A Wild Goose Chase [Brynn]

[em]

The fact that Gauis had sent him off to search for some kind of root for something to do with stomach contents didn’t really put Merlin in a good mood. He’d spent all afternoon trying to find this root thing – which he was sure didn’t exist and Gauis had probably sent him off to just get him out from ‘under his feet’.
After becoming bored of wild mushrooms and pond weed, Merlin decided to head home – had he known he’d be made to trawl the hillsides for partially dead plants then he would’ve stayed back at the castle and washed Arthur’s socks, and boy did those socks need a good wash!

Merlin wandered for a while – taking full advantage of the nice weather, the only time he managed to get outside was either when he was polishing armour outside whilst Arthur and the other Knights were throwing each other to the ground (ouch), or when he was looking for – oh yes – roots and herbs for Gauis. Especially now, he was run off of his feet - helping Gauis, helping Arthur, helping himself and Camelot. At least his days flew by without any fuss and Merlin was grateful that Camelot was still standing.

He could see up ahead a silhouette of someone – why would anyone be out here alone? Unless Gauis had sent them looking for herbs also. As he ventured nearer he soon recognised who it was.
“Brynn!” he called and quickened his pace towards her. Of course it was brynn, and of course wherever Brynn was – her geese would follow. Oh dear.

Tagged: Brynn Reade
Setting: Countryside’s – mid afternoon
Timeline: After S3
Notes: ergh – not the best but I can change some bits if you want!

[Brynn Reade]

It was a truly nice day, quaint and beautiful, not too warm, but also not yet too chilly to get out without being heavily bundled up. A nice breeze was flowing down the slight hills on which Camelot was erected down the meadows were Brynn was roaming right now. The wind played with stands of her hair that had escaped her white cap and like always it made her smile. Something seemed to whisper to her in the breeze, murmuring meaningless sounds of contentment. “You’re also glad things have gone back to normal, yes?” she spoke softly, cocking her head. “Now you can finally blow again over peaceful lands. Or do you care about our human affairs at all?” Like in answer the wind picked up, swishing through the high halms and taking a few flying seeds with him he let them dance around in the air for a little while. Maybe that was his way to show he rejoiced? Brynn could never be so sure, but she found the simple spectacle just beautiful, watching it for an idle while, but then chiding: “Now stop it… someone could pass by and see…”

Even though with Arthur now practically ruling Camelot, magic still was outlawed. It was no surprise after what cruel magic had been used time after time to overthrow Camelot, but Brynn still had to be careful. Her connection with the wind – if it even was to be called magic – was nothing she could control, she had only used it on purpose once, and had regretted it afterwards. To her, the wind was more like a friend who she could talk to and who answered in his own special way.
Like to undermine her cautious rebuke, Brynn suddenly saw a figure coming towards her, walking in a springy pace. Putting a hand over her eyes she squinted to see who it might be, maybe Alex was getting away from the kitchen earlier? But no… this someone was not coming from Camelot, rather from the forest and meadows even farther away… and somehow she recognized this way of walking…

Merlin! A smile broke out on Brynn’s face as she recognized Arthur’s young manservant. He probably had been out and about looking to fetch some herb for Gaius. And when he came back he probably had to do the odd chore for Arthur. Poor one, really, never quite getting a break. She just raised her hand to call out, when suddenly her geese spotted the ‘intruder’ as well. Martin, her gander who was never fond of any male being entering his territory, broke away from the flock gabbling loudly and stormed towards poor Merlin. Bluedown, a troubleshooter par excellence followed suit, hissing like a snake.
Grabbing her whip, Brynn broke out into a wild run after them, gathering her skirts up to not trip with the other hand. “Martin, Bluedown, get here at once!” she yelled in her most demanding voice. “Stay away from Merlin, come back here NOW!”

[em]

As expected – Merlin was never fond of Brynn’s geese anyway – the creatures were suddenly marching towards him at an even quicker pace than he thought. Brynn seemed to be shouting at them but by now one in particular (he was sure he’ heard her call for ‘martin’, a funny name for an animal – or beast in his eyes) was now heading towards him making quite racket and looking to have Merlin’s legs for dinner.

