ItsAllTheSame-OnlyTheNameWillChange

[ARTHUR]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #000000; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:210px; opacity: 1.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff488/princephips/oie_565928UPm6M67p_zps70491206.jpg)] [style=width: 350px; height:25px; background: transparent; float: center; letter-spacing: 2px; font-size:12px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #000000; line-height: 25%;] WE'RE NOT GONNA SIT IN SILENCE WE'RE NOT GONNA LIVE WITH FEAR [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: #$% TAGGED: merlin NOTES: xP

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Arthur could not have gone through the forest less like an invincible showoff because he was an invincible showoff (minus the invincible thing like four times a week but who’s counting). ”Only the route.” Merlin obviously had some issues with the path that he’d chosen but that was his problem. ”Yes and it was the fastest one.” To take any other route would have been stupid because they wanted to get there while it was still light out and the sooner they got off the horses the less whining he had to listen to from Merlin… Not that Merlin couldn’t just find other things to complain about. He was good at that. It was one of his few talents. ”Because hunting larger game always goes well for you.” That was uncalled for because Arthur was extremely good at hunting. There had been one incident in which he’d almost caused the downfall of Camelot by unleashing a curse (but that wasn’t his fault that was magic) and then.. okay the last time they went hunting before that they’d run into that girl who he’d almost.. married (yeah he still didn’t know what had happened there but it most certainly wasn’t his fault either) and.. we’re just going to stop there because I’ve clearly made my point. ”It does when the game isn’t enchanted.” Arthur could easily take on any mortal creature. It wasn’t his fault Camelot was constantly under attack by invincible birds and poisonous lizards that were three times his size. Of course, Merlin agreed (because Arthur had made it pretty clear he had no say in the matter anyway) and they were continuing with the horses. ”So, who taught you that this is entertainment?” ”Merlin now im just gonna do it all the time don’t tell me you’re going to be a girl about this.” If Merlin was going to ask the question in a deliberately stupid way that was the kind of answer he was going to get. Arthur decided for himself that he found it enjoyable. As had almost every other man in Camelot who knew how to use a weapon. ”I’m not sure. My father, I suppose.” Arthur actually couldn’t remember more than one occasion when Uther actually went out with him (because, he had a very busy job sitting on his ass ordering people around) but he was fairly certain that it was him who’d introduced him to the concept. Though it was obviously a long time ago and he wasn't going to think that much on it. When they’d finally gotten far enough Arthur jumped down again and looked expectantly at Merlin waiting for him to do the same.




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[MERLIN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #290101; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:250px; opacity: 0.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://25.media.tumblr.com/c3cedb35321deb623d66ed3102a54e35/tumblr_mi8dq6GpyS1rbxt3mo2_r1_500.jpg)] [style=width: 300px; height:50px; background: transparent; float: right; letter-spacing: 3px; font-size:14px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 4px 4px 4px #000000; line-height: 100%;] HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING TO BE A PRAT? [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: ### TAGGED: arthur NOTES: <356

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Yes and it was the fastest one. ”It wouldn’t have been if I’d fallen off.” If Merlin fell off he’d have slowed them down a great deal while trying to get back on the horse. Theoretically Arthur could have just kept going without him but obviously there was some reason Arthur had wanted Merlin there so that sort of would have defeated the purpose. It does when the game isn’t enchanted. That was true—most of the creatures were perfectly normal and wouldn’t cause problems after being killed and Arthur was probably pretty safe from that happening again. Though it wasn’t like all the animals that were enchanted walked around with a blinking sign floating above them. ”How are you to know which are and aren’t enchanted?” Merlin looked over and saw a squirrel running by them. ”That squirrel,” he pointed at it before continuing. ”could very well be enchanted and you wouldn’t have a clue. To be safe you should just…not kill anything.” That’d be a really good idea except like the purpose of hunting was to kill things so okay it was kind of a stupid suggestion. But obviously being extra careful with that kind of stuff would have kept the kingdom from getting cursed over one stupid animal.

