Fooling Around

[pie]

Merlin, still quite running for his life, had only spared a single second to look behind him. And, to his surprise, found a helmet flying towards him! With suddenly wide eyes, he turned fully around, now walking backwards with no knowledge of what was now behind him, and ducked at the last moment. Thankfully the helmet didn't hit him, but what it did made him wonder for just a brief minute before he found out. From what he had heard, the helmet had clattered to the ground, and then continued rolling...

Down stairs.

With eyes only going wider, Merlin only realized his mistake of walking backwards a second too late. His left foot, placed behind him to take another step, stopped short of stairs, and landed on the one above the top. Because of this, he lost his balance, and, flailing his arms outwards to try to catch his balance -- which he failed at -- totally and completely began to follow the helmet.

He clumsily and unskillfully tripped even on the stairs and fell backwards, which only increased his momentum and sent him rolling down the stairs. Thankfully, after about nearly fifteen stairs, the twist in them finally stopped him, and he crashed into it back-first. Cursing and grumbling, Merlin groaned and brought his hands to his head, which had hit the wall so hard upon impact that he had to wonder why he hadn't slipped into unconsciousness because of it! That sounded like a pleasant thought at the moment...

Especially with an angry donkey for a Prince coming for him... But he wasn't able to stand up quite yet.

[ Lol, "donkey man". And woo! Page two!!! ]

[Arthur Pendragon]

Drat! The helmet had missed the idiots head. Arthur made an irritated expression -- since we couldn't very well vocalize his irritation. But the events that followed compensated for the fact that the helmet had not hit Merlin. Instead, the clumsy oaf fell down the stairs. Perfect! Well, sort of. Even in Arthur's state of anger and frustration, he found himself concerned for Merlin. Falling down the stairs could indeed cause a serious injury, and if one hit their head hard enough, it could very well kill them. With that possibility in mind, Arthur ran ahead to follow Merlin, only needing to go down a couple of stairs to see that Merlin was alive. The concern was immediately gone, and Arthur returned to a more angry state.

He started at Merlin and started to chuckle. Well, "chuckle". "Haw. Haw. Haw." Arthur suddenly abruptly stopped laughing when he realized what he sounded like. So apparently his laughter came out as braying too. Wonderful. Thats when his amusement vanished and he just glared at Merlin. He would take advantage of the moron's disorientated state so -- very dramatically -- he began to barge down the stairs. All he had left was his expression -- somewhat -- to demonstrate what he was feeling, and his actions. And he was about to take everything out on Merlin.

[PAGE 2! OMG! We rock!! ]

[pie]

To say Merlin was disorientated was no lie. Having his his head so hard on the wall didn't do any physical damage or anything, but it made him lose his bearing. He was dizzy -- even winded -- and it looked like the whole castle was spinning. He knew it wasn't, but for a second he thought that perhaps he was still rolling down the stairs.

If he wasn't so confused at the moment, Arthur's braying laughter would have made him laugh. However, coupled with the fact he had just fallen down the stairs, and knowing he was quite vulnerable for Arthur, a part of his mind told him to get away! The other half told him not to attempt it, as he was still far too dizzy. But who ever would listen to that half when the Prince -- who you had just insulted practically -- was angrily barging towards you?!

He turned himself around as quickly as he could, to begin to scoot down the stairs as quickly as he could. After less than a second, though, he realized that that was still too slow. Arthur was faster than him even when Merlin wasn't dizzy! Stumbling into a standing position -- and almost falling down the stairs once more -- Merlin rushed to the railing as fast as he could, as if he hadn't, he would have been forced to sit down again from his spinning head.

"I won't let you kill me!" he practically slurred, his mind still too jumbled to form full words. With nothing to lose except his life -- which he still valued -- Merlin climbed onto the railing to let himself slide down it. He was too dizzy to run, and Arthur was faster, but could he catch him on the railing?

[Yes, yes we do ! And yay for castle chasing!]

[Arthur Pendragon]

He wouldn't let him?! Too bad for him! Arthur was indeed going to kill him. It was the only way he could express his anger and frustration. He could not even go to the training field, or beat the target dummy. He was not ready to face the world in his current state. These thoughts, the forced acceptance he would have to endure . . . it was all clouded by his irritation at Merlin. And unfortunately, he servant would have to feel his wrath. It only made Arthur more angry when he could not retort with a smart ass -- no pun intended -- comment. Nothing would come out . . . except braying. How could he live like this?!

