"Shit shit shit!" Merlin exclaimed quietly as he ran out of the room, past Gaius. He was going to be late to get Arthur up, and set up for the hunting trip. He bounded through the halls around the servants, and bursted into the room. Arthur laid in bed, still sleeping.

"Wake up Arthur. By the time your dressed I'll have breakfast ready." Merlin rushed. He grabbed Arthur's clothes, and assembled it. Arthur groaned, and got up. Arthur had finally learned how to get his clothes on somewhat, so Merlin left quickly to grab the tray, and came back up.

Merlin held a silver tray, with sausages, potatoes, and cheese, with a goblet of wine to the side. Merlin used silent magic spells to move certain obstacles out of the way. Merlin had been practicing a lot, and he could finally do simple things without the need for words. Only levitation of very heavy objects required his voice. Merlin pushed the door open, and set the tray down where Arthur sat. Merlin silently chuckled at himself when he noticed Arthur's bedhead.

"Goodmorning Merlin. A bit late are we?" Arthur said as he cut up his food.

"Goodmorning. I'm sorry I ran late. The sun is rising a lot later because of the winter, and I keep getting off track." Merlin apologized. He tidied up the bed quickly, and then left the room to gather the gear for the day. He ran down the steps, and headed into the armory. Gwain was there, shining his sword, and Percival was strapping on his gear.

"G'Morning Merlin." Gwain greeted happily.

"Goodmorning Gwain." Merlin replied hurridly. "No time to talk, I'm running late, sorry!" Merlin said as he grabbed everything in one trip, and ran to the horse. He was suprised at how much he was able to lift. When he arrived in Amelot he could barely hold a sword without it dropping, and now he can hold multiple, plus sheilds and food sacks.

Merlin stapped the saddle onto the horse, plus all the needed equitment. He ran back to the armory to put Arthur's armor on. Arthur was there waiting.

Merlin immediately grabbed the armor and strapped everything on. Arthur, Percival, and Gwain walked to the horses together. Leon was already there, waiting. Everyone mounted their horses, and they all rode out. Merlin was the last, riding on a jet black horse. Arthur's older horse had been replaced awhile ago, with a pure white one, because of it's growing age.

Each rider rode out, clad in armor and swords, with a lowly servant following.

They rode for a couple of hours until they reached their destination. They heard from travelers that a wild cat inhabited the area. It was described as 7 feet tall, with multiple tails, and piercing green eyes. Other neighboring villages said that it would eat the cows. Arthur wanted it's tails and head mounted onto his wall if he could.

"Set up camp. We'll go out searching for any tracks." Arthur told Merlin.

"But I want to come with. You'll need someone to protect you." Merlin said, not so sure if he was even convincing himself. Arthur, Leon, and Percival all laughed.

"You can barely hold up a sheild and a sword. How could you protect us?" Arthur said. Merlin straightened his back.

"Moral support, and a spotter who can look around to search for danger." Merlin said. But when it came out of his mouth, he realized how pansy it sounded. Gwain stood up for him.

"Believe it or not, Merlin is very strong. Just the other day he carried me home because I passed out drunk. Plus I've seen him fight a couple times. His strategies are weird, but effective." Gwain said. Merlin appreciated his support.

Arthur thought about it.

"Fine. But you make dinner." Arthur settled.

"I always make dinner." Merlin laughed. He grabbed his personal sword, and walked with them. The sword was very cheap, but it was sharp. And with a little spell or two it was indestructible.

They all set out, and quickly stumbled onto a deer trail.

"Let's see if we can catch dinner first. Then we can go for the cat." Arthur decided. They followed the fresh trail, and finally arrived to an open feild, with a stag in the middle. Arthur grabbed his crossbow, and aimed. Merlin looked away. After so many years of watching Arthur hunt, he still couldn't bear to see an animal get shot. Merlin heard the arrow shoot, and he looked back. Everyone stood there, baffaled. The stag just turned to them and looked at them. It had an arrow protruding out of it's ribs, but it didn't even flee.

