GSB/AGF challenge - Entry 5: Dragon Games
Title: Dragon Games
Prompt(s) (if used): Dragonborn
Rating: G
Word count: 1,838
Characters/Pairings: Arthur/Gwen, Morgana, Merlin, Elyan, and minor mentions of Hunith and Uther.
Spoilers/Warnings: Modern AU, Kid!Fic, Fluff
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all belongs to BBC.
Summary: Guinevere and her friends play out a story she read and she gets to be the Dragonborn and must save Prince Arthur from the forces of evil.
Author's Note: I love, love writing the Pendragons, Merlin and Gwen as kids. Especially in Modern AU's, because there is so much you can do with them. And this was a such a lighthearted and fun story to write. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Guinevere ran through the field behind her house, kicking off her Sunday church sandals, and pulled her curly hair out of the lavender ribbons her father had tied them back in. She felt the dirt and grass beneath her feet and giggled at the butterflies that flew by her as she pushed through the tall grass. She didn’t care that her good dress was getting mud on it; she just loved the freedom of the outdoors.
The seven year old little girl had been locked up in her house for far too long this past winter. It had been the first winter season without her mother. Her father, worked many late hours during the winter months at the local factory and Guinevere took it upon herself to look after her younger brother Elyan. She stayed inside, away from the cold, not wanting to let anymore coldness and darkness into her heart. Her father kept distant from them, trying to find his own way as well.
But Spring was here and it made her feel like a kid again, not letting the adult world consume her and let her feel free. She fell down into the grass and just inhaled all the scents and warmth around her.
“Arthur wait up! You are running too fast! And I’m carrying all our toys!”
“Come on Merlin! You need to learn to keep up!”
Guinevere sat up and smiled at the familiar voices, her friends voices.
“I’m faster than both of you!” Guinevere noticed the familiar raven hair bouncing against the bright green dress ahead of the boys. In the distance behind her was the blonde and brunette boys in their best little suits. The brunette, Merlin, was lugging a giant burlap bag, which she noticed had a sword sticking out of it.
“Guinevere! We thought we saw you come running out here. Where have you been these last few months, we’ve missed you!” Morgana asked.
“I’ve been helping my father, plus I hate the snowy season. I’ve missed you all too.”
The eight year old Morgana just scrunched her nose in confusion, “You used to love playing in the snow. We’d play with your mum and…”
Morgana trailed off realizing why she hated the winter season.
“What are we all sitting around here for? We got a kingdom to save!” Arthur announced coming over by Morgana and Guinevere.
“You mean you have a Kingdom to save, you always take control,” Merlin stated as he dropped the bag on the ground.
“Well, I am always the noble knight who saves the kingdom from the evil witch Morgana.”
Morgana made a face at her younger brother, “Why am I always the witch? Why can’t Merlin be the witch?”
“Because you are older and Merlin’s a boy, boys aren’t witches!”
“They are called Sorcerer’s,” Guinevere said standing up, “I read it in a book a few months ago.”
“What was this book about? It sounds fascinating,” Merlin said as he started unpacking the toys.
“It was a about a noble Prince, who was a valiant warrior, who fought for his kingdom’s freedom from an evil witch. He had a companion, friend, and guide with him who was a Sorcerer, but he had to keep his magic secret from the Prince because his father, the King, had banished all magic from the lands. For the Prince to save his kingdom, he had to pull a sword from a stone and battle against the evil witch.”
“Did the Prince have a beautiful Princess?” Morgana asked enthralled by her story.
“No, but he was in love with a serving girl, who taught him how to be a better Prince and future King and made him into a better person. She was his Queen and his one true love.”
“Sounds romantic,” Morgana sighed laying her head in her hand.
“Sounds gross to me,” Arthur grumbled, “But the Prince sounds cool! Let’s play that game! I will be the Prince!”
“I want to be the Sorcerer!” Merlin announced jumping up and he started waving his hands around like he was doing magic. Guinevere giggled at her friend and his vivid imagination.
“Morgana, you’re the witch!” Arthur said pointing at her.
“But I don’t want to!” She pouted.
“Well, we can’t make Gwen the witch, she’s too nice! She is the Princess that we have to save from the evil witch.”
“I always play the Princess. I want to be the Dragonborn. In my story, the Sorcerer could speak to dragons, but I think this time we could make an exception.”
Arthur just shrugged his shoulders, “Okay. But can we still save you in the end? We need someone to save.”
“How about me?!” Morgana said eagerly.
“No!” Arthur and Merlin said to her.
“How about we just save the kingdom? Morgana can be the warrior Princess and we are saving the Kingdom from an evil witch; who we cannot see?”
Arthur looked at Merlin who nodded his head.
“Works for me,” Arthur said and then they started playing.
