Prologue

Hello, everyone!

I'm back with the sequel to The Reasons Why They Don't Know Me (I must like cumbersome titles...hmm). If you haven't read the aforementioned story, this will make zero sense. Just a warning.

Rated T for violence and language in later chapters.

So, without further ado, here's the prologue.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

He liked animals better than people.

Certainly, he made exceptions. He had a few of human friends. Most of them were very talkative. And he could play along. It wasn't as if he didn't talk to his pets.

Not many people realized how much he disliked humans in general, especially in large groups. Some were tolerable. Many were either too false or too unpredictable or too…just too damn much.

He'd manage, though; for as short a time as possible. Then he could go be with his pets again. To him, they were more than predictable enough, with just a bit of wildness to keep him on his toes.

They were more than just pets, he supposed; he took them hunting, which was part of his livelihood. As mentioned before, he talked to them; often they were his only companions.

It was his pets that kept many people away; most of whom he didn't like. So that worked out fine. Those people were also the ones who thought that he was crazy. They thought he cared for nothing but his small herd of beasts.

He actually liked many animals, just his creatures the best.

He'd grown up with them, watching how they survived, interacted, and communicated. He became an expert on reading their behavior. It was an integral part of taking care of them. But strangely enough, it also assisted him on reading people. Humans were usually just a little more complex.

Frequently, he didn't like what he saw.

Other times, it just hurt to see it.

He looked at the residents of the village nearby and saw unchanging dullness.

He looked at the soldiers and saw grim bloodlust.

He looked at the king and saw someone who bluffed his way through life.

He looked at the king's brother and saw a man trying to forget his pain and failing.

He looked at the crown prince and saw a man trying too hard not to become his father.

He looked at his close friend and saw a man who was terrified of himself.

He looked at his close friend's sister and saw an empty shell.

He had once looked at his distant cousin and seen buried yet never-ending rage.

He had once looked at a young southern ruler and had seen consuming fear.

He had once looked at a group of knights and seen their master's anxiety, tinged with regret.

He had once looked at a young warlock and seen a person near-weighed down by secrets.

Now he looked at the world and saw imbalance everywhere. More than that, he felt the sheer wrongness of it; the sickness in everything.

He was not a seer nor a sorcerer. He was just observant. Perhaps there were fancier words for it used elsewhere. He wouldn't know as he was no scholar; he'd never even learned to read or write properly. The only thing that set him apart was his pets. People thought he was skilled, being able to tame and control them.

They never seemed to realize that listening, observing and understanding was the key to such control. And he didn't just use those skills with animals.

He listened to every piece of news, every rumor that drifted in from the north or south. He watched people's reactions to it. On occasion, he asked a question or two.

Thus, he painstakingly painted a picture in his mind of the world he lived in, though he had personally seen so little of it. From this picture he drew his conclusions.

He looked at the future, and he saw war.

He also saw hope.

Though perhaps the latter was just wishful thinking; in a world where danger lurked in every dark corner, evil continuously found allies, and even those with the noblest hearts had their actions twisted by hate.

Okay, so that's depressing. But it's that way intentionally. I don't think I need to tell you who's point of view it's from...

I'm super excited for this new story! But there's a catch: I have two first chapters mostly written. I'll post both eventually, but I'm asking you this: Who do you want to hear from first? Merlin or Gwaine?

Reviews are adored. Please no flaming.

I'll update as soon as possible!