Courage, Strength and Magic [Gwaine/Arthur]

[consultingwarlock]

Merlin rode out of yet another town, having failed to find that which he was looking for. He'd so far been in every tavern he'd passed since leaving Camelot, hoping that he'd have a stroke of good fortune and his friend would be waiting in one of them. After Gaius' warning that he would need help, Merlin's thoughts instantly turned to the one friend he knew would help no matter the circumstances - Gwaine. However, finding the man was harder than it seemed, with Merlin's only option being to visit every town and village that housed a drinking establishment - knowing his friend's love of ale - in search of him.

A day had already passed, with Merlin admitting defeat the first day when the sky grew so dark it made travelling through the forest impossible. He'd made a small fire that night, watching the light from the flames flicker and dance on the trees surrounding him, thinking about where to head to in the morning. He had heard rumours that a traveller renowned for his ability to get into trouble in every village he passed, was currently in one of the Mercian towns of Angard. With that sounding suspiciously like Gwaine, Merlin had decided to follow that rumour, for lack of a better option.

He just hoped if and when he did find Gwaine, they would not be too late to find Arthur. From what he and Gauis had found out about the phoenix eye, it was an extremely powerful magical artifact; Merlin had been able to sense the thrumming of its magic in the air when coming into close quarters with it before Arthur departed. The description had sounded ominous, that paired with the fact that the bracelet containing the eye came from Morgana, meant that things were not looking good for the Prince.
Merlin wasn't sure how Arthur would react when he turned up with Gwaine, he had been explicitly told by the Prince himself that the quest was to be undertaken by Arthur and Arthur alone, but in a choice between facing Arthur's anger and leaving him to die in the Perilous Lands, Merlin knew absolutely which option he would choose.

As he rode over the brow of a hill, he spotted the cluster of buildings of another town in the well of a deep valley, smoke rising from the houses to the mountains beyond. He lead his horse carefully down the steep incline of the hill, dodging roots and branches of trees that seemed to want to prevent him from reaching his destination. It took him a while, but he finally emerged at the bottom of the valley, pushing his horse into a canter in order to reach the town quickly. Leaving the animal tied to a post next to another horse, he made his way over to the tavern, having heard a disturbance coming from inside. Opening the door, Merlin had to duck out the way as a stray goblet was thrown his way, smashing on the wooden door. Moving further inside, he viewed the chaos in astonishment, wondering what in all of Albion had started a bar fight this large; that was, until he caught sight of a man being thrown down one of the long tables that lined the tavern floor. Grinning, he looked to the man and spoke in amusement, "Hello Gwaine."

Setting: In the Kingdom of Mercia, on the way to the Perilous Lands
Time of Day: Early Afternoon
Timeline: During The Eye of the Phoenix
Tag: Gwaine and Arthur

[thegwaine]

Gwaine was having a pretty average day. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened since he had left Arthur and Merlin and Camelot of course. He knew he was banished from the kingdom, but he hoped one day he would be able to return. He did miss his friend of course. Friends weren’t really something Gwaine had many of, given his nomadic lifestyle. As was the norm, Gwaine had managed to get himself into a bar fight. The man who he had been gambling with had got the absurd idea that Gwaine owed him money. Really, it should have been the other way round, because though Gwaine wasn’t the most intelligent of men, he knew he had won the card game hands down. However, Gwaine was but one man, and the men in the tavern were many in numbers. So someone had shouted out that he was a cheat and a thief, and suddenly everyone was after his money, and probably some of them wanted his head as well. He couldn’t really blame them, it was a rather pretty face.

This was the problem with the Mercians, they were all so bloody hot headed, and if they thought they were being cheated or beaten by a foreigner then they went on their defences. It was rather annoying, as Gwaine should have learnt this already, but of course his habits had got the better of him and he’d let himself be dragged into the game anyway. Gwaine looked at the big, angry Mercian in front of him. Luckily not all Mercian’s were this ugly, at least the women weren’t, so Gwaine did have a reason to keep coming back to the kingdom. He smiled at the thought, but the thought had left him somewhat distracted as his head was now more with the woman he had shared his bed with a few nights ago rather than on the task in hand. The next thing he knew, he had been flung across the table, and by the time he recovered he got the odd sensation that someone was calling his name.

