Merthur One-shots

Time For Change

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE, N SLIGHT SMUT WARNING

Summary: Everyone has a timer for when they find their soulmate. Arthur has always known his soulmate is a sorcerer, thanks to being able to feel their emotions. When Arthur's timer is almost up, he decides to go meet them in the forest, away from his father. Only to come upon a man about to die.

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Arthur wanted to get away from the castle. His soulmate timer was almost fully counted down, and if he was going to meet his soulmate, it wasn't going to be in Camelot because he already knew everyone that lived there. He needed to go hunt and clear his mind.

He could feel his soulmate's emotions, and he knew his soulmate had a lot of anguish, probably because they had magic and they were scared.

Not all soulmates could feel the other's emotions, only those where one partner had magic. Arthur tried to project acceptance and calm, but he was terrified of what would happen when he met his soulmate. They had lately been feeling more and more distressed and it made Arthur think his soulmate would do something drastic.

In preparation for his hunt, Arthur went to the kitchens to ask the cook for a few days’ rations and packed a bedroll and some bandages in case he got hurt. Then he went to Tyr to ask him to get his horse ready, and then to his father to tell him he was going hunting.

With everything ready, he went to the courtyard and reached out just as Tyr was leading his horse to the steps. Thanking him, Arthur mounted and galloped his horse through the deserted roads into the woods.

Five minutes left on his timer. Arthur was tracking a deer, distracting himself from the turmoil he could feel pouring from his soulmate, and almost had it in his sights when the deer startled and ran. Cursing, he started after it, trying to keep his eyes on it, not paying attention to his surroundings. However, it was too fast and was soon out of sight.

Arthur stopped and looked at his wrist. One minute left. He was so nervous. Arthur started to head back to his horse when he heard someone cry out. He turned at once and followed the sound to a clearing he'd never seen before. There was a man in the clearing, bent over. Arthur couldn't see what he was doing but the man suddenly cried out again.

Arthur's feet moved of their own accord to where he could see, and what he saw had him rushing forward just as the man fell over. Arthur got to him just in time to catch him and lay him gently on the ground. He wasn't conscious. The man had been cutting his wrists, straight lines along the veins. Arthur tried to hold the wounds closed, but he could feel the blood still seeping out. Arthur whistled for his horse, but he knew she wouldn't get there in time.

Arthur looked at the man's face. This was his soulmate. He knew it in his bones. The man was tall and skinny — too skinny — with messy black hair. The man's eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow. Suddenly, the man's eyes opened and Arthur looked into the bluest eyes he'd ever seen, a darker shade than his own.

"Let me go," the man said hoarsely. "I'm not worth it."

"Yes, you are," Arthur cried, tears streaming unchecked down his face.

"It's too late anyway." With that, the man's eyes closed again, and he gave a few struggling breaths before he stopped breathing altogether and went limp as Arthur watched.