Merlin Snow Days

**Okay, so, this was written after I saw something on a Facebook page called "His name, Merlin". (Go like it! :D) It's my first time writing in the present tense, as well as my first Merlin fanfic, so please be nice! xD I would love some reviews. :) Thank you, and, Mara, this is for you! :D ~ MB1098 (P.S. Should I continue this, or do you like the cliffhanger as it is?)**

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Laughing, Merlin ducks from a flying snowball that is presumably thrown by Arthur; the young prince runs away cackling, dodging around Sir Gwaine and Sir Leon who roll their eyes at him, whilst they try, unsuccessfully, to hide their wide smiles. The warlock drops to the ground and wraps his hand around some of the freezing snow, forming it into a ball in his bare hands. He stands, takes aim and throws it at Arthur; it hits the prince squarely in the back of the head, leaving little droplets of melting snow hanging from his blond hair.

"Gotcha!" Merlin shouts over to him, poking his tongue out. The knights were meant to be practising their sword play, but a snow fall had distracted them from training, especially after Arthur had thrown a snowball at his servant; however, Percival, Leon, Gwaine, Arthur and Merlin were the only ones left, for the others had claimed it to be 'too cold'. The young warlock laughs gaily, and runs away, turning to Sir Percival and hiding behind him, his cheeks rosy red from the cold.

Arthur rolls his eyes and raises an eyebrow in his servant's direction. "Really, Merlin?" Merlin grins showing his perfect teeth, his blue eyes twinkling excitedly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Merlin watches as Gwaine rests his Camelot shield on the frozen snow; the knight clambers onto it, clinging to the straps, and his sandy-haired friend pushes him down the steep slope that they were playing next to. Gwaine's hair blows behind him in a rush as he nears the bottom. His laughter carries up to the others waiting at the top, and, at the bottom, he topples over, his mop of silky hair falling into the snow. Coughing, Gwaine stands, having inhaled some of the ice that blew up in his face, and he waves to the knights and Merlin at the top.

Encouraged at Gwaine's success, Sir Leon chucks his shield on the floor, and leaps for it, landing heavily on his belly; the knight, weighed down by chainmail, speeds down the hill, and zooms past his companion, his mouth open in glee. Standing, Merlin can clearly see the smile on his face, and the snow in his hair as he stands and turns to Gwaine; even Arthur Pendragon, who had been so intent on throwing snowballs at Merlin, drops the pile of snow he was holding in order to watch the pair embrace, laughing in unison.

Merlin watches as Percival stands precariously on his shield, his arms outstretched either side of him, and an almost comical expression is on his face as the knight tries to balance. With his tongue poking out, the bare-armed man – who never seems to feel the cold – edges forward until the tip of his shield is over the edge of the slope. With one more push, he topples over the slope, and slides quickly down, never wobbling, ending up at the bottom, his legs seemingly locked in position as he warily gets off and steps into the snow.

Beside him, Arthur rests the shield on the ground, and carefully sits at the front of it; patting the back, he turns to Merlin and raises his eyebrows. "Coming?" he asks.

Merlin blinks for a couple of seconds – up close and personal _with the prince?!_ - before kneeling on the back of the shield, his hands resting gently on Arthur's broad shoulders. "Ready?" the prince asks breathlessly, and Merlin wonders if he ever had the chance to do anything fun like this when he was a kid, unlike the others, who obviously did.

He doesn't have long to wonder, however, as Arthur pushes down on his heels, and they are soon trundling down the slope, faster than the others due to their combined weight. The duo speed past the others, and into the woods beyond, Merlin's mouth now open in a perfect 'o' shape, but with no sound coming out of his scream. His eyes are watering from the cold, and he ducks branches, as Arthur tries desperately to slow them down.

Soon, but not soon enough for Merlin's liking, they stop, and glance around themselves. "Where are we?" Arthur asks, his first experience of sledging clearly not the best.

Standing, Merlin crosses to a bush of strange purple berries that he has never seen before. He fingers them carefully, his eyebrows furrowed; so deep in thought, that Merlin doesn't notice Arthur until the prince speaks behind him. "Merlin? Do you know where we are?"

Merlin turns to face him, trying not to show the worry on his face. "No. But don't touch anything." The warlock turns away, and begins to head back to the forest edge; the shield has left deep tracks in the floor, but he is amazed at how far they had come, it must have been at least 20 metres from the edge of the forest.

Trudging up to the knights who he can hear on the other side of the bushes, Merlin barely gets ten steps before Arthur is tugging lightly on his hand. He turns, and watches as the prince takes a cautious step forward, peering into the dark green bushes to the right of them. "Arthur, what are you-" He is cut off by Arthur's gloved hand settling over his mouth, and his piercing blue eyes stare into him.

"Shut up, Merlin," he whispers, so quiet that the serving boy can scarcely hear him. Arthur releases his hand and switches his shield to his left arm, drawing his sword with his right whilst edging forward. "Hello?" he asks warily. A sudden movement in the bushes makes both Merlin and Arthur freeze on the spot.

Slowly, a doe edges its way out from behind the bushes, it's nose with little balls of snow resting on it, and it's eyes sparkle from the light reflecting from Arthur's drawn sword. The knight places his sword back in its sheath carefully, so as not to alarm the deer. "Come on, Merlin," he mutters, taking the warlock's arm gently in his gloved hand, and pulling him towards the edge of the woods; Merlin can't help but think that Arthur is annoyed that he was shown up by a _deer_, of all things.

When they step out into the clearing, Gwaine and Leon are stood close together, watching as Percival attempts to build a snow... Thing. Merlin's eyebrows raise as he watches the huge man pile handful of snow on top of handful of snow, trying to build something that clearly won't work; the warlock smiles, and is suddenly aware of the heat radiating from Arthur's body.

Gwaine and Leon see them, and wave the pair over, also smiling themselves. "I don't know what he's doing," Gwaine smiled, "But it looks... Impressive." He chuckles, and nudges Leon with his elbow. The sandy-haired knight rolls his eyes at Merlin, and kicks his shield on the floor.

"Y'know," he starts, "That really was fun, and I wouldn't mind doing it again..." Picking up his shield, he passes it to Merlin and plants a fake smile on his face. "Ahh, Merlin, thank you for offering to carry them!" Blinking, Merlin takes the shield from the knight, who also passes him Gwaine's, before dragging said Gwaine up the hill. Beside him, Arthur shakes his head, bemused; Merlin can't help but wonder if maybe Leon has had something to drink.

"Ahh, Merlin, you're carrying them. Thank you." Percival grins wickedly as he chucks his huge and heavy shield at Merlin, who is now struggling under the weight. The man clambers up the hill after his friends, pelting them with snowballs whenever he can.

"Thanks, Merlin," Arthur smiles, dumping his shield on top, too, and heading off up the hill. Nearly on his knees, Merlin starts the steep climb, cursing in his head at Arthur Pendragon, the prince to whom he had given up his life for; and this was how he repaid him.

Behind them, in the bushes, a pair of dark, power-thirsty eyes stare out.

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**P.S.: If you haven't guessed, the deer was Morgana. xD ~ MB1098**


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Merlin, Friendship