The children ran through the field, fighting invisible enemies, calling on giant dragons, and fighting all the forces of evil. Morgana fought bravely and died in battle, giving Arthur the clue to finding the sword in the stone for him to save the kingdom. They left her behind, while they ran into the woods. Arthur and Merlin lifted Gwen and tossed her into the air as she imagined flying on one of her dragon friends to the stone.
“Here it is,” Arthur said dropping his plastic sword in front of a green moss covered boulder in the woods, “The sword in the stone that will save-what was the name of the kingdom in this story Gwen?”
“Camelot.”
“The sword in the stone that will save Camelot!”
Merlin quickly grabbed his plastic sword from his belt and held it against the rock for Arthur to act out pulling out the sword. Before Arthur could grab the sword, someone came flying out and tackled Arthur to the ground.
It was Elyan and he was fighting against Arthur.
“Elyan! What are you doing?!”
“I am the evil Sorcerer who took over Camelot!” Her younger brother shouted.
“Have you been following us?!”
Elyan paused in his play fighting with Arthur to look at his sister, “You always run off and I want to play too. So, since you didn’t have an evil witch or Sorcerer, I thought I’d play the part. And now I’m sneak attacking the Prince so he can’t have Camelot.”
At that Gwen just shrugged her shoulders and let him continue on. Merlin tried to fight him off with his magic, but it was useless, Elyan was too powerful for them.
Gwen then had an idea, she climbed on top of one of the rocks nearby and stood tall in her muddy lavender dress.
“Elyan! I command you to stop or my dragons will attack you!”
“HA! NEVER!”
“You leave me no choice,” She said and she jumped down making Dragon noises and tackled Elyan off of Arthur.
“Elyan, has been defeated. You can now pull the sword from the stone Arthur.”
Arthur looked up at Gwen with wide eyes, his friend had saved him in battle. He took her hand she offered him and got up and went back towards the sword, where Merlin had to place it back in the stone.
He carefully pulled and struggled against the sword and finally was able to lift it out of the stone.
“Long live the King!” Gwen shouted.
“What?” Merlin and Arthur asked.
“Well, that’s what they shouted when he pulled the sword, because he proved his worth and became King.”
“COOL!” Arthur and Merlin shouted.
“Children!”
They turned to see Merlin’s mother, Hunith coming towards them holding Morgana’s hand.
“What are we doing way back here?” She asked.
“Arthur pulled the sword from the stone and became King!” Merlin announced.
“And we helped him to become King!”
“And I fought off evil Elyan with my dragon born powers!”
“Well, that is certainly the most amazing news I’ve heard all day,” Hunith said to Gwen and then bowed down to Arthur, “You’re majesty, your father would like you and the lady Morgana’s acquaintance for dinner.”
“What are we having?” Arthur asked.
“I think he mentioned chicken.”
“I love chicken!” Arthur said excitedly.
“Alright, everyone it’s getting dark. Your father is waiting for you at home too Guinevere and Elyan. I’ll walk you all back towards your house.”
At that, the children packed up their toys and left. They could see through the field, Guinevere’s father’s country house like a shining beacon in the twilight. The kitchen lights were on and she could see her father talking and laughing with Uther, Arthur and Morgana’s father, through the window.
They went inside and said their goodbyes and headed out, but not long after the front door shut, Arthur came running back in.
“I have something for you Gwen!” He said excitedly.
“What?”
“For saving me from the evil Elyan today with your dragons, I want you to have my favorite dragon,” he said blushing.
Arthur held out an old golden yellow stuffed dragon. She knew he had it since he was little and looked up at him shocked.
“Are you sure?”
Arthur smiled and pushed it into her hands, “You saved me, you deserve it.”
Guinevere leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “Thank you.”
And with that Arthur left with a little grin and rosy blushed cheeks.
Guinevere treasured her gift from her friend for many years, even after they parted ways as they got older. He became the sports hero in school and she became the book nerd, both in separate social circles.
Until one day, their paths crossed at the first day at Uni.
Guinevere was unpacking her dorm room and heard voices coming down the hall and she looked toward the open doorway in hopes of seeing who those familiar voices belonged too.
“Hurry up Merlin, we haven’t got all day,” Arthur shouted at his friend.
“Your box is heavy Arthur! Plus I’m carrying my duffel bag on my back too.”
“I’m already unpacked unlike you two slow pokes,” Morgana stated as she turned into the open doorway and smiled at Gwen.
Behind her, Gwen saw Arthur and Merlin walking down the hall towards their dorm, but Arthur stopped when he saw Gwen.
“Hi Gwen,” he said with an easy smile.
“Hi Arthur,” She said back.
She noticed his eyes drift down to her hands and she looked down to notice she had been unpacking his dragon he gave her years ago.
“You kept it?” He asked surprised.
“Of course, I wanted to remember the first time I saved you, since I have a feeling I’ll be saving you from many drunken nights to come,” she teased.
“Will you bring your dragons with you?” He teased back.
“If you play nice, then maybe.”
“Oh you know me, I always play nice. I am the King after all.”