"Why isn't it dead!?" Arthur exclaimed. The started to walk towards them. Arthur took his chance, and shot it again with another arrow. This time he striked right into the creatures throat. Not even a flinch from the stag. Merlin could sense the magic in the area. He tugged on Arthur's shirt.

"That's not a stag. We need to run back Arthur. I can feel something from it. It's not good." Merlin warned them. He stood up, and tried to get them to go back. Everyone stood and backed up a little. Arthur was going to contradict and shoot another arrow, when the stag started to transform. It's body grew, and it's fur darkened. Green eyes became very prominent against it's black fur, and 9 tails protruded out of it's end. Merlin recognized the face looking very similar to an exotic animal from one of his world books. It was called a Puma. But they only lived in jungles. Every pointed their weapons towards the beast. Gwain charged the creature, but one of it's many tails smacked him to the side, making him smack into a nearby tree. Merlin stood in front of Arthur, and held his sword infront of the beast.

Merlin read the creatures emotions. It felt very soft, yet feirce. Like it was scared. Or lonely. Before he knew it, Arthur charged the beast. He was able to doge the tails, and he struck the wolf in the shoulder. It recoiled only slightly, and it pushed Arthur away. Merlin backed up, but tripped over a dropped sheild. The giant puma walked over to Merlin, and stood over him. Merlin was very tense, and dared not to move. Maybe if he didn't move it would ignore him. The weird tall creature stared down at him, into his eyes. It's eyes flashed yellow. Merlin relaxed. He slowly reached his hand up to the puma's face, but it recoiled. Merlin saw Percival start running towards the puma from the behind, and he scared the puma off of him. Merlin pretended to grab his sword to protect himself. The puma ran away as fast as it could, and none of them could keep up. Merlin went back to check on Gwain, who had been knocked around.

"Are you okay Gwain?" Merlin asked, helping him up. Gwain grunted in assurance. Leon, Percival, and Arthur joined the two.

"How did the creature not hurt you?" Arthur said, rocking his shoulder around. Merlin shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure. I don't think it wanted to hurt any of us. When we shot it, it attacked us." Merlin told them. They headed back to the camp, and Merlin pulled out the packed food. Only vegetables, and a couple pieces of dried meat. Night fell, and food was served.

"Did any of you feel a kind of calmness around the puma?" Merlin asked.

"What is this puma you speak of?" Leon asked.

"Well it's a kind of animal. It lives only in the jungle. But normal pumas only have one tail, and are a lot smaller. This puma must have been magical." Merlin tried to explain.

"And how do you know what a puma is?" Gwain asked.

"I've got a book on many animals. All non magical, but interesting nonetheless." Merlin said. "Anyways did any of you feel calm around it?"

"How could you feel calm around it? It's a vicious creature!" Arthur exclaimed. Merlin only rolled his eyes, and continued to drink his soup.

"Well I do not think the puma is vicious. I think it's lost and lonely. It could've killed me then and there but it didn't." Merlin stated. He placed his empty bowl onto the ground, and set up the sleeping blankets. Merlin walked off into the woods to grab more firewood to feul their fire.

He kicked sticks and stones as he walked. "He's such a prick." Merlin said to himself, referring to Arthur.

Merlin stopped, and looked around. It was too dark to see, but he felt something staring at him. He then heard a stick break. Merlin stayed in silence for a couple of minutes, before continuing his walk. He finally found some dry pieces of wood, and started back.

The next couple of moments went by very quickly. He felt someone knock him over the head, which made him drop to the ground, dizzy. Then he felt a bag wrap around his head, and ropes around his wrists and ankles.

'Not again.' Merlin thought. He struggled as much as he could, but he was too defensless. He tried using magic, but he was not sure if it would work without his vision, so he didn't try.

