Date Published: May 27th, 2023
Word Count: 2,569
A/N: I actually used this as the base for a short story I submitted to my fiction class for college, and I really love how it turned out. 

In the warmth of the summer, the breeze that giggled through the trees kissed Merlin's skin. He strolled through the woods with a carefree smile. Nature was always calming to him, and since he'd moved to Camelot, there were plenty of places to explore. The trees were the tallest he'd ever seen in his life. He was fascinated with the new species of herbs and flowers, pausing to kneel before a bush adorned with beautiful pink blossoms. The petals were soft and smooth under his fingertips.

A snapping sound from behind him pulled Merlin from his thoughts. He frowned, rising to his feet as he turned to look toward the source of the sound. The thick bushes shook with movement. He tilted his head and took a step forward, but the rustling happened again, and this time the disturbance was accompanied by a low growling.

He staggered back as he choked out a gasp. Goosebumps erupted across his skin, crawling down his arms like ants under his thin blue tunic. Merlin felt his stomach roll as the growling grew louder. From the shadows of the bushes, two dark eyes emerged. They were accompanied by gleaming teeth that sent a shiver down his spine, vivid images of the sharp canines sinking into his flesh assaulting his mind. It was a monster.

Merlin froze for a single second before adrenaline flooded his veins, and he took off in a mad sprint the other direction. The creature's growling turned into malicious barking as it chased after him. He could hear it behind him, but he didn't dare look back. He doubted he would be able to outrun it for long. Merlin was not an athletic person, and his chest was already starting to protest against the rigorous activity.

The underbrush crunched underneath his boots, which were a size too big and made running extra difficult. It didn't take long for him to stumble. The toe of his right foot caught a log and sent him sprawling face forward into the grass. Merlin sputtered and spit as dirt got in his mouth. He could feel the dampness of grass stains through his shirt.

He flinched as the monster closed in on him. Merlin looked up from his place on the ground, eyes growing hot as his heart slammed against his ribcage uncomfortably. The beast's mouth was dripping with drool as it growled. Its paws were larger than Merlin's hands, complete with claws that looked just as efficient at tearing flesh as its teeth. He trembled as it stalked towards him. The tears started to fall as he raised his arms to cower from the monster.

The teeth and clawsnever made contact with him. A crash came from the bushes behind him and whenhe dared to look up, there was a person standing between him and the beast. Air caught in Merlin's throat as he gazed at the back of his savoir.

His hair was blond, but it shone like pure gold where the sun hit it. The clothing he was adorned with was higher quality than his own. His tunic was not worn out and faded, but vibrant. He wore a sleeveless doublet made from leather. Around his waist, there was a belt with a sword sheath hanging against his left thigh, though there was no sword within it. The weapon was gripped firmly in his hands. It was raised confidently in air as he faced the creature; Merlin thought he looked like a knight.

The beast pounced,latching its teeth onto the knight's arm. A frustrated and pained gasp camefrom the blond. He shoved it off and pointed his sword at it in warning. 

"Begone! This is no game to hunt!" he ordered. He whistled sharply, and to Merlin's surprise, the beast stopped growling. It looked unhappy, but it obeyed the command, turning and disappearing back into the underbrush.

Once it was out of sight, the knight turned to him. His complexion was fair and his eyes sparkled an unfairly beautiful shade of blue. A smile spread across his lips as he slid the sword into its sheath. "Are you alright?"

Merlin was grateful his face was already flushed from running so the knight didn't notice the blush that rose into his cheeks. "I- Yeah, I think so," he said. He gazed behind the knight at where the beast had vanished, then returned his eyes to him with raised eyebrows. "How did you do that?"

"That was one of the royal hunting dogs," the knight explained. "One of the new ones, he hasn't quite learned how to behave himself yet."

"That was a dog?!" Merlin exclaimed. He received a nod. He blinked several times as he looked back at the bushes. "I've never seen a dog like that, I thought it was a monster."

The knight chuckled and leaned down to offer him his hand. "You must be new around here then?" he asked. Merlin nodded as he took the hand and was hauled to his feet with ease.

