Chapter 4:

Merlin woke to the smell of pork. He perked up. It was slow-roasted, cooked to perfection just like his mother used to make.

His shoulders slumped. He knew it was to good to be true.

Cracking his eyes open seemed to prove a much harder task than it should have been. He looked around, taking a few things in.

Cold. Very cold.

Outside.

Tree.

Forest.

He sniffed the air.

Food... okay...? Maybe it was real. Maybe he was dead...

Arthur. Arthur?

Merlin tried to sit up, but as soon as he lifted his head off the ground, a sharp pain shot through his very core, all the way from his feet to his head.

"Ah." he grunted, masking the pain that threatened to pull him back under. He gingerly laid back down. Suddenly, Arthur was right in front of him, crouching down, looking directly in his eyes.

"Merlin? Can you look at me?" Merlin looked at what he assumed was Arthur, he was having a hard time focusing.

Merlin scrunched his eyes, trying to blink away the blurriness. His eyes widened at what he was seeing.

Arthur's hair was growing. It became long, and dark.

Merlin blinked, owlishly.

His mother's face was now crouched before him.

"Mother?" He asked quietly, eyebrows arched in confusion.

"Merlin...I need you to talk to me." she said. Her hair was down. She grabbed his shoulder lightly. The last time her hair was soft and loose like that was long before Merlin moved to Camelot. Maybe he was back at home, and his mother was making salted pork again.

Merlin smiled at the memory. It was so long ago. Things were simpler back then.

"Come on, pansy." Merlin jumped as that deep, dark voice protruded from her familiar face. He watched incredulously as his mother's face morphed into a big, burly man, with a sneer smothered on his rugged face.

He smiled cruelly.

"No!" Merlin yelled. He clenched his eyes shut immediately.

He knew it. It was hallucination. There was no way his mother was here. She was safe. Back in Ealdor.

He also knew not to accept drinks from evil men. So when the familiar trickling of liquid slide down his throat, he knew to reject it. He gagged, and coughed the nasty liquid back up.

"No." He whimpered again. Didn't this man get it?

"You idiot. Drink it. Now." the cruel voice said.

'Obviously not.' Merlin thought.

Merlin distantly felt a hand on his chin, tilting his head back. When he tried jerking away, he became aware of the crook of an elbow at the back of his neck. He was being held like a babe.

He knew it was no use. The man outweighed him, and was clearly much stronger. With a sob, Merlin gave in, and let the liquid go down the back of his esophagus.

He twitched uncomfortably as he was lowered back to the ground, which seemed to be made out of snow.

Merlin wondered what the evil man would do to him if he fell asleep.

'How is he so warm, when it's so cold?' he wondered.

Only a few coherent thoughts plagued his mind before blissful darkness took over.

m.M.m.M.m.M.m.M.m.

"Merlin, you dolt. Why did you have to go and get yourself hurt?" Arthur asked the unconscious figure laying a few feet away from him, his own bedroll covered with Arthur's blankets.

Arthur could see the tremors running though the boy's body. Placing a hand on top of Merlin's forehead, he exclaimed, "Great! And now you're feverish..."

Arthur sighed. He couldn't stand seeing the people he cared for being like this. Merlin was supposed to be up, smiling, and falling over his own feet. Not laying limp, injured, and burning with fever.

"Gwaine? Could you fetch some more firewood? Not a lot, just enough to last until morning." Arthur looked over to his loyal knight, questioningly.

"Sure thing, sweetie." Gwaine smiled brilliantly, and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Make sure..." Gwaine trailed off, but Arthur got the point.

"I will." And with that, Gwaine jogged off deeper into the densely packed forest.

Once again, Arthur sighed in exasperation. He decided to make a light stew, in order to pass the time until Merlin woke up, or morning came. The latter likely to happen first.

He looked over at Merlin again. The boy was very pale, and a sheen of sweat covered most of his forehead. His pulse had slowed since Arthur initially checked it.