He moved towards Merlin and just before he was going to grab him, he began to slide down the railing. What were they, children?! Of course Arthur did not even consider how childish he was being right now. He didn't care. He was allowed to be immature . . . when he looked like a donkey. Still, he did not go down the railing like Merlin. He took the more traditional route: the stairs. He hurried down them, though Merlin had a head start on him. Apparently, it was faster to slide down the banister than go down the stairs. But with Arthur's cloak on, he knew it would only end awkwardly; the last thing he needed was to face further humiliation . . . if that was even possible.

He was taking advantage of the fact that Merlin was not fully coherent . . . or well, it appeared that way from the fall he had experienced, and the way he slurred his words. Yes! Arthur would use that to his advantage. And so, he raced down the stairs, noticing that his servant was not too far ahead. "HEE HAW!" He said in a voice louder than he intended . . . for it echoed through the passage way. He was not sure what he was trying to say . . . maybe something along the lines of 'You're dead!'.

[YES! I love the Castle Chase! Hahha its hilarious!]

[pie]

He had begun to slide down the railing just in time, it seemed, for as he had begun to slide, Arthur had almost managed to grab him! He sighed with relief, even as he slid down at an accelerating rate. Eventually though, the banister would end, and then he would be back at the same speed as Arthur! To add to this encroaching fear, the speed he was going at with the stairs rushing past his vision did nothing to quell his dizziness.

Arthur was beginning to catch up, and Merlin knew that if he was caught, he was most definitely dead. This believe was only strengthened by the echoing bray that issued forth from the Prince's mouth. Even though he did not speak the language of the donkey, he was positive that it was some kind of threat. Why wouldn't it be? Personally, Merlin didn't think he deserved death, he wasn't being serious when he said those things, after all. But how would Arthur know that? "Never!" he replied with an exclamation.

Clinging to the railing for dear life as he sped down it -- he didn't want to fall off of it to his death or very painful agony -- he began to wonder... just how many more stairs were there until he reached the end? Obviously not many, but still, in his nearly incoherent state, it felt like forever... Or perhaps it was just that fear of his impending doom. Either way, he quickly became aware that his hands felt as if they were burning off! Little did he know that he was giving himself a burn from the friction of his hands pulling down along the railing.

What he was concerned about, though, was that burning. Without even thinking, he removed his hands from the railing and shook them painfully. To remove them, however, he had to sit upwards as he slid, which wasn't the greatest of ideas. Slowly -- but still rather quickly considering the current situation -- he realized what was going to happen next. Almost at that same moment, he slid sideways and off of the railing, swinging his arms at the same time his eyes went wide.

And then he fell off.

Landing on the ground practically face first -- and thankfully it wasn't too far down -- he groaned and began to scramble his way to his feet.

[IT ISSSSSSS! LOL, I would have loved to seen it for real!]

[Arthur Pendragon]

Who knew Arthur would feel such pangs of jealousy towards Merlin for something as simple as being able to speak coherent English. It only made him madder. Insane with anger, raging like a bull! Arthur was not going to show any mercy -- though he was not quite certain what he would do when he finally caught hold of Merlin. Still. He could not wait to find out. Watching him speedily move down the railing, Arthur quickly followed down the steps. And then Merlin fell. And in that same moment, Arthur had caught a break! He took full advantage of Merlin's further impaired position and rushed towards him. He grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled him to his feet, proceeding to push him against the wall.

Arthur's face was filled with anger -- as much anger was could be noticed on a man with the ears and voice of a donkey. Kept a firm hold on Merlin, having shoved him aggressively against the stone wall, not caring about inflicting further pain onto him. Arthur would be living the rest of his life in emotional pain, Merlin could surely deal with this temporary one. When Arthur tried to move his head back a bit, he suddenly realized that his mobility became very limited. He tried to look at what it was but it hurt to turn his head.

So much for having caught a break.

When Arthur had pushed Merlin against the wall, one of Arthur's large donkey ears had gotten caught in the space between the picture and the frame. The very point of his ear was painfully wedged in between the very confined space, and even as Arthur tried to pull it out, moving his head back, it was not working. It only caused him further pain. "HEE HAW!" He wailed, sounding even more like a whining donkey.

