Merlin pov.
It was rather cold outside in the early morning and the grass in the forest was almost completely frozen, leaving the tips with more of a blue appearance than green. Merlin was stumbling after Arthur, together with Gwaine. Lancelot and Leon were both on another side, scanning the woods for signs of life. They moved quickly and with stealth, so they could catch as much as possible over the day before it would be too dark too see.
A flock of birds flew over their heads, chirping loudly at each other when they passed the group. The Forest fell silent again apart from the wind that was breezing by and rustling the leaves inside the trees and on the ground non stop.
Merlin studied the colours thoroughly. If he concentrated and looked long enough, he could see the magic radiating off the flower petals. An amazing sight, truly. It was a shame that nobody else could see this. He was the only one who could as far as he knew.
There it was, the thin golden threads that hovered slowly in the wind, the golden bits of magic were attached to the flowers and grass and floated in the wind like they were weightless.
Merlin kneeled and held a hand out to almost touch one, to feel it's presence. He'd never done that, because he'd felt like he was intruding with nature if he did so, but this time it was different. It was like the magic was beckoning him, giving him permission to come closer. Merlin carefully held his hand right above the bright golden threads that swirled around the red flower like static hair.
It was like the air around it was vibrating. The golden strings immediately shot out to his fingers, gripping around his hand like it was life. Merlin blinked and got up again, admiring it.
It was like the tiny bit of magic knew him. Slowly and gently, the golden strings wrapped around his hand. They kind of felt like a glove made of energy strands, curling and spiraling on his skin. Merlin studied it in awe.
"Merlin! Are you planning on coming with us, anytime soon?" Arthur's voice sounded from behind him. Merlin snapped out of his trance and the thin thread dissappeared together with the welcoming warmth. He scowled, but forced himself to turn around and follow Arthur into the woods.
For a moment there, Merlin hadn't been incredibly tired, he'd felt calm and well rested. As if the magic was healing him. That was, of course, until he lost the connection and the energy went away. Ever since two weeks ago, sleeping had been very hard, because every time he actually fell asleep, he got nightmares about weird shadowy figures creeping up on him. It was never a solid form, though. Just a cloud of impenetrable smoak.
Walking behind Arthur, Merlin made sure no one was looking when he rubbed his eyes and yawned behind his hand. Gwaine came up from behind and swung an arm around Merlin.
"How is it going?"
"I'm doing fantastic, thank you."
Gwaine gave him a look and let go of him. Merlin rolled his eyes as he looked at him, searching for something, and nodded sarcastically. "Yeah, don't lie." he said, like Merlin was a child. "I can tell when you're lying, you know. Mostly everyone can. It's a wonder that you can keep a secret."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gwaine smirked and turned his head away for a second. "Absolutely nothing. Totally hypothetical, Merlin."
They walked on a bit, Gwaine and Merlin were having a conversation about food and Arthur kept needing to sush them, because they were a bit loud. They continued on a low volume, but eventually got into a fit of laughter after a while when Gwaine told him a joke that he heard from a bartender somewhere. Arthur told Gwaine that he had to go walk in front of them.
After a while, they split up into groups to cover more ground. Lance and Gwaine went to search the left side of the Forest, and Leon did the right, so Merlin was left with Arthur to go forward.
Clenching his jaw, Merlin breathed out a warm cloud of air and tried to control his shivering so Arthur wouldn't see it. At least that was the intention. Arthur turned his head to check on him for a quick second, and was about to focus on the surroundings in front of him when he caught Merlin shivering barely visible.
He frowned and stopped. "Merlin," Merlin looked up. "I told you that it would be colder. We were going to hunt for the whole day." There was a pause, that Merlin used to death glare the prince before answering in a cold voice. "It might have escaped your notice, but my clothes aren't as varied as yours, I don't have anything warmer than this." He gestured to his blue cape with an irritated look on his face.
