golden lion.

"What is this?" Arthur whispered, eyes trained to the dancing light. Merlin shrugged, letting his wings fall limp at his sides. The creatures ran around each other, playing and bouncing to their hearts contempt. Suddenly they split running straight towards the boys.

The dragon circled Merlin, landing on his hair. The lion ran up Arthur's torso and nuzzled into his shoulder. The boys watched in wonder as the creatures melted into their bodies. Merlin felt his magic thrum stronger against his skin, every atom pulling him towards the blonde haired Prince still hovering inches from his face.

Arthur gazed at the skinny boy with wild ebony hair in amazement, watching the gold swirl in his striking blue irises. When the magic finally faded, the two dropped to the floor with an 'oof'. Arthur rubbed his backside as he clambered of the dirt in a very un-princely fashion. Merlin beat his wings and rose with a grace the other could not describe.

"That was..."

"Yeah..."

"I think you were right about the whole fate thing." Merlin said with a chuckle. Arthur chuckled too.

"Do you feel it? Its like I am being-"

"Pulled to you. I know its strange. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before." The two stared at each other for a while, trying to decipher the emotion held within the other boys eyes. The sun had begun to set, but that didn't register. They continued to stare until they could no longer make out their faces through the darkness.

"I guess we better set up camp. Oh my god my father is going to have a fit when I go back. If I go back?" Arthur unhooked a bottle from his saddle bag and lowered it into the stream.

"If?" Merlin questioned, lighting a fire with the snap of his fingers. Arthur sighed and sat in front of the fire, painfully aware of the drop in temperature.

"Well something is connecting us. Who knows what will happen if we try to separate. If a reaction that big happened when we first touched, who knows!" Merlin raised his eyebrow, knowing there was more to it than that. "Also, I don't want to leave you out here all alone. And don't give me the 'I have lived out here all my life and am used to it' speech because I don't care. You shouldn't have to be alone."

Merlin's breath hitched and he shifted closer to the blonde. "That's really sweet of you." He whispered, hoping the flames didn't show his reddened face.

Arthur smiled at him then shivered fiercely. On instinct, Merlin's wing wrapped around the blonde, encasing him in thick feathers that took the brunt of the chill. Arthur locked gaze with the now completely red teen and smiled brighter.

"Thanks." He whispered, voice thickening with on coming sleep.

"It's okay. I don't want you freezing to death." Arthur giggled and, in his sleepy state, rested his head on Merlin's shoulder.

"Night Merlin."

"Good night Arthur."

So...? Part two? :)