Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Merlin characters.

Summary: When Arthur gets taken and loses his memory, Merlin must see to it that the young Prince gets it back. But why was his memory erased? Who took Arthur in the first place? Will Arthur remember who he is? (Not Slash!)

AN: (Any and all mistakes are completely my own.)

Read & Review, please.

Nothing's Lost or Forgotten

Chapter 1

There was nothing as nice as a walk through the forest during the early morning. There was no one around for miles and even the streets of Camelot had hardly been swarming with people when Merlin and Arthur had been walking through them. Then again, the sun hadn't even peaked over the horizon yet. Perhaps this was a little too early in the morning.

Merlin groaned as he nearly tripped over a low hanging branch, but he was able to steady himself by grabbing hold of the tree standing besides him. He smiled as he felt lucky not to have fallen down. It had rained heavily last night and the ground was nothing more than dirt and mud. Looking up, still feeling good about not having tripped over the branch, he caught an angry glance of Arthur.

"You're scaring away the animals," Arthur said through his teeth.

Merlin quickly wiped the smirk from his face, nodding as he had understood the message. He still couldn't believe that Arthur actually enjoyed this. Hunting animals, killing them for fun seemed...wrong. Of course, nothing that Merlin would say could change anything. Arthur would only be more compelled to do it, as if he needed to prove that he never listened to his servant.

Merlin walked on in silence, following Arthur a few feet behind. The sun was hanging low over the horizon, casting everything in an orange glow. It almost had something magical. Even the green leaves had now a color that seemed unnatural green and red. All that Merlin could do do, was enjoy the view.

Arthur quickly raised his hand, crouching down as he had seen or heard something. Merlin could only follow his example, crouching down as well, his knees sinking into the mud. He cursed under his breath. Arthur might be wearing clothes that were adjusted to a hunt, but Merlin only owned so many clothes and none of them was actually suitable for an early morning walk through the forest.

"What is it?" Merlin asked, his voice low.

Arthur turned his head slightly, still gazing in front of him. "I heard something."

"An animal?" Merlin took a step closer towards the Prince.

"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur warned his servant, "it's nearby."

For some reason, that didn't sound good. Merlin looked around, trying to spot anything that was moving, but there was nothing, only the wind that made the leaves rattle against each other.

"Are you sure-" Merlin would have finished his sentence if he hadn't caught the slight movement in the corner of his eyes. He didn't know much about hunting animals, and he didn't want to know, but he knew that this was different. It wasn't an animal that was watching them.

"Arthur," Merlin said, still looking at the spot where he had seen the movement.

"I know," Arthur whispered, looking at the same direction. Slowly, he reached for the hilt of his sword, his fingers embracing it.

Of course, Merlin didn't have a sword or anything else to protect himself with. He had his magic, but he couldn't use it with Arthur this nearby. Looking around for anything that might be useful in a fight, Merlin found a rather thick looking branch. Picking it up, he told himself not to let go of it in any case.

Movement again, this time to their left. Merlin turned his head around, seeing a dark figure standing behind a tree. Something shone brightly in the early sunlight and Merlin squinted his eyes. It was a sword. Looking back at Arthur, the young sorcerer could see that the Prince had recognized the weapon as well.

"Arthur?" Merlin whispered. He needed to know what would happen next, but he didn't get any answer.

Arthur stood up, his sword next to his body. He looked from his right to his left and back again.

"What are you waiting for?" he called out, spreading his arms wide as he waited on a reaction. "Well?" he called out again.

Merlin didn't know what else he could do, so he stood up as well, feeling ridiculous with the branch in his hand, but it was the only thing he had. He truly should learn to bring a little dagger or something.

The first figure stepped forward, the sunlight falling on his face. He looked strong, a black beard covering half of his face. His dark brown eyes spoke fierceness and his arms grabbed for an ax that hung at his belt around his waist. Merlin could only swallow heavily. This man must be two times as heavy as he was.

The second man stepped forward. He appeared to be younger, but a long scar ran down his right cheek. He looked serious, his hand already gripping his sword tightly. Raising the sharp edge towards Arthur, he smiled. "Young Pendragon," he spoke, "what a pleasure to meet you."

For a moment, Merlin thought they were not interested in fighting, only in taunting, but the bigger one of the two stormed towards the Prince, his ax raised. Merlin heard himself call out to Arthur, but the Prince had already turned around and blocked the attack with his own sword. The youngest of the attackers ran forward as well, only focused on Arthur. He didn't even pay attention to Merlin and so the young servant swung his heavy branch forward, hitting the attacker in the stomach.

The man doubled over, gasping for breath, but he wasn't done fighting yet. Merlin could see in the corner of his eye that Arthur was still fighting the other attacker and so Merlin focused on this one. Gripping the branch more tightly, he tried to ignore the urge to use magic. Arthur was still too close by and Merlin didn't want to risk him seeing everything.

The man straightened his back, his sword lifting in his hand with one smooth movement. Merlin quickly let himself drop, rolling over the ground and jumping back onto his feet. The man had already turned around and swung his sword towards Merlin, its edge cutting the skin of his upper arm.

"Ouch," Merlin cursed, but he wasn't done fighting. He pushed the branch forward, but the man had anticipated this move and with his sword, he cut the wood in two, leaving Merlin without a weapon.

He laughed when seeing the young servant back away.

Merlin didn't have any other choice. His eyes flashed golden, a few words of the ancient language escaping his lips. As the man fell back, seemingly having been pushed by Merlin, the young sorcerer looked towards Arthur who was still fighting. He hadn't seen a thing. Merlin focused back to his attacker, looking at him as he lay on the ground.

"That's cheating," the young man hissed and Merlin felt himself swallow heavily. He was surprised, though, that the man didn't react shocked or that he didn't call out that Merlin had used magic. In stead, the man swung his legs around, hitting Merlin's feet and making him fall down as well. His head hit a damp rock and Merlin's vision blurred around the edges. He forced himself to stay awake, however, taking in a deep breath and pushing himself away from the ground.

The man lifted his arm then, his eyes flashing a dark gold. Merlin felt himself being pushed down again with a force that he could not see. The man was using magic as well and Merlin tried to think of a way to block his magic. He couldn't move, however, and Merlin felt panic rise up in his chest.

"I can cheat, too," the man smirked as he stood up, rubbing the dirt away from his clothes.

Merlin quickly glanced towards Arthur, seeing how he still fighting with all the strength he had. The man followed his gaze and laughed. "Don't worry," he said, "we won't hurt him."

The man came to stand next to Merlin who was still pinned down by magic and they looked each other in the eyes. Merlin refused to look away and he pressed his lips together. The man swung his hand down, balled into a fist, and hit Merlin on the cheek. He was still conscious, however, and so the man hit him again, harder this time.

Merlin felt how a darkness was surrounding him and as a third blow hit him, his eyes closed. The stinging pain in his face grew softer and before Merlin could even call out to Arthur, he felt himself slip into a sleep. There was simply nothing he could do.

AN: The first chapter is already done. I tried to put in some good action and I hope I succeeded. Writing action has never been my strongest side, but I tried to make it good. I know this is a rather short chapter, but they will be longer in the future. This is more an intro, but the story immediately takes off. At least, that was the intention. But what happened to Merlin? What will happen to Arthur? What do those two attackers want?

Read on (when the seconds chapter arrives) and you'll find out!

Thanks for reading this story!