Arthur wached as Merlin rubbed his hands together in an attempt to warm them, and clicked his tongue. "Alright," He stated as he unclasped his dark brown cloak, shrugged it off and held it out to Merlin, who just cocked his head in confusion. "Here. We can switch, mine is warmer." Arthur said.
Merlin took of his cloak as well and handed it to Arthur before hesitatingly taking his. "What about you? Now you're going to be cold." "No," Arthur simply said, tying it firmly so the fabric wouldn't fall off. "it's not freezing yet, I've had way worse." Deciding this was a decent answer, Merlin wrapped the soft cloak around him. It was way warmer than his, and he pulled the hood up against the cold breeze.
He looked up at Arthur, who was smiling at him. "What?" Merlin asked, looking down again to check for something weird. "Nothing, it looks like you're warm. Are you?" "yes." Merlin admitted. Arthur chuckled softly and turned around to continue his walk. Blushing uncontrolably, Merlin quickened his pace so he was right behind Arthur, who didn't notice because he was focussed on the sounds around them.
~o~
After a few hours, they still hadn't found anything and Arthur was visibly getting frustrated with it. Meanwhile, everyone was back. Leon had returned first, claiming that there was nothing in his part of the forest. Gwaine came after that with two rabbits, looking like he fell off a hill, grinning like an idiot, closely followed by Lancelot, who also didn't find anything.
This was going to take forever.
Merlin turned to Arthur and saw him take a deep breath and shaking his head before continuing to look for animals. They walked for another 20 minutes when Leon suddenly patted Arthur on his shoulder, who immediately looked up at him. Leon pointed to something that was blocked out by trees for Merlin.
Arthur stalked forward, and crouched down, slowly reaching for his quiver, pulled out an arrow and placed it on his bow. Merlin was about 15 feet away, like the rest, also crouching like Arthur. They couldn't be too close to each other, because they would stand out, and scare away the pathetic number of prey that was there.
He watched as Arthur carefully streched the string of his weapon, narrowing his eyes as he aimed. Merlin shuffled forward and craned his neck to see what Arthur was about to kill.
A doe. It didn't look that old. Merlin's eyes widened and he returned his gaze towards Arthur, and shot upright. Before he could say anything, Arthur breathed out at the same time as he released the sharp arrow.
It soared through the air for not even a second when it burried itself in the doe's heart, and Merlin halted abruptly when he felt a twinge of pain in his heart. He winched and clutched his chest, breathing heavily from shock.
It didn't feel like being shot himself, but he could never describe the feeling. Merlin felt it die. Luckily, the pain didn't last long, it was more like a dull aching now. Quickly, he made his way through the branches towards the poor thing. This doe was still very young and full of life that was now seeping out of the wound like water.
Lancelot seemed to notice Merlin's pained expression and cast him a concearned glance. Merlin waved his hand dismissively as he let go of his chest and forced his face to look neutral, the stinging fading gradually.
Upon seeing his manservant stride over to the animal and sitting down before it, Arthur scoffed. "Merlin, don't be such a baby, it's just a doe." Merlin shot him a venomous glare and turned back to the doe, who looked at him with panic, but mostly pain in it's eyes.
It's breathing was shallow and it twitched painfully. The pain was visible on every feature of te doe, making it hard to watch, but Merlin held it's gaze. Arthur looked away in annoyance, and Merlin quickly muttered a spell.
His eyes flashed gold. Imediately, the doe relaxed and the contractions stopped. Merlin had taken it's pain, most of it at least. He patted it's head and whispered a soft 'thank you' before he laid it's head in the grass, staying with the doe until it stopped moving in general and silently passed away.
Ignoring the annoyed glances Arthur was currently giving him, Merlin stood up again, and stepped away so they could take it and bind it on the horse.
