A/N Boy, has it been a while since I've done this. Well. I wrote this a week or so ago and I was skimming through it today, made a few tweaks to it and thought, what the heck. Why not? I had just had the thought, why does Merlin put no effort into really learning how to handle a sword? Because, believe it or not, he's actually pretty smart and I bet with effort he could be pretty decent. I mean, he's better then he was at first, (which wouldn't be hard) but he's not as good as he can be after almost ten years with Arthur. And thus this, short but enlightening story was born. Hope you enjoy it!

The Ways of the Sword

It wasn't that Merlin couldn't not be good with a sword – he had no doubt that with actual effort and a desire to learn that he could probably be a decent sword fighter.

And after training with Arthur for years on end, he knew the names of every fighting technique known to man, the best way to hold a sword and understood how and when to exert the most strength to gain the upper hand in a fight.

He understood.

But he didn't care.

The ways of the sword meant nothing to him.

Because the truth was, he didn't need a sword to defend himself. He had his own skills that made him a dangerous and deadly opponent to any who dared cross him. And that was what he wanted to spend his time doing – perfecting and learning his trade, becoming who he was meant to be and what he was born to be.

And until the time came where he would be free to do these without fear of rejection and hatred… anything else felt like giving up on that dream.

He wanted to just be himself.

And he wasn't ready to give up on that. Not yet.

A/N So - good or bad? You can tell me, I swear I won't be offended... well, maybe if you flame me really really hard, then I might be offended. ;) Thanks for taking the time to read this and please review!