#avalon

Pinch Point

Industrial grade watermelon crusher Furry Version Below:

“Yes. It was just… there, one morning.”

“Hm.”

Merlin looked over the deep green of the body of water, nestled into the midst of trees and lavish ferns.

“When was this?”, he asked the ranger.

“About a year ago.”, the ranger responded, shouldering his rifle. “The scientists theorise it must have something to do with the quarry nearby. But the locals…”

Merlin kneeled down, dipping his hand into the ice cold water. “Yes?”

“Well.”, the ranger hesitated. “The locals say it is the magic of the Fairytale Forest it appeared in.”

Merlin retreated his hand, and what looked like tiny green shamrocks clung to his skin. “That’s why they called the lake the Fairytale Lake?”, Merlin asked, inspecting his green hand.

“Yes.”

“What are those?”, Merlin asked holding up his hand to the ranger.

“Duckweed.”, the ranger said. “The whole lake is covered with it year round. Another mystery we don’t understand.”

Merlin’s eyes wandered over the sea of green, sitting still and unmoving, and it reminded him of a romanticism painting. No current drove the water, no ducks fed on the lavish greenery growing on its surface.

When the Lake of Avalon disappeared, Merlin had felt lost. He had walked across the bare grassland where the lake once sat, looking for any hint of what that meant for Avalon. For Arthur’s rest, for his silent guarding of time. How could the Once and Future King rise from a lake that no longer existed? And now, all these years later, he had heard about this lake. Appearing just as inexplicably as the Lake of Avalon had disappeared. Surely that had to mean something? But as he dove his hand back into the cold to release the clinging duckweed, he saw nothing that indicated anything unusual. Except this prickling feeling in his stomach as he regarded the lake in front of him.

“Have you tried getting to the bottom of it?”, Merlin asked. “Literally, I mean.”

“We have. The lake’s not that deep.”

“And?”

“Uhm. Not really anything. Just got some strange items out of it.”

“Like what?”

“Oh.”, the ranger shrugged, “You know. Just the kind of stuff people throw away. Shoes. A tire. An old pistol. And a sword.”, he added, almost as an afterthought.

Merlin shot up. “A sword?”

The ranger was taken aback by Merlin’s strong reaction, and blinked in surprise. “Yeah. Big one, too. All silver and gold, with some old markings. Haven’t found anyone who could read them.”

“Where is it now?”

“In the mayor’s safe. That’s mainly why we called you.”, the ranger explained. “Hoped a proper historian would be able to read them, shed some light on if the sword’s a legit historical artefact, or just some theatre prop.”

Merlin’s eyes hurried quickly, as his mind was racing. “I see.”, he only said.

“So.”, the ranger cleared this throat. “Now that I brought you to the lake, will you take a look at that sword?”

“Yes.”, Merlin stated flatly. “Later. I’ll meet you at the town hall.”

“Alright.”, the ranger frowned, starting to turn away. “You sure you find your way out of here by yourself?”

“I’ll be perfectly fine.”, Merlin said, his attention solely on the lake now.

“You do you.”, the ranger shook his head, and made to leave. 

Merlin listened for the ranger’s dying footsteps, before he kneeled down once again, his hand this time flat on the water’s surface, without breaking it. As he closed his eyes, he felt the prickling in his stomach intensify. The stillness of the forest was suddenly pressing in on him, as if the silence held a message only his heart could hear. The lake brimmed with the same silence. But there was more. A heaviness slumbered underneath, radiating off the surface, extending over its banks. Merlin took a duckweed, inspecting the little roots at its bottom, wondering if those roots kept whatever was in the lake, in place. Kept it from waking.

Merlin swallowed hard, as he closed his eyes. His fingers spreading out, he sat in the stillness for a while, before his lips whispered: “Arthur. Wake.”

A gust of wind rustled through the ferns around him, shaking the tree branched overhead. The duckweed started moving as small waves started lapping at Merlin’s boots.

And then, in the midst of the small lake, the surface broke.

A head, broad shoulders, fists clenched on each side of a pronounced waist.

Merlin’s vision started blurring as he saw the duckweed cling on every inch of the naked man standing in the middle of the lake. Watched him raise a hand to free his face of the greenery and dripping hair. Then, his eyes opened, and Merlin saw their blue brilliance again for the first time in 1,500 years.

Merlin gasped, falling back on his elbows. He quickly held his mouth to keep the sobs inside.

Arthur looked down at himself, at his hands, before his eyes fell on Merlin.

And whatever Merlin had imagined their first words would be to each other, it was not what followed.

“Merlin!”, Arthur bellowed into the silence. “Is there a reason I'm drenched in disgusting slimy moss? Get me out of here!”

@merthurmicrofic I Prompt: Wake I Word count: 857 

Arthur has always been a man of his word

"Calling" -redraw

original under the cut

Sonic Universe Restored #95 is now live!

We bring this year to a close with the beginning of a new adventure! Sonic and Antoine return to Ant's homeland, but a mysterious new foe is ready to greet them. Brand new revelations await the odd couple, and you as well!