He stumbled for a second, and the knight stabled him with a firm hand on his shoulder; he was watching his struggle with furrowed eyebrows. Merlin huffed, kicking the ground beneath his foot as he stepped away. The redness in his face was not going away anytime soon as embarrassment sent heat all the way up to his ears. "My stupid shoes are too big. They make it difficult to walk and run sometimes, especially on uneven ground like this."

With his gaze on the ground, he noticed his savior's boots were polished and gorgeous; they were a complete contradiction to his own. Jealousy snuck up behind him and poked him the back of his head as he imagined how comfortable they must be.

"I see, why are your shoes too big? Surely you can go to the shoemaker in town to get better ones," the knight said, eyebrows still pulled close together.

Merlin swallowed as jealousy's friend, shame, joined in on jabbing at him. He shook his head and refused to look up from his culpable shoes. "No, I can't afford to."

The knight's confusion lifted as his lips turned down in a frown. He shook his head and lowered it to Merlin. "My apologies, it was rude for me to assume," he said. He then extended his hand in a greeting gesture. "Shall we start over? My name is Arthur Pendragon."

"I'm Merlin," he replied, taking it. His gaze slid down to their conjoined hands, his eyes widening as he noticed a patch of darkness spreading on the knight's sleeve. "You're wounded!"

Arthur's eyebrows furrowed, but they evened out once he followed Merlin's gaze to the bleeding. "Oh, the dog managed to get a bite in, but I'm fine, I assure you," he said. He tried to retract his hand, but Merlin stopped him stubbornly.

"You're bleeding, let me help," he insisted.

The knight lowered his head in resignation, and Merlin reached up to untie the scarf around his neck. He rolled Arthur's sleeve back to expose the bite. Without hesitation, he began to wrap his neckerchief around the wound. 

"How do you know to do this?" the knight asked as he watched him curiously.

"I aspire to become a physician," he explained. "I've been teaching myself all I can. That's why I'm out here, I've just moved, and I wanted to look for herbs."

Arthur hissed as the neckerchief was pulled tight. Merlin offered an apologetic smile, and the knight shrugged it off. "There's a great physician in the royal court," he said. "Perhaps he would be willing to take on an apprentice."

"That would be a great opportunity, I will have to look into it," Merlin replied. "Thank you for telling me."

The two stood in acomfortable silence for a moment. Merlin was still cradling the knight's arm,which they both seemed to realize at the same time. Arthur cleared his throat,cheeks suddenly appearing flushed. "Thank you," he said as he retracted hisarm. He then offered Merlin a warm smile. "Is there any way I could repay you for your aid?"

He reached up to rub the back of his head, feeling the way his black hair had gotten ruffled in his chase. He started smoothing and combing it with his fingers. 

"Well..." Merlin trailed off, taking in his surroundings. None of the trees looked familiar. In his haste to escape the monster, or rather dog, he hadn't paid attention to where he was going. He was thoroughly lost. He turned his gaze back on Arthur. "I guess you could escort me home considering I don't know the way back, and I would prefer not to run into one of the hunting dogs again, or anything else for that matter."

The knight nodded with a small smile on his lips. "Of course, where do live?"

"In a little house on the edge of the city," Merlin said. "The woods were not far from it."

"Right, I can certainly take you there," Arthur confirmed, gesturing with his hand for him to follow as he started walking. "You can tell me about yourself and your home while we walk, and I can do the same so we can get to know each other."

A smirk curled onto Merlin's lips. "Who said I wanted to get to know you?" he replied innocently.

Arthur sputtered and whipped his head in his direction. His face had morphed into one of mild offense and astonishment. "You can't speak to me like that! How rude! I was trying to be polite," he said. His lips had turned down into a full pout as he began stomping ahead. "It's not like I saved your skin or anything."

Laughter escaped Merlin's mouth as he clutched his sides. This made the knight stop and turn to look at him, eyes a very sharp and penetrating glare. After a bit of laughter, Merlin managed to reign himself in. "I was just jesting, calm down Sir Sensitive," he teased. Arthur grumbled under his breath as he turned back around. Merlin rolled his eyes and caught up to him. "Alright, I'm sorry, okay? Now we've successfully offended each other. We're even, so truce?"