Of course Merlin ran, trying to take a different direction from where Mad Martin was coming from, but leading the angry goose back to Brynn. How on earth was this animal so fast?! He was practically nipping at Merlin’s legs. And it hurt!
“OW! OW!” he yelped as the goose continued its nipping spree at his legs. “BRYNN!” he called, “ow! Can you at least OW!!!!” Merlin soon found that Martin also had backup in the form of another of his goosey friends.

Ok – he was never going to go near a goose again, especially if it was with Brynn. If Arthur was to see him now then he’d tell Merlin to stop being such an idiot and the geese would leave him alone, then again Merlin was thinking that perhaps if he offered Arthur to Martin in exchange for keeping his feet intact, then the King wouldn’t find it as funny.

Merlin headed in Brynn’s direction again, hoping that the geese would soon go to her instead of him. He wasn’t dinner! And he was sure that he wouldn’t taste good either. According to Martin he must’ve, because the animal wouldn’t leave him alone. “Can you at least help me here??!” he pleaded as he saw Brynn watching.
He was met with another nip from Martin. “OW!”

[Brynn Reade]

Half flying, half running, Martin was of course far faster than Brynn who had only her two legs and was short of a good headstart. This was so not going to end well. At least Brynn was able to intercept Bluedown, making her retreat with a slash of her whip that sent her away cackling angrily. Brynn didn’t like to use the whip but this was truly an emergency, as normally the geese responded to her voice only. This time however, Martin seemed to angry, and he was getting to Merlin now, his beak slashing at the poor boys trousers, nipping at his calves and anywhere he could reach him. An angry gander could do serious damage, his beak was strong and if you were unlucky to get your fingers in his beak, he could easily break them. Which was why Brynn needed to do something, and fast!

‘I know it’s dangerous, but help me out now!’ Brynn thought in her head. ‘Make me faster, hinder Martin, anything really!’ Aloud she shouted: “Trying hard here Merlin, just you hold on a little longer!” At least Merlin was running in her direction now which made her task a little easier. She doubled her efforts and ran at some kind of angle to intercept Martin from the side. And really, this time running was going considerably easier, as she felt herself being pushed forward by a slight breeze which at the same time seemed to ruffle Martin’s feathers which confused him at least to some extend, enough for Brynn to gain ground on him.

When he was in touching range of her whip, she let it swish through the air and slapped one of his spread out wings. “Enough now, Martin!” she demanded fiercely and tried to get between him and Merlin. Surely the gander wouldn’t dare to take a bite out of HER? He had never done that even in his wildest times! And really, Martin might be still hissing and flappin his wings, but he calmed down a little. “You should be ashamed of yourself, really!” she chided the animal as if it was a little child. “Merlin’s my friend, so how dare you attack him! It was hard enough to teach you to tolerate Alex around here, but that doesn’t mean you can go wild with any other male around!”
Then she turned to Merlin with a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry, truly… that’s not how you should be greeted when visiting me.”

[em]

Had Brynn known of his magic, Merlin would’ve gladly turned Martin into dinner – but as circumstances went, he was in no position to do so. Thankfully with Brynn’s help – Martin backed off and with a hiss of annoyance, went back to join his followers who all looked incredibly shifty to Merlin.

Merlin gathered up his basket of Gauis’s disgusting ingredients’, being careful to watch Martin in case he took a snap at him again, and stood up, meeting Brynn’s eye. “That’s ok” He scratched the back of his neck and readjusted his scarf, which had swivelled round in all the commotion, “everyone is out to get me anyway, so the fact that your geese hate me too is no surprise” he grinned.
Had Morgana had a large army of killer geese then she would’ve unleashed them on him at first sight – unfortunately Merlin had decided that killer geese were probably more of a scare to him than an actual army of people. They would eat him alive whereas people (soulless or not) would probably wound him with a sword. He’d already weighed up the options in his mind and had decided that he shouldn’t mention geese around his enemies, and he was quite sure that he would face Morgana at some point again.

