Whoever decided to give humans two weird little legs has obviously never tried walking long distances on them. Merlin has been walking for two days and he's finally able to see the town that Arthur had been planning to stop at. Ever since waking up soaking wet and shivering next to a pile of ashes he's been miserable. Extreme fatigue pulls at this bones when he attempts even simple tasks, and magic is out of the question right now.

He strolls through the main street as casually as he can manage, but a lanky boy with a slashed open shirt and thin leather jacket does not go unnoticed in midwinter. A few merchants stop to stare at him so he pretends not to notice and continues walking.

He soon reaches the stables and finds a boy of maybe 15 raking the straw. Merlin waits to see if the boy will look up, but he just continues to stare at the ground as he assaults it with a rake.

"Ahem." Merlin clears his throat.

The boy looks up in confusion to find a man that looks like he's been attacked by bandits leaning casually against the stable.

"Um, hello." the boy says uneasily.

"Hello." Merlin answers with a smile, "I was wondering if you've seen a group of knights come through here lately."

"Oh yeah," the boy says, " a whole lot of 'em. Nearly bought out the stables. They were a strange lot. Following around this 'king Arthur' fellow. But between you and me, he didn't look the part. They say they're from Camelot, had the crest and everything."

"Yeah that sounds about right. When was this?" Merlin asks.

"About a week ago. Why do you ask?"

"They're friends of mine. We got separated by bandits a while back. They thought I was dead." Merlin lies.

The boys eyes widen suddenly, taking in the giant gash on Merlin's front. At first he had thought it was a rip, but upon closer inspection he can see the dark crimson edges of his shirt poking out from beneath his jacket.

"You should be with that kind of wound!" the boys says gesturing to Marlins stomach.

"Oh, no no no. It's very shallow. I assure you. I'm perfectly fine." Merlin says in an attempt to calm the youth.

To Merlin's dismay, the boy doesn't believe him for a second.

"You've got to get that looked at." he says, grabbing Merlin by the arm and dragging him away.

"Where are you taking me?" Merlin questions.

"My mom's a midwife. She acts as the town physician. We've got an inn. It's where your knight friends stayed a while back."

The boy leads Merlin by the cuff of his jacket until they reach a rather nice two story inn with a smoking chimney and thatched roof. They pass through the doorway and Merlin's senses are bombarded by warmth and smells. Someone had definitely been baking. He had been unaware of exactly how cold he was until he was exposed to the heat. He fought the urge to go huddle against the wood stove and instead wrapped his jacket tighter around himself.

"Mum!" the boy yells enthusiastically, "you've got a patient!"

A rounded woman hustled through a doorway on the far end of the room. Everything about her reminds Merlin of warmth. She's wide and stout with curly hair the color of freshly tilled earth. She has warm eyes surrounded by smile lines, which reminds him of his own mother.

"Oh, Mathew!" she scolds with a hint of a smile on her face, "what have I told you about-"

She stops short when she catches sight of Merlin. He looked something awful, standing there pale and shaking.

"Oh my!" She whispers in shock, dropping the edge of her apron that she had been using to dry her hands.

Merlin suddenly realized that they would be suspicious if he were examined and had no wound. His eyes dart around looking for an escape. An idea begins to form in his mind.

"Ugh," he groans clutching his stomach, "I'm sorry to bother you ma'am, but do you have an outhouse I could use?"

"Oh? Yes of course!" She says, snapping out of her daze, "Matt, take him around back would you?"

"Yeah mum." he said, looking a little panicked when Merlin scrunched his face in pain. Having been in a real situation like this before Merlin had no issues acting through it.

Matt led them back into the cold which shocked merlins lungs after having finally adjusted to the warmth inside the inn. It took him a moment to get over gasping, but Matt seemed to just take it as another sign of whatever issue Merlin was faking. They walked a few yards before Merlin could make out the square shape of the outhouse against the treeline, small cracks of light slipping between the hinges of the door.

"Oh good," Matt remarks from Merlin's side, "we left the oil lamp running. Just come back in when you're done, alright? Mum will fix you up just like new!"He claps Merlin on the shoulder and turns to leave.

As soon as Merlin heard the door of the inn clatter shut he darts into the outhouse. He only has a little bit of time to work with and a lot of work to do. He pulls up his shirt to inspect the raised white scar that stretches from his left ribcage to his right hipbone. This is going to hurt.

Merlin pulls every fiber of stregth he has and forms the water from the washbucket into a blade of ice. The act immediately weakens him and he has to steady himself against the wall.

(mentions of blood, gore, and technically self-harm, but because of external circumstances)

He sets the blade at the tip of his scar and traces it down, opening the wound again, but shallower than before. He hisses in pain as the blade tugs at his flesh and fresh blood leaks over the lip of the cut, running in little streams down his skin until they soak into the bottom of his shirt. He then presses his hands to his stomach and whisers an incantation. His wound begins to heal, but he stops it before it can get to far. It just needs to look a week old.

The magic and blood loss drain him of any remaining energy and Merlin has to fight to keep the dark wave of unconsciousness from washing over him. He stumbles toward the inn and barely makes it over the threshold when it happens. It feels as if some force is dragging him to the floor as he falls, first to his knees, and then flat onto the floor. His eyes are open, but the vision has begun to fade from them and his hearing is getting garbled.

"Oh-"

"Must've been-"

"-Room upstairs-"

"-reopened-"

"-I can do."

And then everything is dark.