Merlin don’t tell me you’re going to be a girl about this. ”I’m serious!” He rolled his eyes, being fairly used to that comment by now. It seemed to be one of Arthur’s favorites. I’m not sure. My father, I suppose. Merlin found that hard to believe considering the king didn’t tend to leave the castle, or spend time with Arthur, or do anything, really. However he wasn’t going to say that out loud to Arthur no matter how much he believed his thoughts on the matter to be true. ”What do you do for real fun?” It seemed like Arthur didn’t have any hobbies that hadn’t required him to train. He understood that Arthur legitimately enjoyed hunting and he got that and all but again, he’d been taught it. Referring to Arthur’s previous response to Merlin’s question, he added, ”Wishing you’d brought the knights yet?” He was pointlessly talking but like… it’d have been stupid not to have a conversation. When the time came for Merlin to have to be quiet he was not going to do that very well even with his best efforts so Arthur needed warning for that and Merlin was subtly giving it to him.

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[ARTHUR]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #000000; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:210px; opacity: 1.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff488/princephips/oie_565928UPm6M67p_zps70491206.jpg)] [style=width: 350px; height:25px; background: transparent; float: center; letter-spacing: 2px; font-size:12px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #000000; line-height: 25%;] WE'RE NOT GONNA SIT IN SILENCE WE'RE NOT GONNA LIVE WITH FEAR [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: #$% TAGGED: merlin NOTES: so i literally feel like if i italicized every word that arthur put emphasis on when i read this in his voice there'd be like at least two per sentence but i thought that would be obnoxious so i refrained xD

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It seemed like Arthur wasn’t going to get even a brief break from Merlin’s stupid questions. ”How are you to know which are and aren’t enchanted?” ”Don’t be stupid, Merlin, it’s obvious.”Okay, so, it wasn’t actually obvious because anything could be enchanted but some people didn’t know much about magic other than that everyone who had it seemed to want him dead and in Arthur’s defense, every abnormal creature he’d ever seen had looked well.. abnormal. The unicorn, the Gryffin, so on and so forth. If the squirrel (which would be mentioned soon but hadn’t yet) was like… purple then maybe he’d think twice before killing it (okay, no, that would probably just make him want to kill it more) but that squirrel (which would be showing up any minute now) looked like well.. a squirrel, and it definitely, certainly, absolutely wasn’t enchanted. Thus the look Arthur gave Merlin when he tried to use it as an example. ”That squirrel could very well be enchanted and you wouldn’t have a clue.” ”An enchanted squirrel?” he repeated, disbelievingly. ”To be safe you should just.. not kill anything.” ”And what do you propose we do on this hunt then?”

Yeah, so, by this point Arthur was kind of starting to lose patience with Merlin because he was being ridiculous. ”I’m serious!” Mhm, that was the sad bit. ”What do you do for real fun?” ”You really are as dumb as you look.” he muttered. Obviously, the main source of amusement in his life was irritating the living hell out of Merlin. Followed by hunting and jousting and things like that because as unbelievable as it seemed to Merlin, Arthur did actually enjoy things like that. ”What do you think? I’m the crown prince of Camelot. For as much time as you spend with me when exactly does it look like I have time to play games?” Occasionally, Arthur would enjoy drinking or gambling with the knights or harassing some other poor guy but for the most part, he was kind of kept busy doing… everything everyone else was incapable of doing. ”Wishing you’d brought the knights yet?” ”I’m wishing you’d shut up.” Once they were both down he took his crossbow and handed Merlin the reigns to his horse. ”Go tie them up.”