He walked on with an irritated expression, taking a deep breath before sighing through his nose. After a few futile attempts to cheer Merlin up, Arthur gave up and they went on. Not much later, they found a group of animals.
a few deer and a group of turkeys. This time, they all looked pretty old, so Merlin didn't say anyhting when the knights and Arthur killed them quickly. He did wince everytime they were hit, and took as much pain as he could without anyone noticing.
they kept this up all day, and by the time that the sun started to dissapear behind the horizon, Merlin was exhausted. The combination of not sleeping and using this amount of magic wasn't the best choice, but still, he didn't complain. Then, he would have to explain it, and that was something he couldn't do.
Oh right, Yes, I'm ridiculously tired because I talked to a druid, who just had to keep up the conversation with for way too long... Now I have this reocurring nightmare about something I do not understand in the slightest. Why can I see this? because I have magic, that's why.
Yeah, no. That would be a great mistake. Arthur would be very angry, and Merlin didn't want to lose his friend because of something that his father thought. Merlin scowled at the thought of Uther. It was so frustrating to have a king who didn't understand the concept of 'magic'. It was more than 'a force for evil', it could just as easily be used to bring life.
Or to save someone's life. The mocking voice in his head said, and he looked at Arthur, who was helping the knights lift the heavy prey onto a cart that was being pulled by two horses, and scoffed softly. Ignorant prat.
Arthur's cloak was wrapped around him and it felt like it was giving him a warm hug. Merlin couldn't help but smile and he looked down. Too bad that Arthur was too proud to ever give him a hug. Once they were all done, said person came up to him, probably about to tell him to make dinner. They'd decided to settle down for the night.
He reached for his brown bag, ready for the reminder, but Arthur didn't. "I'm sorry for shooting that doe, I didn't mean to upset you, Merlin." "It's okay, we can't undo it now," He answered, tiredly. "just don't... do it again." Arthur smiled, looked at the darkening sky, and nodded.
Merlin eyed him suspiciously as he turned away. But then Arthur paused and turned back to him. "Also, it might be handy for you to start dinner, we don't want to sleep on an empty stomach." There it is. Merlin rolled his eyes, but smiled and got the supplies out of his bag.
He stood up again, and stumbled a bit when black dots began to swirl at the edges of his vision. Arthur placed his hands on Merlin's shoulders to steady him. "Are you okay?" He asked in a mildly concerned voice. "Fine, just tired." Merlin murmerd, Yawning by impulse, earning a chuckle from Arthur as he patted him on his shoulder. Merlin looked at him.
The last bit of sunlight struck him from just the right angle, caressing Arthur's cheek, dancing in his hair, painting a dark shadow over the other side of his face. Merlin noticed the faint glow of gold in his eyes, causing a green illusion. He cocked his head to the left and admired it, wishing he could capture it.
The sun dissapeared behind a cloud, and Merlin glanced towards the trees, rubbing his face, wich was really cold. He flexed his fingers and remembered he needed to start cooking. Groaning inwardly, Merlin turned around and walked over to the campfire. He felt Arthur's stare in the back of his head as he kneeled in front of the twigs and lumps of wood to light them, but ignored it and continued working.
Arthur left to help readying the matrasses and Merlin closed his eyes for a second.
~o~
Eventually, he gave up after trying and failing five times to make fire, tossed the flint somewhere far away from him, and used magic to light the fire. The warmth of the flames was very welcome. He began cutting the ingredients for stew on a plate, when, "How long has this been going on? More important, how come nobody ever told me?" A slightly offended voice spoke behind him.
Merlin nearly got a heart attack and almost yelled in surprise, but managed to stop himself before he snapped his head towards Gwaine, who threw his hands up in surrender. "What are you talking about?" He said with a surprisingly even voice, throat suddenly dry. Gwaine smirked and dropped himself next to Merlin, totally oblivious to the clear panic that was spread his features.
"I mean, this thing." he said, turning his head to Merlin, making vague gestures. "You and Arthur, please enlighten me, also, am I invited?" Merlin looked at him and blinked.