“So… how are things – I haven’t seen you around for a while” he asked casually and placed the basket so that it hung from the crook of his arm and trying to regain some breath.

[Brynn Reade]

Now that this rather troublesome episode was over, Brynn took a little time to catch her breath and wiped her forehead with a little sigh. Really, people not knowing anything about geese would think her job easy when in fact it was anything but. Geese weren’t called feathered guard dogs for nothing, they could be very fierce on any kind of intruder, whether it was wished or not. But for now Martin had stepped down from his vendetta against menfolk and joined the other geese who greeted him with excited cackling. Brynn had no doubt they were all commenting on it now in their own special way. Some would laud him and some would scold him for what he had done.
The good thing about it was that Merlin had gotten away halfway unscathed and seemed not too angry. Brynn wouldn’t blame him otherwise,really. But that was Merlin, always sweet and forgiving.

”Everyone’s out to get you?” she repeated, a little incredulous. “Do you mean Arthur and Gaius? Then again… you had your fair share of adventure already, didn’t you?” Brynn didn’t know much about the things that had come to pass, as many of them had taken place outside Camelot and Merlin also had never been one to boast, but a few things even she had heard. A few things she had even been part of herself…
Then he asked her how she was, and Brynn took a moment to ponder over that. She had always been a pensive girl, not speaking too hastily most of the time, and this question was not easily answered with a simple ‘fine’. There had been reasons why she had not been seen too much in the castle lately.

Brynn’s peaceful life had been shaken to its foundations by Lady Morgana taking up her ruthless but gladly short reign. She had nearly lost her own life in it, and also her father. The halls and especially the courtyard – once filled with lovely memores – had become a painful window to a few horrible events for Brynn she probably never would be fully able to forget.
”I have been good”, she replied then, smiling just the tiniest bit. ”Ever since my father recovered from his wounds things are looking up.” Subconsciously her hand wandered up to her left shoulder where the crossbow bolt that had been shot at her in that horrifying scene in the courtyard. It had healed well and she could now use the arm without difficulty, it just itched from time to time. “And I mostly have been out here, like always”, she teased. “What a goosemaiden should do, you know. Also, with Alex being so busy lately, I had not much reason to stick around inside the walls.” Not to mention that her claustrophia made her wish to stay out in the open anyway.

[em]

“Err…yeah” yes, he’d go with that answer about Arthur and Gauis. “Well I wouldn’t say it was an adventure” he fiddled with his scarf uncomfortably, “more of a duty than anything”. The whole showdown of taking back Camelot had been just that – everyone had gone that extra mile to ensure that it was won back to the right person.

He couldn’t help but notice how Brynn’s hand travelled up to her shoulder. She was reliving painful memories of that time, obviously. Merlin frowned slightly, “but have you recovered?” he asked. Being out here alone may have helped Brynn in some respect but sometimes it was always best to open up about the things troubling you. Merlin did that all the time. To Gaius, Gwen, the dragon – and on a few occasions, Arthur.
He smiled when she mentioned Alex – hopefully his presence was helping Brynn. Merlin had seen the servant a couple of times, but everyone was so rushed off of their feet that there was no time to stop and have a chat.
“How is Alex? I've barely seen anyone since…” he trailed off, “…yeah…”

Merlin looked to Brynn. It was strange seeing how everything that had happened had changed everyone’s lives. “you do know you can always talk to me don’t you? Besides…Arthur bores me enough so it’s nice to have someone to complain to. Gauis doesn’t even listen anymore” He smirked.

[Brynn Reade]

Brynn let go an incredulous little chuckle and shook her head at Merlin. “Now come on, Merlin, you can’t mean that! You always ride off together with Arthur when he sets out to defeat a threat to Camelot. And you can’t tell me you’ve always stood by and done absolutely nothing. I’m sure you have your own tally of achievements. Or are we not talking about the same thing anymore?” she finished, suddenly unsure.
That was the down side of always overthinking everything: you just got too confused too fast. Merlin would surely tell her if they were talking at cross-purposes right? So she needn’t worry about that now, she needn’t worry at ALL in fact. This was Merlin, he was a friend, and if there was a confusion they would both sort it out and forget it.