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[MERLIN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #290101; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:250px; opacity: 0.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://25.media.tumblr.com/c3cedb35321deb623d66ed3102a54e35/tumblr_mi8dq6GpyS1rbxt3mo2_r1_500.jpg)] [style=width: 300px; height:50px; background: transparent; float: right; letter-spacing: 3px; font-size:14px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 4px 4px 4px #000000; line-height: 100%;] HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING TO BE A PRAT? [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: 494 TAGGED: arthur NOTES: <356

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Arthur was not going to get a break from Merlin’s stupid questions because it was his idea to pointlessly drag him along and for him to think otherwise would be foolish. Don’t be stupid, Merlin, it’s obvious. Merlin raised an eyebrow, though he said nothing (because again he did know how to keep from stepping over the line with Arthur and he tried to do that when he could). Obviously what was dangerous to kill and what wasn’t was not obvious at all and I could reference the unicorn incident again but that’s already been done in this thread multiple times now and oops—just did it again. An enchanted squirrel? ”That tone of doubt in your voice was the same you had when hearing Camelot had been cursed.” Now he was just being paranoid I mean we know this since he had half a mind to bring up the enchanted squirrel thing. And what do you propose we do on this hunt then? ”I dunno—play it safe, I suppose. Stick to hunting lizards and butterflies. Or, we could go back to the castle and you could shoot things that won’t attack you—bags of flour and such.” He sort of rushed through his suggestions in hope that if Arthur didn’t actually hear what he was saying he’d agree it was a good idea and they’d go back but we both know that wasn’t going to work because unlike Merlin, Arthur seemed to be pretty confident about the whole thing.

You really are as dumb as you look. Yea, yea, insults he got them all the time. At that point knocks at Merlin’s intelligence or masculinity were just kind of empty words that he expected to hear on a regular basis. What do you think? I’m the crown prince of Camelot. For as much time as you spend with me when exactly does it look like I have time to play games? Arthur had a point, but he was also missing the one Merlin was trying to make (because yanno Merlin was doing it badly). ”You have time now, and decide to do this. I find that surprising, that’s all,” he said, raising his hands in defense before quickly returning them to gripping the horse thinking he’d lose his balance and fall off. I’m wishing you’d shut up. ”Shutting up,” he retorted with a smirk before they finally stopped and were able to get off the horses. Merlin didn’t exactly get off smoothly but he didn’t end up on his face so he was pretty proud of himself. As soon as he was off he was on horse-tying duty. After a whole minute of tugging on the horses to get them to a suitable tree, Merlin tied them carefully before looking over at Arthur’s crossbow. ”What exactly are you looking to hunt—anything specific?”

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[ARTHUR]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #000000; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:210px; opacity: 1.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff488/princephips/oie_565928UPm6M67p_zps70491206.jpg)] [style=width: 350px; height:25px; background: transparent; float: center; letter-spacing: 2px; font-size:12px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #000000; line-height: 25%;] WE'RE NOT GONNA SIT IN SILENCE WE'RE NOT GONNA LIVE WITH FEAR [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: 428 TAGGED: merlin NOTES: <356

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”That tone of doubt in your voice was the same you had when hearing Camelot had been cursed.” One time. The unicorn incident had happened one time. Arthur had gone on more hunts in his life than he could count. One time something goes wrong, and all of a sudden he’s incapable of determining what can and can’t be killed. It was true that Arthur had been doubtful about the curse at the time, but at least he’d come to see reason and fix his mistakes, unlike a certain king of Camelot. ”I dunno- play it safe, I suppose. Stick to hunting lizards and butterfies.” ”Oh, so squirrels can be enchanted and not lizards or butterflies?” he retorted, because now they were just going to have a childish argument about whether or not small cute animals could be magical creatures and it would probably turn into a bet that they needed Gaius to settle. Merlin came up with a few more bad hunting alternatives that Arthur rolled his eyes towards. ”If I tell you that I will promise, with my knight’s honor, to be careful, will you believe me that this trip will not lead to the destruction of Camelot?”