[[ Is it sad that I laugh at every post in this thread when I read it cause I always get the best mental images?! ]]

[pie]

Scrambling to his feet didn't help much, it seemed, for just as the groggy man managed to get into a rather awkward half-standing -- it was more of a very low crouch -- position, Arthur caught up to him. His eyes went wide as his head swam, giving him the impression that everything was swimming as he was roughly shoved against the wall! And looking into the eyes of the Prince, that dizziness suddenly didn't seem that important any more -- he was more concerned with the anger that seemed to seethe from him!

The position he was in wasn't too promising for escape! With Arthur's hold on him, it would be nearly impossible! What was he suppose to do?! Perhaps he should apologize-- what was he thinking? Apologize?! Arthur wouldn't listen! Any sanity the man had left had flown the coop at Merlin's earlier words!

But then, just as a rather risky and impossible idea began to formulate in his mind, Arthur's "ear" got caught in the corner of the frame! Perfect! "That's even better than magic!" he exclaimed, not thinking much that that had the possibility to induce more anger than was intended. Using this as his break, Merlin pushed as hard as he could -- particularly given his current position -- against Arthur's chest to attempt to send him flying!

[ Yes, of coooourse it is! *secretly hides the fact that this thread makes her laugh the whole time too!* ]

[Arthur Pendragon]

HA! What the hell did Merlin know about magic anyway?! This was not magic! It was just miserable luck . . . just like it was horrible luck that made Arthur the way he was: a donkey. For the rest of his life! And now he would have to worry about things such as getting his idiotic big ears stuck in a frame. Who would have thought?! His ears were sensitive though, and were hurting as it was pinching the tip of it, threatening to rip out some of the fur that surrounded it. Even thinking such a thing made Arthur's expression twist from a pained one to an extremely irritated one. As if agitation had left him for one moment during this entire day . . . it had not. And Merlin was only contributing to it.

His plan however worked rather successfully for when Merlin shoved him, Arthur's donkey ear as ripped from the frame -- in a rather painful way -- and he fall back, landing on the ground. That did not hurt half as much as his ear being torn from the picture. He sat up, still sitting on the ground but in an upright position. He desperately touched the top of his ear, trying to lower it so that he could see if there was any real damage to it. But it would only bend to a certain extent . . . and Arthur could not see his full ear. AND there was no mirror nearby. So slightly bending his ear forward, almost in such a way to point it at Merlin, he looked at him.

"Hee Haw?" He 'asked' in a rather pitiful voice, changing his expression into a bit of a pout. He wanted Merlin to check if there had been any damage to his ear. Only really, he wanted Merlin to come closer to him so that he could grab him and beat him senseless! Of course he did not know if this plan would work, so he just looked at Merlin pitifully. Besides . . . who trusted someone with the ears and voice of a donkey anyway?! Arthur certainly could not blame Merlin if he didn't.

[[ HAHA WOOO!! then I'm not alone in my amusement! ]]

[pie]

Merlin cringed just slightly as Arthur fell backwards, landing on the ground and tearing his ear from the picture frame. That had to hurt. But oh well, it's what he got for trying to kill him! If he hadn't done that, perhaps he wouldn't have hurt himself! Of course, Merlin wasn't about to admit that Arthur had every reason to be completely angry with him in the first place! He had, after all, practically insulted him. And there seemed to be no end to this chase any time soon! So, leaning against the wall and trying to steady his vision, his back throbbing with the ache from where the Prince had shoved him against the wall, he stared at him as he "haw"ed at him, appearing as if he wanted him to inspect his ear.

Yet did he, was the question. Arthur had to still be angry with him, a simple push and fall wouldn't diminish that anger! He had seen it in his blue eyes! Had seen his death! So what was his plan? Did he plan on betraying him and killing him when he got closer? Yes, that had to be it, it was Arthur, a cunning, devious Prince, donkey ears or no! So what to do, what to do... Run, obviously, but where? To do what? Those were questions that needed vital answering! They were life or death questions that could solve his problem if thought out properly.

But when did he ever think through things properly?

"Ah," he said, drawing in a deep breath dramatically. "I hope that doesn't do any damage to your real ear... If you ever get your real ear back, that is," he added with a pondering expression and a shrug. He glanced to Arthur's right, down the hall where there was more running space yet again. Yet in this state of a chase, the whole castle seemed like a maze! Who knew where what would lead, or what they'd run into. What if they ran into a guard or knight? What if they ran into a crowd full of people or something else? Of course, those two things wouldn't embarass Merlin, but surely they would Arthur! And even in this current situation, his intentions weren't to embarass the Prince in front of everyone. Though if that was the only way. . .

