Author's Note: The inspiration for this just hit me and I was like, hey, might as well. So here you go! Slave!Merlin and Pirate!Arthur. Please read and review and enjoy!

Merlin couldn't remember the last time he had been on a boat. He knew he'd been to sea before, he just couldn't remember much of it. This time, Lord Hawkthorne had decided that he was going to take a small portion of the family and staff on a vacation to some far off islands. It would last almost a year.

Merlin, for his part, was just happy to be out in the open air. Despite the fact that he worked most of the time and was so clumsy that people would hover over him as if afraid he would trip overboard (that's not saying he wouldn't; he just didn't appreciate the hovering), he still enjoyed it.

When his masters required that he wear chains, he often had to stay indoors constantly. He liked the indoors, he really did. It's just that there was only so much you could take. He had been Lord Hawkthorne's slave for almost a year now and this was the first time he was really let outside.

So he drifted around the boat, making friends among the sailors and helping out wherever he could. He would sleep on the deck at night, much to the amusement of the sailors. He just wanted to look at the stars for as long as possible. Merlin never knew if a night among the stars would be his last.

When the sailors would hear him say things like that, they would grow uncomfortable and shift around slightly, silent, until Merlin changed the topic. That was alright for him. It's all he ever remembered. People were never comfortable with topics of bad things because they didn't want it to affect their sunny little world.

"Merlin!" The Captain of the ship called down to him as he headed back to his quarters after his dog watch at the helm. Merlin lifted his head slightly and waved, his chains jingling. Merlin taught the Captain about some of the books he had read and the Captain taught him some more about sailing. It was something they had agreed to do behind the Lord's back because they enjoyed each other's company and they both wanted to learn.

They had just finished and the Captain was about to retire to bed when the person in the crow's nest called down, "Ship ahoy! It's flying pirate colors, sir!"

Merlin didn't know what happened for the next few hours. He was ushered down into his master's chambers to wait out the battle. He could hear cannons firing, people screaming, and the Captain shouting orders.

Three hours later, two men waltzed into the room as if they owned it, which, maybe they did. One of them looked like he could rival a mountain in size, with huge biceps, short blond hair, and blue eyes. He was wearing a fine tunic and trousers with gleaming chainmail (minus the arms) over it all. He carried a sword in his hand.

The other had long, scruffy brown hair and brown eyes. His eyes lit up in an easy smile and he was wearing much the same as the other man, but his chainmail had sleeves. Behind him walked in their leader. He had golden blond hair and bright blue eyes. His chainmail gleamed more than the others' and his sword was strapped firmly to his waist. All of his clothes were woven fit for a king.

Lord Hawkthorne stood up straighter and Merlin assumed he knew who these people were. He found out he was correct when Hawkthorne said, "So, it's the dread pirate king Arthur Pendragon." He gave a mocking half bow, "To what do I owe the pleasure, my lord."

Merlin didn't know much of anything, but he did know that you probably were not supposed to mock a pirate. He was right again.

Percival stepped forward, grabbing the Lord by his arms and pushing him to his knees. The Lady Hawkthorne fell to her knees in silence, pulling her children in to do the same. Merlin watched from the shadows as Arthur slowly circled the man, dragging his sword across the carpet as he went.

He stopped by the Lord's children and wife and asked, "Are these yours?" Hawkthorne just glared and Arthur sighed in feigned sadness, "Well, that's a pity. If they were, we might have spared them, in respect to you, but if they aren't and they have no further use." He raised his sword above Hawkthorne's youngest and prepared to bring it down.

Merlin moved forward to help the child, but Hawkthorne beat him to it, answering quickly, "I'm sorry, they are mine. They're mine!"

Arthur smiled a shark smile and nodded his head to the long haired pirate. Merlin's eyes followed that one until Arthur spoke again, "You will answer me and answer me truthfully the first time I ask a question. I will not repeat myself. Is that understood?" Hawkthorne nodded dutifully when one of Merlin's chains was yanked unceremoniously and his foot was pulled from beneath him.

He gave a startled yelp and rolled over in time to see the long haired man pointing a sword at his throat. He swallowed uncomfortably and heard Arthur ask his master, "What is a chained man doing here? Why is he chained and why was he hiding?"

Hawkthorne squared his jaw and answered, "He is here because it is required of him. He is chained so he cannot escape and he wasn't hiding. You just couldn't see him." The Lord smirked at Arthur until the pirate king nodded to the pirate above Merlin.

With an apologetic look in his eyes, the pirate flipped his sword around and smashed the hilt of it into Merlin's stomach. The air fled from him in a gasp and his hands clenched, but he gave no other reaction.

Hawkthorne struggled to stand, but the big pirate kept him in place. Hawkthorne spoke, "Please, don't hurt him. I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that I wasn't answering your questions to the level you wished." Merlin knew that Hawkthorne was a kind master – he had proved it many times -, but this was beyond anything any master would do. Merlin stared, wide-eyed, as his master continued, "The boy's been hurt enough as it is. He is a slave. My slave. I bought him just under a year ago. I don't discipline my slaves that harshly and it's been a year since he's been beaten. Please don't hurt him."