”You have time now, and decide to do this. I find that surprising, that’s all.” Arthur took another deep breath. ”And what exactly is wrong with “this”?” Yes, that was a Merlin imitation right there. Really, Arthur could not believe how paranoid he was being. That coupled with his subpar talents, disobedience, and endless questions ensured that Arthur enjoyed his few Merlin free moments while he went to tie up the horses. He walked slightly ahead (though not so far he couldn’t see Merlin if he turned around) and attempted to find some kind of tracks to follow. When Merlin returned he’d (surprisingly –sarcasm-) managed to come up with another question. ”What exactly are you looking to hunt- anything specific?” ”Well it’ll have to be something deaf for me to find it with you here. I told you to shut up.” Really, he didn’t understand why the concept was so difficult for him to grasp. ”Hunting requires an exemplary amount of stealth.” He explained, as he had, at least four times before. ”Really Merlin, what did they teach you growing up?” Arthur got that not everyone was trained to lead an army since birth but hunting was a basic survival skill. No less ordinary or useful than knowing how to dress oneself, which.. to be completely honest Arthur also wondered how Merlin was capable of sometimes.






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[MERLIN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #290101; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:250px; opacity: 0.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://25.media.tumblr.com/c3cedb35321deb623d66ed3102a54e35/tumblr_mi8dq6GpyS1rbxt3mo2_r1_500.jpg)] [style=width: 300px; height:50px; background: transparent; float: right; letter-spacing: 3px; font-size:14px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 4px 4px 4px #000000; line-height: 100%;] HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING TO BE A PRAT? [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: ### TAGGED: arthur NOTES: <356

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Oh, so squirrels can be enchanted and not lizards or butterflies? Merlin shook his head as if it were obvious. ”Don’t be ridiculous, my lord. For what purpose would somebody enchant lizards and butterflies?” Because enchanting squirrels was just the most logical thing in the world. Merlin made sense in his head and that’s all that matters. The argument was ridiculous anyway. Arthur finally understood the reasoning behind Merlin arguing in the first place and promised that he’d be careful and avoid causing Camelot’s downfall and it was clear that despite his obnoxiousness he meant what he said. Merlin nodded in response. ”Alright, I believe you.” Not that he believed Arthur would do anything wrong on purpose… but if he was careful there wasn’t much else Merlin could ask of him. And what exactly is wrong with this? Merlin laughed. ”Nothing! Nothing…” Nothing was wrong if Arthur could be careful. Merlin just didn’t get the appeal. Making objects float around in circles for hours was much more exciting. Actually hunting something would be a little exciting if they were successful though Merlin clearly wasn’t used to the activity. Well it’ll have to be something deaf for me to find it with you here. I told you to shut up. ”Right, right. I’d forgotten,” he muttered, taking care to keep his voice low. Hunting requires an exemplary amount of stealth. ”Hmm, yes, I’m not so sure I can do stealth.” He wasn’t even trying to just contradict everything Arthur said—he really could just see himself tripping over shit and making noise. Of course, he’d try best he could. ”I mean, you’re the boss. You’re telling me to be stealthy, I’ll be stealthy,” he quickly corrected his previous comment. Really Merlin, what did they teach you growing up? He smirked. ”Oh, really exciting things like… how to fetch water from a well, how to harvest crops… some men from the village learned to hunt. I wasn’t among them,” he explained, ready to follow Arthur’s lead because apparently this was going to be fun.

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[ARTHUR]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #000000; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:210px; opacity: 1.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff488/princephips/oie_565928UPm6M67p_zps70491206.jpg)] [style=width: 350px; height:25px; background: transparent; float: center; letter-spacing: 2px; font-size:12px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #000000; line-height: 25%;] WE'RE NOT GONNA SIT IN SILENCE WE'RE NOT GONNA LIVE WITH FEAR [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: idk TAGGED: merlin NOTES: <356