His concern moved her, and she shot him a small smile, trying her best to make it all work, the charade she was going to play. She had convinced herself so much it was true, she sometimes even forgot she was playing a charade. Only the nights knew the truth, the nights when she woke up gasping or screaming, reliving that dreadful moment over and over again, or worse, watching someone she loved being hit in her place. Dreams were awful like that, they could twist the reality, or add to it. Sometimes it was Alex she saw dying, sometimes it was her sister or brother. But the worst nightmare was when she dreamt she had given in to the urge she had felt on the night of the attack of the immortal soldiers. She had wanted to blow them all away, demanding the wind to come down on them like a fury. In her dream she was walking the dark courtyard littered with shattered corpses, and suddenly stumbled over the body of her own father whom she had killed with her ability…

Enough of that!! Brynn angrily squared her shoulders and forced her mind back on reality and present. It would do no good to relive a scene that had never truly happened now!
She gave a little awkward laugh. “Oh you know you can always come to me and complain, Merlin, never hesitate. You know I am a good listener.” Indicating to the grassy ground, she added: “Shall we sit? I’m sure the geese will keep away for now.”
Once safely seated, she came back to his original question, and somehow the truth slipped out where she had wanted to mask it. “My body has healed well, thanks to Alex and of course Gaius. Send him my best wishes and regards, by the way. My mind… will follow suit I am sure. It just takes a little longer. And Alex is fine, just buried under endless work in the kitchens.”

[em]

No matter how much Brynn was right – Merlin knew he had to keep his head about this. “I pretty much just pass him his sword and clean his socks” Merlin shrugged, “even on our ‘adventures’” he gave a small chuckle, “the only achievement I have is getting the armour so shiny that Arthur can see his face in it – no, there’s pretty much nothing I’ve done that can be considered that” he told her. Apart from saving Arthur’s butt from everything that was thrown at him.

Merlin sat down on Brynn’s suggestion. He was pleased to see that she was getting back to her life after everything that had gone on. “Ah, I suppose I can’t complain really – Arthur’s a good king, and I didn’t think that I’d ever say this but, he’s a good friend too – even if he doesn’t listen to me when he should”. He shot a knowing look towards Brynn and grinned.
“I’m glad Alex is well – everyone’s been working so hard, I haven’t seen Gauis as much as I usually do and that’s saying something!”

Merlin shifted slightly to get more comfortable and looked out over the fields. “Everything’s changing Brynn – for the better. “He smiled to himself then noticed out of the corner of his eye, mad martin sticking his beak into the basket. “Hey!” he took the basket away and pulled out what Martin was hunting for, throwing it so that the goose could waddle away and eat it in peace.

[Brynn Reade]

Brynn smiled with a shrug that clearly said ‘If you think so’ and let the matter be for now. She didn’t know what it was, but something made her think Merlin was talking his own achievements down. She woulnd’t pry any longer though if he was in no mood for a little boasting. That made him just all the more loveable. Brynn knew many servants around Camelot who would give their left arm for riding out into adventure with the king and they all would come back telling outrageous stories what they had done and faced. Not so Merlin.
”Well and what would the poor damsels in distress say if they happened not upon him as a knight in shining armor but rather a rusty one?” Brynn joked, winking at Merlin. “You see, you’re the most important man on the scene keeping his precious image in shape!”

She chuckled when Merlin gave that perfect sum up of Arthur. Out of all people still living, Merlin really seemed to know Arthur best. Brynn had watched their friendship develop from afar over the years, from Merlin always jogging a step behind Arthur, trying to keep pace with his innumerous chores and demands, to them almost walking side by side, sharing witty banters when they thought no one was looking. And Merlin’s words made her think back on her own encounters with the former prince, and especially on that one day when he had saved her life and they had shared a few rather intense moments trying to hide from the Knights of Medhir…
”Arthur truly never listens to anyone”, she agreed with a slight smile. “You two are very similar on that subject you know?” She was just teasing him of course, but there may just be the tiniest bit truth to her words as well.

