Destiny - a Merthur fic

Chapter V

Merlin's POV
What? Why would Kilgarra be trying to talk to me now? Stupid dragon.
"Merlin!"
I tried to ignore it. We were traveling and I didn't have time to be bothered by him.
"Come to the field 15 minutes north of you!"
I sighed. I guess there was no ignoring him, or he was likely to come here and scoop me up in his big dragony claws and cause a scene.
I looked around to see if anyone else was awake. They didn't appear to be.
I got up and tiptoed quietly around the sleeping knights.
I paused at Arthur. He was sleeping with Gwen curled into his chest. I looked away and walked north.
After about 15 minutes of Kilgarra going "Merlin! Merlin!" in my head, I arrived at a field. Kilgarra was seated in the center and I made my way towards him.
"You can't do this, Merlin."
"Do what?" I already knew the answer.
"Try to save Arthur. It's not right."
I snorted. "What do you mean, not right?"
"It's been foretold, Merlin. The great one will die in battle."
"Who says it has to be this battle?"
He sounded exasperated. "It's his destiny. You have to let it be."
I felt rage bubbling up. "I'm done with you and your so-called destiny. I don't care if it's his destiny! I can change it, and I WILL change it." By this point I was shouting.
Kilgarra just looked at me. "No, Merlin."
"Goodbye." I said and whirled around into the forest to go back to the camp. I was not a crier, but tears were clouding my eyes. I heard a rustle in the bushes and stopped dead. I hadn't thought about the wildlife when Kilgarra had summoned me. I hadn't brought a sword, or anything, and I was defenceless without magic.
I heard another rustle behind me and spun around. Rustles everywhere. I started to run.
I collided with something of considerable size and screamed.

Arthur's POV
Gwen was curled into my side, but I couldn't sleep. I had been laying here for quite a while, stressing about the coming battle.
I heard a twig snap and I opened my eyes and looked over. I saw a tall, thin figure picking their way carefully to the forest. I waited for them to disappear into the trees and then I disentangled myself from Guinivere carefully as so not to wake her.
I stood up and picked up a sword. If this person was hostile, it was better to be safe than sorry.
I entered the forest and looked around. I couldn't see the figure anywhere, and they were probably long gone.
I looked down. Aha! The person had not taken account of the muddy night, and there were tracks. Or perhaps they had not expected to be followed.
I followed the tracks deep into the woods, being very quiet and careful in case they were waiting to ambush me.
I had been following them for quite a while when I heard running footsteps and heavy breathing coming towards me. I stopped dead but they kept coming and the dark figure and I collided.
They screamed and I immediately recognized the voice, as always.
"Merlin?" I asked incredulously. I held him out at arms length. Sure enough, it was him.
He looked very startled. "A-arthur...? Oh." There was a long pause.
I broke it. "What on earth are you sneaking off in the middle of the night into the woods for? Unarmed?"
He shrugged.
I gave him a look. "Merlin."
"Can we just go back, please?" He asked.
"No." I crossed my arms. "You have to tell me."
"I needed to pee."
"What?" I scoffed. "What did you come all the way out here for?"
"So that some idiot like you wouldn't follow me!"
"That doesn't make sense." I shook me head. I still didn't completely believe him, but I mean, he was Merlin. What could he possibly have been doing.
So we made our way back.