Now where did that sunblossom grow again? Merlin wonders as he walks through the forest, using his staff to push aside tree branches and push apart bushes in hopes of finding what he was looking for. As he walked, he noticed something strange on the ground and walked over to carefully pick it up and examined it. It was a strange purple flower that seemed to look like leaves, wisteria if he recalls right. But these weren't even native to Camelot, where did it even come from anyways?

As he was examining the plant, Merlin then noticed more bits of wisteria scattered nearby, almost like a trail of some sort. He drops the one he was holding and follows the trail of fallen blossoms until he comes to a large tree filled with them. But that was not the only odd thing about the tree. Merlin then noticed it's large roots were stretched out to one side covering a large wooden cart that had a bunch of vegetables scattered around and covered the decaying carcass of a horse. A few feet from the cart were two piles of bones and a pair of small human bodies of children already ripped and shredded, as if whatever had been eating them never got to finish its meal. The wizard then noticed a large pile of stones and walked over to them, taking note that some of the mostly unbroken pieces resembled an arm or a leg, most likely belonging to a troll.

A wisteria tree grown right in the middle of a forest, four dead humans, a dead horse, and what I'm now starting to believe are the remains of a troll, what in the ancients caused this? The old man thought as he looks around, now cautious. He then hears something that sounded like faint sobbing and tenses, looking around for the source before noticing that the trunk of the wisteria tree had a hole inside. He cautiously walked over, the sobbing how growing louder, before peeking into the hole and gasped.

Inside the tree was a small and dirty child, their knees drawn up to their face and sobbing as their dirty auburn hair covered their face. Concerned, Merlin carefully reached in and gently placed a hand on the child's head. The small child gasps and bats his hand before scrambling out of his reach, revealing their dirty and tear stained face with frightened pale green eyes.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." Merlin said loudly as he held his hand out. "See? I'm not a monster or a troll, just an old man."

"P-please don't be m-mad....it...accident." The child stutters in a soft voice. "I-I didn't mean to d-do this!"

"Do what?"

"The t-tree."

"You made this tree?" Merlin asks in surprise. Was this child gifted with magic? It was a rare thing to find children with magic abilities like his own and Morgan's, especially since Arthur banned the use of magic by magicians unless they were working for him. "It's alright, I'm not angry. Come out, I won't harm you, I promise."

The child hesitantly reached out towards him before grabbing his hand and let him pull them out. Goodness, how long has this one been hiding in the tree? The child's clothes were covered in dirt with leaves and twigs in their matted hair, and they only wore a single shoe on one foot that was ripped and exposing their toes.

"Do you have a name?" Merlin asks as he knelt down to be level with the child, who had their eyes fixated on his staff. "Ah, see why I am not mad about you growing a tree out here? I'm a wizard, you must also be one as well?"

"I- I am..." the child admits softly. "But mama said I wasn't a-allowed to use it. P-papa would scold me when I'd accidentally make something g-grow, and I had to promise to be a good girl so I won't be punished by th-the king."

"I promise you that the king won't hurt you." Merlin assures the child as he reached forward and placed a hand on her head. He could sense strong magic within her, untapped and waiting to burst and grow. Wizards who specialized in or were blessed with the ability to do earth magic were rare and few, yet he somehow managed to find one himself. "What is your name, little one?"

The child looks up at him, her pale green eyes shining in wonder and fear. "Joan." She responds.

"Well Joan, it seems I have found myself a new apprentice. Why don't we head back to Camelot, get you cleaned up, and get you something to eat. I'm quite sure you weren't surviving off wisteria blossoms or moss this whole time before I found you."

"I ate berries birds brought me!" Joan states, sounding quite proud of herself. "Moss tastes yucky."

So she did try eating it. Merlin thought and gave an amused chuckle before rising to his feet, letting Joan take his hand. "Well I promise you in Camelot and as my apprentice, you won't have to eat moss at all. You will get three fulfilling meals a day and a nice hot bath every evening, along with a warm bed. And I'll teach you how to properly use your magic as well, you have a gift and it is only right that you should learn how to properly harness it."

"Would I get a staff?" Joan asks, pointing to his own staff.

"Not yet, staffs are for master wizards like myself. But staffs are for those with mastery over magic, magic is mastery over life. So first you must learn how to live, and learn how to properly use your magic before earning your staff." Merlin explains as they walk away from the tree, deciding he'll go looking for the sunblossoms another day. "We'll know when the time comes."

✿*:･ﾟﾟ･:*✿

"This is the child you wish to take under your care as an apprentice?" Arthur asks skeptically, guesturing to the small child hiding behind Merlin's leg. "How do you even know she's a spellcaster?"

"My king, I found her hidden inside of a tree that can't even grow in our kingdom that she grew herself." Merlin responds firmly, gently placing a hand to Joan's head to comfort her. "She said herself that she grew it, and earlier your betrothed and sister witnessed her magic."

"It's true brother, she caused flowers to pop out of her hair." Morgana says stepping forward with Gwen. "She may be just a child, but Merlin says she has a strong connection to magic."

"Hiding in a tree? Sounds like something out of a fairy tale." The king scoffs, to which Gwen frowns.

"Arthur, she is a spellcaster. And she can prove it if she feels comfortable enough to show you." The young queen says as she steps back to Merlin and kneels in front of Joan. "Joan, do you want to show the king what you showed me and Morgana? He won't hurt you, I promise."

Joan nods quietly and steps out from behind the wizard to take Gwen's hand to allow her to walk towards the throne. She gulps nervously when they get close, but her determination to prove him wrong was stronger than her fear for the older man. She closed her eyes and pinches her nose and attempts to exhale through it, trying to think of flowers and plants she had seen growing outside of the forest - some daisies and maybe a few clovers. Her ears pop, and at the same time she feels a familiar tugging in her gut, earning her gasps from the other adults in the throne room. Joan opens her eyes and touched the top of her now short hair to find nothing and turns to look at Merlin in alarm, only to suddenly burst out laughing. Merlin was now wearing a very messy and lopsided crown of clovers and daisies on his head, and he was looking very confused. Joan repeats the process again, this time feeling something pop from her head and reached up to feel the grass and flowers in her own hair and lets out a triumphant laugh.

"I did it! I did it again!" She laughs as she ryns up to Merlin. "I did it! I did it!"

"Odd sort of spell, but simple enough to prove your magic." Merlin chuckled as he removed the crown to readjust it. "Nearly thought you'd grow a tree in the middle of the throne room."

"I did that 'cause a big mean troll tried eating me!" Joan huffs. "Got scared and it popped right out of the ground to swallow me up! And I think it smashed the troll too!"

"Well let's hope you don't get scared and make another tree grow in here, but we can figure out your magic a bit more along the way while I teach you to read." The older wizard chuckled as he picks her up and adjusts her own flower crown on her head. "Now that you've proven yourself to the king, lets get started on your lessons before dinner."

"Do I have to?" Joan asks with a frown, earning her a chuckle from Merlin.

"Of course! How else are you supposed to learn more spells? Now, off to learn!"