Hello, I realize that I am publishing a lot, I just want there to be enough out there for people to read when they first come across it. I know that I am more likely to read a story that has a few chapters published instead of just two or three. Anyways, enough chatter, lets get back to the story! ~alex
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Cautiously, the elk walked towards the people sitting in the semicircle and let them all inspect him, but because he was made of moonlight they could not touch him. After a couple long minutes of silence Merlin sat back up and the elk reappeared over his head. Slowly he looked at each of his friend's faces, on Arthur's his face held a scowl but his eyes were filled with curiosity, on Leon's face was halfhearted determination, in Elyan's face was defeat, Gwaine was clearly curious, but also a bit cautious, and Percival just had a small smile on his face, like he figured something out that the rest of the group didn't. Slowly the elk walked over to Elyan, signaling him to say his explanation.
"Uh, I guess I never tried to figure out more about you, though I've probably known you the least out of everyone here, except for maybe Percival. I don't know why you have chosen an elk for yourself." Elyan scratched the back of his neck nervously, but Merlin just nodded, a small smile on his face. Next, the elk walked over to Leon.
"Maybe because people always mistake elks for a normal deer, maybe it's because you feel your constantly being misjudged." Leon said, his confidence in his answer growing when he watches Merlin's face form into an accomplished smile. If Leon was being honest he never expected to get it right, but it appears that he at least got something right. The elk then walked over to Gwaine.
"Mate, you know everything about me, you even figured out my deepest secret within the first few days of knowing me. But as I sit here thinking, I realize that I know next to nothing about you. Now, I realize how little you talk about yourself, and how little we ask. How you are always making sure everyone else is okay but no one ever checks up on you. So I don't know why you chose an elk, but I want to find out." Gwaine says, looking at his best friend. Merlin smiles at Gwaine but even a blind person could see the sadness in his eyes, it darkens his blue eyes like an ocean raging in a storm. They break eye contact and the elk walks over to Arthur.
"I don't know. Like others have said I feel that I know nothing about you, except that you came to Camelot from Ealdor, but I don't even know why you did that!" Arthur raises his voice a little, angry at himself for knowing nothing about his closest friend, "Why do you keep so many secrets from us, do you not trust us?" Arthur's voice breaks at the word trust. Merlin's eyes widened, almost in fright when he asks that.
"NO!" Everyone is startles at Merlin's outburst, he cleared his throat and talked in a normal voice. "I trust you, I never stopped trusting any of you, and I spent years beating myself up about that, but eventually I got over myself. You can't turn off trust, and I would die for any of you if it came down to that. Please don't ever think that I don't trust you guys, you are like my brothers." Once he finished his speech the elk started walking over to Percival, stopping anyone from saying anything again.
Merlin caught Percival's eyes and said, "Now it's Percival's turn. Tell them what you figured out please." The giant was a little surprised at Merlin but quickly got over it and started speaking.
"I do agree with Leon, that you chose an elk because you feel you consistently get misjudged or misunderstood, but I feel that there is more to it. Elks are supposed to resemble power, strength, things like that. However, not many people acknowledge this, so maybe you feel that your power is often ignored by others because of how you look? I'm just guessing at this but for some reason I think that that is what you are feeling." Merlin smiled and nodded in approval.
"Very good job everyone. Especially Leon and Percival, you both are very perceptive, I like that. I have chosen an elk because I am constantly misjudged, whether that means people think I'm evil because of my magic," he waves his hand at Arthur, "or people think that they can take advantage of me because I don't have any muscles." He gestures his other hand at Percival.
Gwaine butted into Merlin's conversation, "Okay, but why do you never talk in depth about yourself? I mean I know nothing about your family, your home village, why you left, not even your favorite color! Why don't you tell us?" He said exasperatedly, he didn't like not knowing anything about his friend. Merlin just sighed and looked at the ground and the elk disappeared into the wind.
"You never asked." He answered simply.
Gwaine, however, was not having it, "Well I'm asking now." Merlin looked up from the ground with a challenging look in his eye, but Gwaine was not backing down. The other's watched the scene go down, thoughts whirring through all of their heads. Had Gwaine gone too far? Would Merlin answer their questions? What else could he be hiding? Their thoughts were cut off by Merlin's voice filling the air.
"My favorite color is orange, but not the brash and vibrant orange everyone thinks of. I prefer a much softer version of the color, like the kind seen in summer sunsets. Soft but strong, the sky splashed with various oranges, reds, pinks, and purples. My favorite color is orange. That is the only question I will answer now though, because I am tired and Arthur has been restless for quite some time." Arthur feels his face heat up so he looks at the grass, trying to cover it up. Merlin gets up and starts to walk away from the group, but pauses a few feet away from the tree line.
"If you want to hear the rest of my story, if you want to know more about me, then you will meet me here again. Do not worry, when the time comes you will know when." With that he turns away and walks into the darkness. The king and his knights look at each other before getting up and walking back to Camelot in silence, each person going over the nights events in their heads. None of them gave much thought over the fact that they had not seen Merlin on their way back to the castle, they were too tired to notice. They all fell asleep, anticipating their next meeting with their friend.
Meanwhile, Merlin was kneeling next to the Lake of Avalon, whispering to the waters as tears glide down his face.
"I'm sorry I didn't come visit you for so long, Arthur banished me when he found out about my magic. I still think about you every night, god how I miss you. You never deserved to die." Merlin wiped his face, trying to get control over his emotions.
"I have something to show you," he clasped his shaking hands and raised them to his tear streaked face, then he closed his eyes and whispered a spell. When Merlin opened his hand four medium sized strawberries rested in his palms. He stared at them in silence before breaking down into tears.
"God, how stupid I must look, sobbing into a river and creating strawberries for someone who can no longer eat them. I love you, Freya, I never stopped and I never will. I will love you for as long as I live. I must go now, but I'll see you later. I promise." Slowly, Merlin stood up off his knees and walked back into Camelot. He wiped his eyes and went straight to his chambers, not even bothering to change into his sleeping clothes before collapsing on the bed and falling into a dreamless asleep.
Back at the Lake of Avalon a pale girl with beautiful dark brown hair walks from the depths of the waters, staring at the strawberries on the bank with a pained face. After picking up the strawberries the girl whispers brokenly into the night, "I love you too."
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