He felt himself being tied to a large moving animal, and heard someone smack it. Merlin knew he was on a horse.

Back at camp, Arthur heard a distance neighing noise, and the clomping of horse hooves. They watched, perplexed, as a brown horse rode towards them, with someone strapped onto the back. Realining it was Merlin from his red necktie, they stopped the horse, and got him down.

"Someone's coming! Someone's coming!" Merlin warned them. Gwain untied him, and they all armed themselves. Not too long later, horses rode up to them, and knights began to fight them. Merlin was able to hold his own for a bit with some added magic, but after awhile, more and more came to fight. Everyone was outnumbered. There was no way they'd win.

Then out of no where, they heard heavy thumping on the ground. All of the knights watched in fear, as the giant puma came running back to them. The opposing knights shot arrows, and tried slicing the puma, but it did no damage. It's many tails started to swipe away each of the charging knights. Arthur, Percival, Leon, Gwain, and Merlin watched from the back, unable to catch breath. He didn't try to attack right now. They watched in amazment as the puma took them all out, and left the others to run away. It soon started to walk over to them. They readied themselves.

Merlin walked towards the giant animal, as it walked towards them.

"Stay back Merlin!" Percival warned, but Merlin ignored him. The puma stopped walking towards Merlin, and let him come towards.

"Don't be alarmed. I won't hurt you." Merlin said, holding his empty hands up. The creature hesitated, but still sat down. The others watched in awe. Merlin stood in front of it, and held a hand out to it.

It took at his open hand, and then began to sniff it. At first it was cautious, but then it became a little funny. It moved from his hand, to all over. Merlin silently chuckled as it sniffed every inch of him. Even the others spectating lowered their weapons, and began to laugh.

"What is it doing?" Arthur laughed at the scene unfolding in front of them.

"I'm not quite sure, but I think it likes me." Merlin chuckled. They tried walking over to the creature, but it's hairs stood on end, and it flashed it's fangs. Merlin petted it's side lightly. It relaxed under his touch. Merlin smiled hopefully towards Arthur.

"Can we keep it!?" Merlin asked excitedly. Gwain cracked up at how childlike Merlin looked.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "We were sent here to slay the beast, not keep it as a pet. How could we ever keep that anyways. It eats cows and is taller than a person." Arthur said. Leon and Percival agreed. Gwain walked up to the giant puma, and stroked it's fur.

"She's really soft." Gwain grinned. The puma became a little catlike, and it rolled onto its side, accepting the pets that Merlin and Gwain gave him. Soon Leon chimed in. Then Percival. Arthur watched unamused as they all played around with the giant puma, as if it were a housecat. The giant looked at Arthur, and stared into his eyes, pleadingly.

"No creature could walk around undetected anyways." Arthur scoffed. The cat seemed to understand this, when it's body form became smaller and smaller. It's size decreased, and it's many tails vanished. Soon it was the size of a normal housecat, with black fur and green eyes. Merlin picked it up, and brought it to Arthur.

"Now can we keep it?" Merlin asked hopefully. Arthur looked at Merlin, then the cat. Merlin looked so happy with the cat, and the cat stared at Arthur, making him feel guilty.

"Uuuggggghhhhhhhhhh fine." Arthur gave in. Merlin regoiced, and so did the others. The cat jumped out of Merlin's hands, and walked towards the fire to lay down. Everyone got ready for bed. The air was cold, and everyone grabbed their blankets, and laid next to the fire. Arthur was strapping something onto the horse, when he noticed Merlin. He was laying on the bare ground, only his personal jacket on, and he was farther from the fire.

"Merlin." Arthur called out quietly. Merlin's head popped up to look at him.

"Here." Arthur said, handing him the spare blanket. Although Arthur was going to use it as a pillow, he thought Merlin needed it more. Merlin thanked him, and took it willingly.

Everyone laid down, and Merlin scooted closer to the fire. Every fell asleep next to the warm fire, and the cat laid stretched out.