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”Don’t be ridiculous, my lord. For what purpose would somebody enchant lizards and butterflies?” ”So that even someone as paranoid as you doesn’t suspect them.” Arthur replied without missing a beat. If he was a sorcerer, that would be what he would do anyway. He would have Merlin get attacked by butterflies because well, first of all it would be hilarious and second of all it would be nice to see Merlin with that ‘expression of doubt’ since that smug ‘I told you so’ look was starting to become too common a thing. ”You’re beginning to sound more and more like Morgana… It doesn’t suit you.” Okay, it didn’t suit anyone Morgana included but really Arthur had enough people telling him what to do (and never agreeing either because that would be too simple) he did not need the disapproval from Merlin of all people. ”Alright, I believe you.” ”Thank you,” he replied, though more in a way as to say ‘finally, that took you long enouhh’ as opposed to being like.. grateful or something because Merlin didn’t get those sorts of ‘thank you’s at this time. ”Right, right, I’d forgotten.” ”If it's not too much trouble, maybe you could try not to forget again. I’d like to actually find something today.” If they didn’t they were riding again and camping and really the sooner this trip started becoming fruitful the sooner they would get to leave and so it was kind of advantageous to Merlin. Merlin was right to say that stealth was not a skill he possessed and likely not one that could be drilled into him in any less than a few months. ”Oh, really exciting things like… how to fetch water from a well, how to harvest crops… some men from the village learned to hunt. I wasn’t among them.” ”Can’t say I’m surprised.” Well... He wasn’t. ”It was probably a good decision on their part.” At least it meant that he really had no idea what he was doing as opposed to just being stupid. He smirked. ”There might be hope for you yet, Merlin.”





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[MERLIN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #290101; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:250px; opacity: 0.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://25.media.tumblr.com/c3cedb35321deb623d66ed3102a54e35/tumblr_mi8dq6GpyS1rbxt3mo2_r1_500.jpg)] [style=width: 300px; height:50px; background: transparent; float: right; letter-spacing: 3px; font-size:14px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 4px 4px 4px #000000; line-height: 100%;] HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING TO BE A PRAT? [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: ### TAGGED: arthur NOTES: good morning<356 working hard at the library can you tell?

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So even someone as paranoid as you doesn't suspect them. Merlin nodded, impressed with the response. "Fair point," he admitted, realizing that simply agreeing would be the best solution since they were arguing about nonexistent enchanted woodland creatures. "You're right-- I'm being paranoid." And that was his way of apologizing for the little faith he had in his sire though Arthur wasn't getting anything closer to an apology-- not for this obnoxious conversation anyway. Besides, Arthur told him he was sounding like Morgana which, knowing Morgana, wasn't Merlin's greatest goal in life. She was noble and all, but Merlin knew how much she could get under Arthur's skin and so Arthur's point was very clear. That was when he decided to tell Arthur that he'd believe he'd be careful. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Impatient. Notice how all the obnoxious responses are in the narration-- sorry about that but sometimes Merlin knows when to hold his tongue and it happens more often than when Leo does. I'd like to actually find something today. "We can't possibly be completely silent-- can't they hear our steps or something?" Again, he was trying to keep his voice low but honestly it probably wasn't doing any good. And then with the obnoxiousness Merlin should have seen coming. It was probably a good decision on their part. "Probably. They're under the impression that I've got no coordination." Which really sucked for them because if Merlin went out on hunting trips and he could be alone he didn't need coordination to kill a few normal animals and get them back to the village...but then again allowing him to do that would get him deserved credit and we all know that'd just be blasphemy. There might be hope for you yet, Merlin. He smirked while rolling his eyes. "Alright, expert, teach me."