"What?" he managed to bring out, not quite understanding what Gwaine was talking about, but extremely relieved that he didn't seem to be talking about his magic.
Gwaine snorted. "Really?" He uttered when he saw Merlin sending him a silent 'I don't get it'. Nodding slowly, Gwaine put his hands together like he was going to say something, but was really confused why.
"Tell me, have you ever heard of 'staring', or as I like to call it-"
"Yes, I know what that is. Why?" Merlin quickly cut him off.
"You do realize that you and Arthur were gazing in each others eyes for a good 36 seconds, don't you?" He smirked. Merlin gaped at him. "wha- Why did you-?" "Come on, you're not seriously telling me that you don't like him? Everyone can see it." Gwaine leaned against the tree trunk and shrugged. "Well, everyone except you two." He whispered, grinning broadly.
Merlin opened his mouth, blinked, frowned, inhaled to say something, and stopped himself when Lancelot walked towards them, also sitting down by the fire on the opposite side of them and rubbed his hands. Merlin didn't know what he needed to do, so he just shot Gwaine a look and got a mocking smile back.
Half an hour later, the aroma of stew filled the air. Everyone was already sitting by the fire, killing time with telling stories that Merlin enjoyed to listen to while prepearing dinner, and were greatful to finally be able to eat. Merlin handed everyone a plate and made sure to leave something for himself this time, he didn't feel like having to endure another one of their jokes.
it was actually quite tasty, and Merlin got compliments on his cooking. When they all finished their meals, Merlin collected their plates and went to do the dishes down by the riverside. He immediately missed the warmth that the fire provided and It took him longer than usual to finish his job, but that was probably because he didn't have enough energy anymore.
When everything was clean, he put the cutlery and plates back into his bag and went back to the group. Gwaine was in the middle of a story, and everyone was listening intendly. Merlin smiled and sat down next to Arthur.
"We ran all the way up, but the knights followed us, so Merlin and I jumped into a cart with hay, that was conveniently standing beneath us..."
Gwaine went on with his story, and Merlin had his blanket wrapped around him as staring into the fire. The crackling was a welcoming sound. It was becoming harder by the minute to keep his eyes open, everyone was still cheerfully having conversations with each other, but Merlin didn't bother to be a part of them.
He felt drowsy, and subconciously started to lean on Arthur. He instinctively put an arm around him and continued with whatever he had been talking about with Leon, nodding at something he'd said. Exhaustion overtook him and his eyes closed as the voices slowly lulled him to sleep.
~o~
Leon pov.
Leon was standing against a remarkably large tree, looking at nothing in particular and breathing in the evening air. Gwaine had apperantly brought mead, and only Leon and Merlin hadn't drunk it. Luckily, no one except Gwaine, who'd consumed an alarming amount of mead, were too drunk not to still keep watch. Still, Leon had insisted on keeping the first watch.
Merlin had fallen asleep really fast, but everyone had noticed that he did look like he hadn't had a good night sleep in a long time, so they lowered their volumes when Arthur had sushed them all, motioning to Merlin, who was sleeping on his lap. Being a manservant was probably very exhausting.
It hadn't been long since then. Leon didn't even need to start his part yet, but he wanted to get away from the chatter for a bit. Gwaine was ranting about a weird dream he'd had about something that didn't taste like it was supposed to, Leon, at that point, told them he was going to stretch his legs before having the first watch.
He took a deep breath and was ready to get back. He took a turn and returned to the camp. That moment, Gwaine staggered over to him with Lancelot by his side, who was holding out his hands, ready to catch him, because it looked like he could trip over anything at the moment.
"They're such idiots!" He slurred. Lancelot laughed, mouthed the word 'drunk' to Leon and without looking, grabbed Gwaine by his shoulder to steady him, because otherwise he certainly would've fallen over.
"Who are?" Leon questioned, amused by his attempts to keep his balance and not fall over without leaning on something. His arms were in the air, as if he was convinced that he could swim up when he was about to fall.