"Sorry, Arthur, no can do! I prefer my limbs attached!" he informed, and then ran to the right, right past Arthur. . .

[ Of course you aren't alone in your amusement! ! ]

[Arthur Pendragon]

IDIOT! FOOL! Yes, Arthur may look like one right now but in his mind, Merlin would always be the bigger idiot. Why did this have to be the first time he decided to be logical?! This was getting to be too much. He ran right past him and him having the lanky long legs that he did, Arthur had just missed him from his grasp. Ridiculous. He glared at him, not about to follow until he properly adjusted himself. Gently rubbing his ear once more, he pulled up the hood on his cloak yet again, making sure it would stay in place. He would have to avoid any more picture frames in the near future. Or anything else that would catch the fur on his ear. Fur. FUR! He should NOT have fur on his ear!

This whole thing was disturbing and Merlin's incessant taunting only made it worse. Which was why he had to eventually catch him and teach him a lesson. Donkey or not, he was still the Prince. The future king of Camelot. Yet . . . how could anyone take their king seriously when he looked like this? What would happen to Camelot if the people found out their leader had the ears and voice of a donkey. What would other kingdoms think?! Oh this was just getting to be too much. These moments of thoughtful pensiveness gave Merlin that head start . . . unfortunately. But soon enough, Arthur snapped back into the present, and continued the chase all over again. He was not too far behind his manservant.

He was not even thinking of the immaturity of these actions. Why would it matter anyway. A person would just have to take one look at him and the judgment would begin! He pulled his hood a bit lower while running, peering out from the bottom, looking rather shady. But once again, he did not care. He would rather look shady than a donkey. And one looked would be permanent so he had to find ways to create the other. Arthur suddenly paused, noticing a decorative statue of a knight, will all the armor in place. It was not the armor Arthur was interested in though, it was the weapon: a mace. Arthur took it from the inanimate object's hold and began to spin the weapon in the air, a smile creeping up on his lips. This was one of his favorite weapons. It was funny, Arthur fought with Merlin using this weapon during their second meeting and now, he would be killing him with it. Well, not literally of course . . . but right now it seemed more and more tempting. Now fully prepared and armed he continued to rush after him, hoping Merlin heard the sound of his impending doom catching up from behind him!

[pie]

When Arthur didn't catch him as he ran past, Merlin assumed that he was in luck. He had successfully passed the Prince without incident, and that meant that for now, he lived. For now. Arthur was the Prince, the future King, and as long as Merlin continued to live in Camelot -- the entire kingdom -- he wasn't sure if he would be safe until Arthur was changed back, or one of them died... and even then... But no, he thought he was safe, and so he couldn't supress a small chuckle as he ran down the hall.

Of course, when this was all over, he would apollogize to Arthur, even though it might not do too much good. He had taunted him, spoken purposely things he knew that Arthur didn't want to hear, and then kept the elixar that would change him back to normal hidden! Alright, so Arthur had every reason to be angry, he would be too in the same position. It wasn't exactly something to be happy about, being the Crowned Prince, future King, having all those responsibilities upon your shoulders and fearing that the woman you loved wouldn't love you anymore... Oh gods, perhaps he went overboard after all. . .

"Um, Arthur, look--" he started, beginning to turn around to try and talk this through with the man... Before he saw that he had a mace!! The last time that Merlin had encountered Arthur, angry Arthur, and a mace, had been during their second-first meeting. Merlin had used magic to try and even the odds, and it had been going good... but then Arthur wound up defeating him anyway. But that was then, and now was now! Merlin was more afraid now than he was then! "Arthuuur!!!!" he shouted in fear. Forget about apollogizing! He was getting the hell out of here!!! Turning around again, running in the opposite direction, Merlin headed for who knows where!

Taking a chance -- actually knowing that Arthur would catch up -- Merlin rounded a corner and pulled on a door's handle. It was locked! Quickly using magic, Merlin had it unlocked in a manner of seconds and went in frantically, closing the door behind him! Locked doors in castles usually had a reason to be locked, though. . .