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[ARTHUR]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #000000; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:210px; opacity: 1.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff488/princephips/oie_565928UPm6M67p_zps70491206.jpg)] [style=width: 350px; height:25px; background: transparent; float: center; letter-spacing: 2px; font-size:12px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 3px 3px 3px #000000; line-height: 25%;] WE'RE NOT GONNA SIT IN SILENCE WE'RE NOT GONNA LIVE WITH FEAR [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: idk TAGGED: merlin NOTES: <356

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”You’re right- I’m being paranoid.” Finally it seemed that Merlin was starting to see some sense. Of course, that only lasted until the next time he opened his mouth. Arthur would never dare expect anything better. ”We can’t be completely silent- can’t they hear our steps or something?” ”Of course they can.” Arthur responded, then realizing that Merlin still didn’t get it he sighed. ”Let’s try to put this into terms even you can’t fail to understand… Merlin, you’re walking around the courtyard midday.” Aka, there are loads of people going about their business and its completely normal and expected for them to be doing so. ”What’s going to alarm you more; footsteps, or people shouting about how they’re going to kill you?” Of course, that was a horrible hypothetical situation because this was Merlin and neither of those things alarmed him nearly as much as bizarre and unrealistic things he should have had no way of knowing about in the first place . But, assuming he was a normal person for about five seconds, there was Arthur trying to make a point. ”They’re under the impression I’ve got no coordination. “ ”I wonder what made them think that.” Hey, they’d gone a while without being sarcastic it was due. Personally I’d just like to add that I bet even with magic Merlin would manage to mess up hunting but that’s just my personal opinion which has nothing to do with how Arthur feels because a certain idiot keeps missing good opportunities to tell him things. ”Alright, expert, teach me.” Arthur smirked. ”Alright. The first thing you need to know is how to spot tracks. These,” he pointed with his bow to a small set of indents, ”we’re made by your extremely dangerous, enchanted squirrel. I don’t suppose I need to explain to you why we know they weren’t made by a bear. The grass is bent, which means that it just passed recently, and were it an animal worth pursuing, we could easily catch up with it.” He handed Merin his bow to hold because that was his job even though I don’t know why we trust Merlin holding that kind of a weapon and started walking again (..because if it hadn’t been made clear already they weren’t hunting squirrels today).




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[MERLIN]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, background: #290101; width:450px; height:490px; padding:0px;] [style=width:400px; height:250px; opacity: 0.8; font-family: times; background: url(http://25.media.tumblr.com/c3cedb35321deb623d66ed3102a54e35/tumblr_mi8dq6GpyS1rbxt3mo2_r1_500.jpg)] [style=width: 300px; height:50px; background: transparent; float: right; letter-spacing: 3px; font-size:14px; font-family: times; text-shadow: 4px 4px 4px #000000; line-height: 100%;] HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TRAINING TO BE A PRAT? [/style] [style=text-align:center; text-size: 9px;]WORDS: ### TAGGED: arthur NOTES: hi

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Just because Merlin was not experienced with hunting did not mean he could not be taught--the analogy was highly unnecessary. What's going to alarm you more; footsteps, or people shouting about how they're going to kill you? "Imagine it's not people walking in the courtyard--but a dragon. It's intimidating and it just doesn't belong there. Those footsteps would be frightening." That was how Merlin saw it anyway. He felt that it was practically impossible to do the whole hunting thing because anything in the forest was just going to hear them and run away and so trying to be quiet was useless. Then again many of the creatures that lived there were more likely to attack than run away but thinking about being attacked by an animal wasn't on Merlin's mind. "Though I must admit if a dragon was shouting about killing me I'd be concerned." It really wasn't surprising in the least bit that Arthur was sarcastic to Merlin. He practically asked for it every time he opened his mouth. Arthur seemed to be satisfied enough to show off what he knew though it didn't seem like they were actually getting anywhere if he was pointing out squirrel footprints. Merlin held the bow he was handed, looking out for anything Arthur could kill. "That was a great lesson. If I ever want to hunt squirrels, I'll be sure to recruit you for assistance." As he walked, Merlin looked down at the prints which caused him to trip over a tree branch he hadn't seen ahead of him. "Not to worry--I'll protect your bow with my life," he obnoxiously called to Arthur. You'd think that with something as unpredictable as hunting one would want his weapon on him for quick and easy access but apparently he was under the impression that in Merlin's hands, the bow would be useful.

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