Merlin could see the surprise coloring Arthur's eyes as he looked Merlin over again, but Merlin studiously ignored it, choosing to stay on the ground where the brown haired knight was less likely to accidently stab through his neck.

Arthur said, "Gwaine, help him up. Percival and I can handle these ones. Put him in the brig of our ship." Gwaine nodded at his king and pulled Merlin into a standing position. Before Merlin was even properly standing, Gwaine started pulling him towards the door. Both of them flew backwards when Merlin was pulled farther than where his chains could go.

He smiled sheepishly at Gwaine, his ears tinged pink. Gwaine just sighed, shook his head, and started hunting for a key. Hawkthorne, without anyone asking him to do so, pulled the key from around his neck, handing it to Arthur.

Arthur took them without comment, his eyes locked on Merlin. It was only then that Merlin realized that Arthur had never stopped looking at him. That was a tad bit disconcerting to say the least. It was also very weird. And starting to get awkward fast.

That's when Merlin realized that the pirates meant to take him. That meant that Arthur, being the king, was likely to be Merlin's new master. That also meant that he was staring his potential new master straight in the face like he was never supposed to do with anyone ever. He lowered his head and stared resolutely at the ground.

He saw Arthur's boots come into his field of vision and cringed back just the tiniest bit. Arthur spoke, "Why didn't you tell Gwaine that the chains were still attached to the wall?"

Merlin wasn't allowed to speak without permission from his master, so he kept quiet. Hawkthorne started to talk, "He-,"

He was cut off by Arthur who snarled, "I asked him, not you! He will answer!"

"He can't!" Hawkthorne exploded.

Arthur rounded on him, stomping away and circling the Lord, "What do you mean? Is his tongue cut out? Is he mute? What?"

Hawkthorne smiled at some private joke going on in his head and said, "Neither, he is not allowed to speak to a person unless I give him clear instructions saying he is allowed to. That is why he didn't tell your thug that the chain was attached to the wall." Merlin could feel Gwaine bristle at being called a thug, but a look from his king calmed the man down.

"Well then," Arthur began in a sickly sweet voice, "You are going to give him permission to speak to all of the pirates. Is that understood?" Hawkthorne squared his jaw and nodded resolutely.

Gwaine started walking towards Merlin with the intent of unlocking the chain attached from the wall. The moment he got near, however, Merlin cringed backwards and his breathing increased to the point where he was nearly hyperventilating.

Gwaine shared a look with Arthur, but before either of them could say anything, Hawkthorne found it within him to push Percival off of him and run to the slave's side. Merlin continued to gasp for breath, staring wide-eyed at the key in Gwaine's hand.

The Lord gently placed his hand on Merlin's shoulder, asking quietly, "Merlin, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Merlin shook his head frantically before visibly taking several deep breathes and answering, "The chain around my neck is enchanted so that if someone who is not the master or given instructions by the master tries to unlock them, they burn. It hurts worse than most anything and I didn't want to feel the pain master."

Merlin watched as the pirate king's face closed and his eyes hardened. "Sorcery." He growled. Merlin saw his master pale, but he didn't know why. What made this man hate sorcery so much?

Hawkthorne quickly muttered that Gwaine was allowed to remove the chains and Gwaine promptly did so. Merlin noted when his face creased with confusion and a frown marred his features. He figured that Gwaine had gotten to his neck cuff and realized that there wasn't a hole on that one. Once it was on, it was on forever. Any and all attempts to remove it would cause unimaginable pain and agony.

Gwaine called out to Arthur, "Hey Queenie, there's no key hole on his neck cuff!"

Arthur closed his eyes and looked genuinely annoyed at having his threats interrupted, but his look of annoyance quickly changed to anger. He demanded, "Why is there no key slot? How do you get it off?"

Hawkthorne licked his lips nervously and grasped his wife's hand. He answered shakily, "I don't honestly know. When I bought him-," Percival growled when he said this and he glanced up at the mountain of a man, terrified. He continued, "When I bought him, he already had the neck one on. They said it keeps him in check and makes sure he won't run away." There was a brief moment of silence and then the Lord added offhandedly, "I got him for a good price because he was considered so flighty. Evidently he attempted more escapes than the rest of the man's slaves combined."

Gwaine grit his teeth and looked like he was about to throttle the Lord, but another look from his king sent him sulking away with Merlin in tow.

Merlin, for his part, was confused. Why was everyone getting so worked up about his chains or his being bought and sold? Isn't that what a slave was? He allowed himself the brief moment of hope when he thought that maybe where they came from there weren't slaves, but he quashed that thought immediately. No use in being happy when it can't last.

With that thought, he was dragged out of his former master's ship and onto the pirate ship and, essentially, his new home.