When it was clear that Gwaine wasn't going to answer him any time soon, Lancelot filled in for him, and said, "Arthur and Merlin," He looked behind him, to see them both asleep on their matresses close by the fire. "he thinks that they're in love."
Leon tilted his head and nodded slowly, concidering the idea. Lancelot opened his mouth to say something, but Leon beat him to it. "I think he might be on to something." He turned away from Gwaine, who was happily smiling up at the moon, to Lancelot. "I mean, they do seem very close. You weren't there before Merlin, but Arthur was very different back then. He never became friends with his servants. They were no one to him, he mainly used them for target practice and after that, made sure that they spend as little as possible time with him as possible."
Leon thought back at that. "He really loathed having servants. The way they treated him, like he was more important than anything in the world. I don't know why, but he disliked being put so high on the platform." "And then Merlin arrived in Camelot, treating him like a normal person." Lancelot finished for him. "Exactly." Leon nodded. They were both silent for a minute.
"Do you think-?"
"Gwaine is more observant than you give him credit for."
Lancelot turned back towards Gwaine, who was starting to nod off against him. He rolled his eyes and slapped him across the face. Immediatly, Gwaine's eyes snapped open and he looked around until his gaze fell on the other two. "Ow!" He rubbed his cheek offended. Then, when he was done, he noticed them looking at him, waiting.
"I agree with Leon. What was- were we talking about?" He uttered, looking guilty. Lancelot burried his face in his hands trying to stiffle his laughter. Leon turned to Gwaine. "I said, 'I agree with you'. They have chemistry."
This seemed to jog his memory, and Gwaine grinned. "Yeah right?" He snorted. "See?" He moved his arms in an 'I told you so' gesture and would have hit Lancelot in his face if he didn't duck away in time.
"Yes, I know."
Leon chuckled and cleared his throat, before saying, "Alright, both of you. Go to sleep. I don't want to be forced to keep watch all night because everyone is passed out." Lancelot nodded and made sure that Gwaine reached his mattress before going to sleep himself.
~o~
Merlin pov.
It was peaceful in the forest. Merlin was strolling in a slow pace. A woodpecker could be heard, hammering at some tree in the distance, looking for food. The leaves crunched underneath his boots as he walked on, enjoying the warmth of the sun that shone through the leaves on the trees, casting tiny specks of gold to dance amongst the shadows on the ground.
Still, Merlin felt uneasy. Something was off. There was this shape in the corner of his eye, that looked like a person, but everytime he turned his head to see, there wasn't anyone. It appeared to be just a tree.
Slowly, deciding to ignore the weird illusion, Merlin continued walking. For a while, the only sound, was that of his feet hitting the ground and the rustling of the wind.
An apple lay in front of him. It was shiny and red, Merlin looked up. A large apple tree stood in front of him. He knew this tree. He'd seen it before somewhere. More of those big fruits were hanging on the branches, ready to be picked.
Merlin looked at the basket next to the broad tree stump and back to the apples. Then, he reached up to pick the one closest to him. When it broke of the branch, he heard a noise behind him.
When he looked, he saw Gwaine. He waved at Merlin with his standard wide smile. Merlin frowned and waved back, but then, Gwaine disappeared. His eyes widened and he took a step back.
What is going on?
Merlin blinked a few times and hesitantly looked around him. It didn't make sense. None of it did. He didn't know this forest, but it was still fammiliar, there was something. It was like the trees weren't in the right place.
After taking in the forest, he remembered the apple tree, and he spun back around. He stopped dead, when what he saw wasn't bark, but a cloaked figure, who's hands were streched out towards him.
Merlin dropped the apple and stumbled backwards, his heart pounding five times faster than normal. The figure was human, but Merlin couldn't see their face. It slowly creeped forward through the flowerbed.
The petals all schriveled up and turned grey where it's foot touched the ground, Merlin stared in horror when he realized that he couldn't move anymore. At least, not on his own accord. He was forced stand still and watch as everything around him became colourless.