Was it really all changing for the better? Well, the last few months had not been her most favourite and had brought Camelot almost to its knees, so any improvement could be seen as a change for the better. What she dared not say though was that if things really should improve for Camelot though, she would wish that somehow one day, magic could return into this kingdom. Maybe not worshipped but at least tolerated. But that might be too much to wish for, even for a new era.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a movement, and expecting another attack by Martin, her head darted around, but she leaned back, chuckling, when he only seemed interested in food.
”Deep down in his gander heart, he likes you”, she promised Merlin with a grin. “He might just not know it yet. But won’t Gaius be angry if what you collected for him gets eaten? Not that I get you in trouble there… or rather Martin.” Suddenly she burst out int a giggle, covering her mouth quickly. “I’m sorry, I just had this mental image of Gaius asking for it and you being like: “… erm yes… a gander ate it… name is Martin…””

[em]

Merlin had to laugh, without him then yes –Arthur wouldn’t be looking as good as he was – but then again he couldn’t take all the credit. “I suppose, but I’m only taking some of the credit. His image isn’t that important to him, no matter how bad I make it out to sound”.

Him and Arthur? Similar? Merlin frowned. Yes they clashed on some subjects but he wouldn’t say that they were…ok yes, maybe they were both stubborn and sometimes didn’t listen to one another, but it was on their own instincts. “Well we have one thing in common then” he smirked at Brynn. Obviously she’d been observing the pair for quite a while now. “Arthur does as he pleases, I just…well I just throw in some ideas now and then.” Yes. A lot of ideas.

Lost in his thoughts of just how far he’d managed to get Arthur, he was pushed out of them by the Martin once again looking for dinner. At least it wasn’t his ankles; otherwise the goose would’ve been served to Arthur that evening. He laughed at Brynn’s little image in her head. There had been many awkward times with Gauis and animals that he didn’t wish t delve in. The vicious dog which he’d locked in his room when trying to help expose Knight Valiant, the leech tank…Merlin could go on but chose not to.

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, besides – there’s plenty more that I can collect when I go back to the castle” he told her, before throwing another mushroom towards Martin. By now the rest of Brynn’s geese were all eager to try some and had taken to fighting over it. “Gauis probably won’t miss a couple of mushrooms anyway; he’s far too busy setting his bench on fire.”

[Brynn Reade]

Brynn nodded with a slight smile. Oh yes Arthur had quite changed through the last few years. Before Merlin had come to Camelot, Arthur had been quite the arrogant crown prince, sometimes picking on others just because he could. Only recently he had begun to show the qualities of a good king. They had surely been there all the time, just maybe buried under some youthful airs. Who could blame him after all? Arthur was the best fighter in the realm, and maybe because his skills had not been so much tested aside from the training ground, he had been a little arrogant about them. Now he had been off to so many quests, had seen the world and its perils, and it had brought out the good man in him he was today. And maybe having kind and cheery Merlin around with his heart of gold, had been a factor as well.

”I know that”, she mused. “He’s certainly not below helping anyone who needs his help, no matter if there’s something in it for him or not.” Her own story was the best example or not. He had had absolutely no time to waste, with the curse reaching out for him and having to find a secure place to hide his father, yet he had not hestitated a second to get her – and her whole family to boot – to safety!
”Throw in some ideas?” Now that was truly an interesting aspect! It made Brynn wonder how much Arthur really listened to Merlin’s advices. He would surely be better off if he did. “Has Arthur ever not listened to you and regretted it afterwards?” she asked curiously.

She had been too busy watching her fosterlings fighting for mushrooms with a fond gleaming in her eyes, so the last words of Merlin nearly escaped her. Her head jerked around to him with a surprised laugh, and she cocked her head, slightly bewildered.
”Gaius once set his bench on fire?! Goodness, that could have been truly dangerous! But to imagine his face…” now Brynn couldn’t help but giggle like a girl, the mental image she had was just too priceless. “I’m sure working for him isn’t just dull. He’s such a kind man!”