He extended his hand just as Arthur had minutes prior. The knight's eyes flitted between the hand and Merlin's face, still looking disgruntled. Merlin beamed broadly and innocently as he nodded to his hand. Arthur huffed, but begrudgingly it.

"Fine."

Merlin beamed wider, which made the knight huff again, but he could've sworn he saw his lips curl up at the corners as he turned back to the trees ahead of them.

The journey through the forest was peaceful. After their spout, they began to chat, and they soon developed a back and forth of friendly conversation. Occasionally, Merlin spotted a flower or herb he hadn't seen before and rushed over to it. Arthur told him what it was called as he plucked a few to take home; sometimes he picked flowers he already knew but thought were pretty. Soon, he was holding a bouquet in his arms. It became apparent that Merlin traveled much deeper into the woods than he meant to, as the sky started changing by the time they got within sight of his home. The sun painted it shades of pink and orange that matched several of the blossoms he held.

His new house was made from cobbled stone, unlike the wooden one he'd left. Though it was slightly bigger then his previous home, it was still small; there were nearly identical houses strewn about within walking distance, getting more densely packed together the closer to the main city they were.

There was a woman outside Merlin's home tending to a small garden she started during their first week in Camelot. He smiled warmly but felt a small tugging in his chest. He turned to Arthur; he didn't really want to leave. "Well, thank you for escorting me sire," he said, nodding respectfully. He selected a vibrant red rose from his bouquet of flowers and offered it to the knight. "A token for your service?"

"My pleasure," Arthur replied, accepting the rose with cheeks matching the shade of its petals. "I hope I'll see you again."

Merlin grinned as his own cheeks grew warm. "Good day, sire," he said.

Hunith wiped the sweat from her forehead. The setting sun was warm, but not unpleasantly so. During her first two weeks of living in Camelot, she was pleasantly surprised by the weather. It rained often in Ealdor. She was used to grey skies and muddy paths, but she had yet to see rain. Hunith looked up from the vegetables she was tending to so she could admire the way the sky changed.

A smile spread across her face as she saw her son on his way home. The seven-year-old boy walked out of the trees, and to her surprise, he was not alone. Her son was accompanied by a boy that looked about his age, if not a little older. They walked side-by-side.

The boy was blond and his clothes were fine. Though she couldn't make it out perfectly, she noticed a code of arms was sewn into the front of his doublet. Hunith realized he must come from a noble family. While Merlin carried a cluster of flowers, the blond boy carried a wooden sword as his belt, like a young knight in training. There was a stark contrast between them.

Yet even from the slight distance, Hunith could see the smile on Merlin's face.

They paused a few yards away from her. She watched as the two exchanged a few words, though she couldn't hear what was said. Affection swelled in Hunith's chest as she watched her son give a rose to his companion. They shared a smile, and then Merlin started approaching her.

The young boy came rushing up with a bundle of flowers in his arms. He was beaming ear-to-ear as he held them up to her. "Mum, look at all the new flowers I found!"

"Wow! They're lovely sweetie!" she said, leaning to be closer to his level. "How was your day? Who's your friend?"

She gestured to where the blond boy was retreating back into the forest. Merlin turned and waved at him as he went, receiving a wave back. "That's Arthur, he's a knight," Merlin gushed. "There was a big scary monster that chased me, but then he showed up and drove it away. It was a dog they use for hunting, but it was unlike any dogs we had in Ealdor! It was vicious! I was so scared!"

"But Arthur was brave and kind," he continued. "After he scared the dog away, he offered to walk me home! I probably would've gotten really lost without his help, or ended up as a feast for some other creature. This forest is a lotdifferent than home."

Merlin beamed, and his eyes drifted off to where Arthur was retreating into the woods. The blond boy drew and raised his wooden sword to wave farewell. "He's my hero," Hunith's son said wistfully as he waved back. 

If she didn't know any better, Hunith would have thought Arthur had put the sun in the sky from the amount of adoration Merlin's eyes. The mother smiled knowingly and ruffled her son's hair. "Sounds like quite the adventure."