[Arthur Pendragon]

Merlin's initial reaction had seemed so calm . . . until he saw the mace. HA! Take that Merlin Caradoc! Arthur may look like a donkey but he still had a brain! He still had his skills! Wow. It was a good thing that this donkey state had not been worse . . . shockingly, it could have been. Arthur could have been a full on donkey. Hooves, crawling on all fours, fur all over his body. Good god! Who would have thought that Arthur could find a silver lining to all this. He was rather shocked at himself for considering how things could be worse. Perhaps the thought had hit him as he spun the mace in his hand, imagining that this would have been impossible had he had hooves instead of hands. Still. It in no way minimized his condition. He was still cursed as a donkey. A donkey! A BLOODY DONKEY!

As these angry thoughts continued to flood his mind -- doubting that they would ever leave -- he charged towards Merlin but the idiot had managed to move just before Arthur struck down his weapon. That idiot! Arthur wanted to teach him a lesson but how could he do this when Merlin kept running away?! Yes. Arthur prioritized his own convenience over Merlin's . . . as he often always did. But especially now. The strong blow downwards chipped some of the stone in the ground. Too bad it wasn't Merlin's toe! At least would have impaired him, giving Arthur a better advantage. He would not be dismayed though. He continued to run after Merlin, catching up just in time to see the glimpse of a door closing. Arthur knew the castle extremely well, but was far too distracted to have remembered that that door should have been locked . . . and too distracted to care that he was about to follow Merlin inside. With another swinging of his mace to build up the impact, he slowly walked towards the door, pausing only for a split second, before forcefully pulling the door open, mace ready in hand!

[pie]

He had barely missed being mutilated, which while good, was a rather disturbing thought. The mace had hit just behind him, chipping the ground itself! He had thought that that was impossible, it being stone and all, but Arthur had to have been swinging that thing really hard. Which only frightened Merlin more. The man didn't care at all if he really did kill his servant, did he?! With a little "Eep!" sound, he sped forward quicker, using his fear as his motivation! An angry Arthur made for a very bad Arthur indeed! Which was what enemies of his never seemed to realize. Hopefully, with some great miracle, there was some way to change this around into a pleasant mood... Right, good luck with that one, Merlin, he grumbled to himself. The miracle here would be if he managed to get away with his life with minimum damage and no missing limbs. THAT would be something to be glad about.

As soon as Merlin had got on the other side of the door, he looked around for somewhere to hide. Just in case Arthur did come in, of course. The room seemed to be some sort of storage room from the looks of it. Lots of things piled up on each other, the thick smell of dust, cluttered... Well, it was obvious no one had been in here for a while! With this quick inspection, he found the perfect hiding place! A cabinet or wardrobe or something similar to it! Wasting no time, Merlin went over to it and pulled it open, climbing in without a second thought, and not paying any heed to the things in there. Shutting it, he remained silent as he heard the door yank open right after. He minimized his breathing, sitting as still as he could so that he didn't give away his position.

[Arthur Pendragon]

When Arthur threw open the door, he quickly jumped in side ready to swing at . . . . . nothing, apparently. There was no one inside. But that did not mean that it was empty. Merlin could be hiding here, amongst all of the miscellaneous items the room was filled with. Arthur narrowed his eyes, as he closed the door behind him. If Merlin was in fact in here, then he sure as hell wasn't getting out. Arthur slowly stepped forward, looking around very carefully. His spun the mace but this time in slow, drawn out circles, meaning the impact would not be as heavy or great. Now where was Merlin hiding. There were several cabinets and piles of things he could be crouching behind. So one by one, Arthur would find him.

When he reached on pile of junk -- tall enough to hide a crouched lanky servant -- Arthur poked his head to the side, seeing if he was there. But nothing. He then began to round another corner, and still, nothing. Nothing. Nothing. NOTHING! Arthur was getting very impatient. He knew that he should remain quiet, silently looking for him just in case he heard a sound that would give Merlin away, but he was far too agitated to do so. So instead of just poking his head around every pile, he began to kick it aside, or use his mace to throw it aside. The room was not exactly clean to begin with, but he was only making it messier as everyone began to fall to the floor, some things even broken thanks to his weapon. And yet, he could not find the idiot anywhere! "HEE HAW!" He let out, in complete exasperated frustration. Hmmm. Perhaps now was a good time to start checking the cabinets!