Out of nowhere, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and he suddenly regained the ability to move. He jerked away and yelled in alarm.
'Merlin.'
His head shot up towards the noise. What was that? The field of flowers was gone. The figure had dissappeared. He didn't get the time to process what was happening before he fell into a dark void.
~o~
Merlin's limbs flailed as he shot upright, yanking against an invisible force that had been holding him in place. He would've lurched away if it weren't for the fact that there was still a hand on his shoulder, gripping him and pushing him down when he tried to stand.
There were shadow's all around him. Panicking slightly now, Merlin tried to fight off the grip, but his arms and legs shook so terribly, and he kept needing to remind himself to breathe, breathe Breathe -
"Merlin," The voice said again. What was that? Then, he realised that he wasn't awake yet.
"Merlin, calm down!" The voice repeated. This time, Merlin recognised it. Arthur... His eyes suddenly regained focus and the world slowly came into view. He was staring into dark blue eyes - Arthur's eyes.
He immediately calmed down a bit and blinked rapidly, completely disoriented from waking up. He took some time to regain his breath, his heart was still beating like crazy. "Are you okay?" Arthur asked with a calm and tired voice, which, surprisingly, worked. Merlin, fully awake now, gaped back at him.
Arthur looked at him and Merlin remembered that he'd asked a question and was waiting for an answer. He nodded, murmering something unintelligible while staring at the mixture of ocean colours, with dark blue lines that weaved in between.
Closing his eyes, leaning his head back, Merlin realised that he was on his mattress and his eyes shot back open. He was by the fire. Confused, he looked past Arthur and saw that everybody was asleep, except for him and Arthur. "How did I get here? I don't remember falling asleep." He breathed, really looking at Arthur now. He looked down at his arm, Merlin was clutching the fabric so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. Emberassed, he let his hand relax and looked down. Arthur frowned before letting his face fall back into a neutral expression.
"You fell asleep pretty quickly. I brought you to your mattress, I didn't want to wake you. It's not that I'm trying to sound offensive, but you look terrible."
"Thank you."
"It's not a joke, Merlin! How much sleep are you getting currently?" Arthur hissed, making Merlin flinch slightly. Every trace of anger dissappeared from his face, he looked a bit guilty. "It's okay," Merlin whispered before Arthur could say anything. "I don't know. I sleep a little after sundown, and most of the time, wake up in the middle of the night. After that, I can't sleep anymore." He sighed, rubbing his eyes.
Arthur's eyes widened. "How long ago did this start?" "Er, two weeks, I think." Arthur looked worried, he placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder, who looked up at him. I am a disaster. I can't even fall asleep properly! Merlin's thoughts raced. He probably looked like a crazy person, with his eyes half open and his hair sticking out in multiple directions. Merlin grinned at the picture in his head. Arthur, however, looked positively scared. "Well, you haven't slept that long yet. I just woke up for the second watch. You're gonna have to catch up on some." Arthur joked, trying to hide his worry, but Merlin was too tired to notice.
He just nodded and layed back down. He was about to close his eyes when he saw that Arthur wasn't moving. He was still sitting next to Merlin, looking at the fire, apperantly not planning to leave. Merlin frowned.
"You're gonna stay here?" he asked. His voice was barely above a whisper, but Arthur heard it anyway and turned back to meet Merlin's questioning gaze that was barely visible behind his almost closed eyelids. "If that's okay with you. When Morgana and I were young, I always sat with her until she fell asleep. That seemed to work."
Shrugging softly, Merlin got comfortable underneath his blanket and murmered, "I don't mind." Before closing his eyes. After a while, he finally managed to fall asleep again with Arthur by his side.
~o~
A/N ~ This chapter was a bit longer, I hope that you liked it! I put in a bit of the knights, so we know what they are doing.
Keep being awesome!
See you in the next chapter!
~ Fia