Merlin? Merlin was here? Wasn’t he supposed to be in Camelot running round after Arthur? Too many thoughts were running through the mans head, and he blinked a few times and as soon as he was settled that he wasn’t seeing things, he grinned at his friend, “Merlin!” Quick enough he had thought to scramble off the table, pondering between asking his friend what he was doing here, or facing the men who currently thought he was cheating them. “How are you?” He asked, as he launched himself off the table. Perhaps he should have been more worried about the fact the men behind him were still incredibly annoyed, but that was a given. Gwaine could never please everyone.

“Give me my money.” The large, bullish man in front of the pair finally spoke, and Gwaine got the odd sensation that his question to Merlin was probably going to be unanswered for the time being. He cast his friend a look which just said run, and nudged him in the direction of the door.

[consultingwarlock]

Merlin didn't need any more prompting. The man that was currently glaring daggers at the both of them looked angry enough to do some serious damage should he catch up with them. Not bothering to ask how his friend had got into this mess, Merlin followed Gwaine's unspoken lead, and leapt for the door, wrenching in open and running out to the town beyond. Turning right outside the tavern's entrance, he dashed towards the town square where he knew a market was currently set up, having seen it on his way in. Maybe they could lose their pursuers in there.

Leaping through the archway leading into the square, he narrowly missed crashing into a villager coming the other way laden with cups. Too busy looking to see whether the men were following them, he didn't notice the wagon filled with bags from the harvest until it was nearly too late. Putting a hand out to stop himself running into it, he changed course, heading directly for the market stalls. Dodging around a candlewick maker's stall, he bolted past surprised onlookers and finally came to a stop behind a trader's cart stacked high with loaves of bread and cheese. Seconds later, Gwaine joined him, both of them gasping for breath.

Merlin peered over the top of a large wheel of cheese, judging from the smell, waiting to see whether the burly men knew in which direction they'd taken. Seconds after he looked up, he saw the ringleader step through the archway they had run through minutes before, viciously pushing the same villager he had nearly bumped into out of the way. "Gwaine..." he warned, preparing to move again at a moment's notice. As his friend looked to see what was drawing his attention, the men spotted their hiding place and started speeding towards them. "...run!"

[thegwaine]

Bursting out of the tavern just after Merlin, Gwaine quickly found the strength to run. Luckily he hadn’t been drinking too much today, or else this would have been an interesting burst of energy. Then again, Gwaine had become seasoned to running with a belly full of ale. Accidently pushing an old man over, Gwaine spun around, shouting, “Sorry!” As he tried to regain his footing again, following Merlin’s lead through the marketplace. However, Gwaine had been too busy watching the back of Merlin’s head, and concentrating on where he was going that he didn’t notice a full wagon in front of them. Merlin regained his footing, but Gwaine took a little longer to pull himself back up to his feet. Perhaps he should stop drinking in the day.

By the time Gwaine had got back up to his feet though, he wasn’t completely stable. Worried he might lose Merlin as he fled through the marketplace, Gwaine looked up quickly, and followed his friend whilst still trying to get his balance back. In the process of getting back to his feet, however, Gwaine grabbed onto a vegetable stand, and subsequently sent it crashing to the ground; cabbage and leaves flying everywhere. Gwaine didn’t have time to shout another word of sorry to the owner of that stall as he was still running after Merlin, and more importantly, away from the thugs in the tavern. Even as Gwaine continued to run through the marketplace, he couldn’t get his balance back, he could feel himself going off balance, but Merlin had dove behind a stall, so Gwaine followed suit. And then it didn’t matter that he couldn’t keep his balance just yet.

Leaning back on the stall, Gwaine ran a hand through his hair, sighing dramatically, he really, really needed to stop drinking this early in the day. Merlin brought him back into reality though, and as his name was called he looked back and saw the thugs running out of the tavern. Oh Great. Gwaine didn’t have to think twice about Merlin’s words, and quickly they were running into the city walls, and up onto the ramparts. They paused as the finally got out into the fresh air again, and as they grabbed onto the wooden structure, Gwaine turned to his friend and finally thought to say, “Remind me, again, what are you doing here?” He asked inbetween pants.