Author's note: This is my second Merlin fanfiction. lol, I hope it comes out better then the first.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or its characters.

Warning: More then likely out of character, bad grammar, and maybe slash in later chapters. I haven't decided yet.

Side Note: In this story Morgana is not going to be evil.

blahblah-Thoughts

"blahblah"-Talking

Merlin smiled as he looked up at the clear blue sky, for once glad he had gone along with Arthur on his hunting trip. After being cooped up in the castle doing nothing but chores he was about ready to go insane.

His smile quickly turned into a frown when something hit his back. He turned around, ready to say something rather mean to Arthur, whom he presumed had thrown what ever it is that hit his back.

He was dumbfounded, however when he saw not Arthur but someone else. Someone scary looking and most definitely dangerous. He could feel something strange coming from the man and it took a moment to realize, since he was terrified, what it was he felt . He has magic! was his mind screamed at him, then before he could do anything the man mumbled something and Merlin felt strange. He suddenly felt very tired and his eyes closed against his will. He didn't even feel when he fell to the ground.

Arthur who had returned triumphantly after catching his prey stopped at the sight he saw before him. All he could do was stare at the unbelievable sight of a man about to kill a sleeping child with a sword.

Unsheathing his own sword Arthur quietly approached the man. He winced when he accidentally stepped on a twig catching the other man's attention.

Seeing as his cover was blown he moved quickly to drive his sword through the man's chest. His eyes widened when the man laughed as he fell to his knees. "I am not the only one after his life." He said in an creepily deep voice. "You may have killed me but I will not be the last. If you kill the next one then another will come. There is nothing you can do and you aren't always going to be around to protect him." With all that said the man succumbed to his wounds and fell to the ground.

The way he had spoken confused Arthur. Why would I want to protect some kid? He thought to himself. Walking towards the kid he knelt down beside him to examine him and mused that the child reminded him of someone; he couldn't quite put his finger on who.

It was at that moment that Arthur noticed Merlin was not around. "That idiot. Where did he go now?"

"I'm not an idiot, Prat!" A childishly high pitched voice said from in front of him. He had been too preoccupied with wondering where Merlin was that he had failed to notice the child had woken up.

The words spoken sunk in a moment later and he quickly looked at the child. There was only one person, no matter where they went, that called him a prat. "Merlin?" He exclaimed. "Is that you?"

Merlin huffed, annoyed. "Of course it's me. Who else would it be?" Then he froze after he said that, noticing a few things. First, his normally not so baggy clothes were suddenly way too big for him. Second, his voice was way too high pitched and sounded childish even to his own ears. Lastly, the last he checked he was about the same height as Arthur, maybe a centimeter or 2 shorter but practically at eye level none-the-less.

"A-Arthur? What's happened?" Merlin stammered, actually fearful of what the answer was going to be.

"I-I don't know."Arthur admitted carefully. "I came back and you were on the ground. I thought you were just some random kid that had gotten himself into trouble. There was also a man he was trying to kill you. He must have been a sorcerer and made you a child to make it easier."

Kill me? He thought to himself. Racking his brain he tried to recall what the man had mumbled under his breath but he couldn't. Thoughts raced through his head. How long am I going to be like this? Will it wear off? Will I be stuck like this forever? His thoughts were making him feel sick. Too caught up in his thoughts he didn't feel himself start to sway, almost as if he were about to faint.

Arthur could see that this was a pretty big shock awkwardly pick Merlin up when he looked about to faint. "Why me?" Merlin asked, sounding and looking as depressed as a child his age could.

There was nothing he could say that would comfort Merlin, this Arthur knew so he settled for putting Merlin down and then going about packing their things to go back to the castle. Hopefully Gaius can find a way to fix this. He thought but didn't dare feel too hopeful, this was magic after all.

Putting everything on one of the horses he picked up Merlin, which apparently was something that he did not approve of since he flailed and wriggled trying to get out of the prince's arms. "Stop that." Arthur growled.

"Not until you put me down! This is humiliating." Merlin hissed back.

Arthur wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Were you this uncute when you were really a child?" He asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Merlin asked, offended.

"Your behavior is appalling." Was the blunt reply.

"Of course I wasn't like this as a child." Merlin scowled. "I may look like a child now but that doesn't mean I am one."

He had a point. He may look like a child but inside he was still the same old Merlin. What to do what to do.

Getting tired from all the flailing Merlin was still doing Arthur finally put him down. "Thank you." Merlin said, sounding unthankful in every sense of the word.

With a small hmph he turned to the horse, taking a small step back, all of a sudden intimidated by the height of the beast. Looking back to Arthur he saw his amused smirk and scowled. He knew Arthur would never let him live it down if he didn't at the very least try to get on the beast himself. Breathing in deeply he stood next to the horse and struggled to reach the saddle. He was too short, damn it!

Arthur smiled as he watched Merlin struggle to try and get on the horse, stubborn as always. He watched a little longer as Merlin stood on the tips of his toes to reach the saddle but to no avail. Deciding it was time to head back before it got to dark he lifted Merlin into his arms, ignoring his indignant cries, and got on the horse himself. He made sure to grab the reins of the other horse as well.

There was no point in arguing now. Merlin didn't speak for a while, then his curiosity got the better of him. "How old do you suppose I am?" He asked as he adjusted his starting to fall sleeve.

Arthur thought for a moment. "How old do you feel?" He asked right back.

"Far too old." Merlin replied tiredly.

Laughing lightly Arthur couldn't resist the urge the ruffle his hair and so that's what he did. "Hey." Merlin complained, much more subdued.

"I would say you are about 6" Arthur guessed.

"Oh." Merlin said absently.

The rest of the ride was a quiet one. The only noise being made was the rustling of clothing as Merlin adjusted his over sized clothes every few minutes. "Gah! This is so annoying!" He finally said, bursting into tears out of nowhere. Caught off guard by the unexpectedness of it Arthur was clueless as to what to do. He had never had to comfort children, or anyone for that matter, before. Panicking he did the only thing he could think of he smacked poor Merlin upside the head. Idiot! A voice inside his head, that sounded uncomfortably like Merlin's grown up voice, hissed. He's just a child! You can't just go around hitting him!

"Merlin! I'm sorry. I-I didn't..." He stammered trailing off. There was really nothing he could say after that.

The smack however seemed to have actually stopped him crying. "Ow." Merlin winced but didn't appear upset with the hit. Sniffling softly he wiped his tears.

To Arthur's relief they had made it to the castle soon after that little episode. "Look, We're here Merlin."

"Good. I'm tired." Merlin smiled sleepily.

When they reached the stables Arthur got off the horse, ordered the stable boy to take everything off his horse and take it to his room, then quickly walked into the castle. He was careful to avoid everyone gaze opting to stare straight ahead.

Walking into the throne room he ordered a bunch of servants to call upon the people he thought should know about this. After everyone, which was Uther (unfortunately he needed to know) Gaius (of course, being his ward and all), Gwen, Morgana, Lancelot, and Gwaine.

He quickly explained to all of them what had happened. Sometime during his talk he felt the weight in his arms grown heavier and glanced down to see Merlin fast asleep. A subtle smile crossed his lips as he continued talking.

When he stopped talking he looked to they all had varying degrees of shock on their faces.

Thank you very much for reading this! I know it is kind of rushed but I hope you enjoyed it :'D

Next Chapter: The Next chapter will show everyone's reactions. Look forward to it