After checking on Merlin, and knowing nothing more could be done before Gauis reached them, Arthur felt completely helpless. He shivered, realizing how cold it truly was outside. He turned back to the fire, and put his hands out in front of his body, rubbing them together every so often. The friction provided little heat, but it was something.
Arthur heard a soft sound, recognized it as the shifting of a bedroll, and looked back to see Merlin's blue eyes looking lazily around the camp. Arthur froze when Merlin's eyes found him, and before he tried to lift his head up, Arthur made a noise, meant to be a warning not to sit up yet.

When Merlin did try, however, to lift his head to look around, Arthur's heart wrenched at the pathetic noise that expelled from his friend. He snapped back into action, rushing forward and crouching in front of him.

Merlin's eye's roamed around, not focusing on anything. Arthur didn't know whether or not to touch Merlin, in fear he might panic.

"Merlin? Can you look at me?" Arthur said quietly. He was thrilled when Merlin's eyes seemed to focus a little. His response, however, did not seem appropriate.

"Mother?" He managed to croak out. Arthur was confused and Merlin looked positively confused.

The knights were now aware the boy had awoken, and crowded to see what was going on.

Merlin blinked heavily. Inspiration struck Arthur and he went to find one of the last water pouches.

He set it between them, then asked, "Merlin? I need you to talk to me..." When Merlin's eyelids began to droop, Arthur lighted grasped his shoulder. "Merlin?" he said.

When Merlin didn't react to his touch, Arthur figured now would be a good time to rehydrate, whist still awake.

He waved Leon over, who grabbed one of the water pouches. Pressing the pouch gently to Merlin's lips, he muttered, "Come on, Merlin..."

Suddenly, Merlin jerked away fear contorting his entire face.

"No!" he yelled, and shut his eyes. Arthur didn't know what to do. Merlin hadn't drank since much earlier in the day. Arthur thought he had a chance, but Merlin wasn't allowing anyone to help him get a drink.

He tried pouring the water into Merlin's mouth, not touching any part of his body. Merlin gagged, and the water came back up. Arthur tried to ignore the tiny amount of blood that came back up, as well. Merlin sobbed, "no..."

Arthur felt nauseous. If he didn't get some water...

He tried reasoning with him, instead.

"Merlin...please, you idiot. I need you to drink this." The boy didn't answer, though.
Arthur decided enough was enough. He pulled Merlin into his lap, which would have been incredibly awkward, in any other situation. He rested Merlin's head on his elbow, and opened his mouth with his free hand.

"Come on, Merlin. Drink...that's it!"

Once Merlin finally drank the water, Arthur sat still. He could still feel the tremors raging through Merlin's body. They sat just like that, until he fell back asleep, right in Arthur's arms, until Gwaine came back with the firewood.

m.M.m.M.m.M.m.M.m.

Merlin felt oddly at peace. Aside from the burning sensation in his arm, and now chest. Everything else felt so cold, like he was numb.

It was almost as though he wasn't fully there; he just drew breath, and released it. And although Merlin could make out muffled voices in the background, he couldn't place who's they belonged to. Merlin also felt the presence of those around him.

He thought about Arthur. Was he still here in the forest? It was all so confusing.

"Arthur!"

Merlin gasped suddenly, which spurred a coughing fit. His chest fell, but was struggling to rise.

"I...I can't breathe!" he thought.

Eventually, the darkness that Merlin had become accostumed to previously, was calling him back. It tempted him like a soft voice, saying, "Sleep, Merlin. It will be over soon. You will feel safe and warm."

He welcomed the darkness like an old friend. And for the first time since he was injured, he did feel safe and warm. He closed his eyes and shuddered.

However, the comforting feeling quickly faded, replaced by the sensation of being shaken. This brought newfound pain, and again, he felt like ice.

Merlin opened his eyes, squinting in the bright sunlight.

Each breath he drew was slow, almost agonizingly so.

He could make out a familiar shape beside him. Merlin deduced it was Arthur.

Arthur stood and waved a hand.

Merlin slipped back into unconciousness.

m.M.m.M.m.M.m

A/N Hey hey, you beautiful peoples! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter... this story is becoming increasingly hard to write... But I will stick with it! Please R&R! It's much appreciated. :)