Whumpay - Day 1

Mediwhump May - Seizure

(Original characters/story)

@mediwhumpmay

“That’s not good.”

“What now?” Caey drawled.

Omen stumbled over the corpse of the large salamander and fell to their knees in the leaf litter and decaying wood. The beast was still twitching, tendrils of cold fog rolling from its open mouth and lolling tongue.

The tiara tied to Omen’s belt vibrated and glistened, speaking directly into Omen’s thoughts. “What did you do now? Do not keep me in suspense.”

Omen drew in a shuddering breath and with trembling, bloody fingers, pulled up their tunic. “Not good.” Their words came thickly, as though it was difficult to speak.

“What?” Caey trembled at Omen’s belt.

“Got bit.” Omen fell onto their side.

“By the salamander?”

Omen’s eyes fluttered closed. “Got bit.” Omen repeated.

“Yes, yes, I know!” Caey actually sounded worried. 

Omen’s fingers clumsily untied Caey from their belt and brought the tiara to their forehead. 

“What are you doing? Shouldn’t you treat your wound?” Caey sputtered as Omen shoved him onto their head. “Omen?!”

Omen’s breaths became wheezing and they struggled to speak. “Venom. You have… to fix me.”

Now that Caey rested upon Omen’s brow, he could sense where their wound lay. It was a throbbing, ragged bite wound upon their left side, still bleeding, and the aforementioned venom was working fast. Too fast.

Omen’s legs began to stiffen and convulse.

“Omen, I don’t have magic. I can’t fix you, you idiot!” Caey shouted into Omen’s thoughts. Caey’s awareness was split between his own knowledge as an object of power, and what Omen could see. Now that they put him on their head, Caey would feel everything Omen felt. See everything they saw.

Omen was fixating on the pale, cloudy sky above, between the brown leaves of late autumn. Caey could feel the pain of tense muscles and the fire in their veins. Did they just want him to suffer alongside them? Why had they put him on?

“Ca-...ey.” Omen hissed through gritted teeth.

“Yes? What should I do? I do not know what you want me to do!” Caey babbled.

Caey could feel Omen’s heart racing.

“When I stop…sh-shaking.” Omen choked. Caey felt something warm, and thick roll from their mouth and dribble down their cheek. “Take control…walk me- to healer…p-please.”

Omen had never put Caey on before. 

Omen wouldn’t. Omen knew Caey’s power of possession. 

Omen trusted him now. 

Caey didn’t know how to feel about this. 

But he knew he would do it. He would save Omen. 

“I will.” Caey said quickly.

Omen’s body became painfully tight and wracked with convulsions. Every limb stretched taut to breaking. Their heart raced. Bloody foam spilled from between gritted teeth. Omen seized and seized for what seemed like hours. Eyes rolled back in their head. Caey could see only darkness. 

Caey, planted firmly on Omen’s sweating brow, rode the waves of pain with his friend. He spoke soothing words into their feverish mind. And as soon as the convulsions died down, Caey took hold of Omen’s body. They were broken and in so much pain. But he ran. Stumbling. Falling. Getting back up. And running. To save Omen’s life. He had to.

I MADE A WHUMP EVENT: get ready for July folks

welcome to the Whumperless Whump Event of July! for your sickfic, situational, and completely apersonal whump needs--comfort included, of course.

Image transcripts, tagging rules, and guidelines under the cut!

RULES

Any and all art types allowed! GIFs, drawings, music, writing, etc.

NO AI ALLOWED

OCs and Fandom works alike are welcome :)

Trigger and content tag. Even if the prompt explicitly requires the content (eg. Vomiting), still tag emetophobia

If enough interest is showed, I will make an Ao3 collection

TAGGING

Tag with, per example: #whumperless whump event day 1, #whumperless day 1: [prompt], and #whumperless whump event

Tag me (@whump-kia) if you desire on your work!

Again, make sure to trigger tag and content warn

Prompts (text):

Emergency First Aid: Self-done stitches / Alcohol as sanitizer / “It's just a scratch, I've had worse.”

Does your insurance cover this?: Car accident / Bystander caretaker / “Eyes open, ambulance is almost here.”

Like a record, baby: Vertigo / Struggling to stand / “Is the room spinning, or is it just me?”

It's every day bro: Chronic pain / Massage / “I'm used to it.”

Stealing my breath (give it back): Wheezing / Light-headed / “I'll count, you just breathe.”

Summer is a curse: Heat Stroke / Panting / “Why don't we… find some shade, quick?”

Accidental Cryotherapy: Falling through a frozen lake / Hypothermia / “Hey, c'mon, you gotta stay awake.”

Put your head on my shoulder: Migraine / Light & Sound Sensitivity / “I can close the curtains…”

White and red handkerchief: Coughing up blood / Can't speak / “You just can't shake that cough, can you?”

Your work is never finished: Forced to work while ill / Workplace emergency / “...sit down, I'm calling HR.”

A minor annoyance: Stuffy nose / Hate to be sick / “I'm fine, I can work.”

It's going down (I'm yelling timber): Building collapse / Trapped under rubble / “I can't move my legs.”

It's just a pebble: Avalanche / Stuck in the mountains / “Well, this wasn't how I thought the hiking trip would go.”

Lay down your sword: Fighting back a cold / Cuddling / “Just let yourself be sick so you can get better.”

I'm going down (you're yelling timber): Passing out / Exhaustion / “I've got you, let's sit down, I've got you.”

Say goodbye to filters: Half-conscious / Delirious / “You would never say that in your right mind…”

In hot water: Dangerously high fever / Cool baths / “We have to get that number down somehow.”

I don't see it: Hallucinations / Fever dreams / “It's just a nightmare. You're safe.”

The whump morning after: Tending to injuries / Domestic hurt comfort / “Let's check the bandages, okay?”

It's not fun if you're panicking: Stuck in an elevator / Claustrophobia / “Get me out.”

Where's the exit: Lost / Stuck in the wilderness / “Surely someone will notice we're gone.”

Better out than in: Nervous Stomach / Vomiting / “I got your hair, it's fine.”

Well, that doesn't taste right: Accidentally poisoned / Allergic reaction / “My tongue feels like bees, is that normal?”

Be one with the fish: Drowning / Rescue Breaths / “Why did you think that was a good idea?!”

We didn't start the fire: Severe burns / Running into flames / “I know it hurts. Breathe.”

That's no barn spider: Venomous bite / Arachnophobia / “You'll be okay, we can help.”

What's your name again?: Concussion / Temporary Amnesia / “I don't remember what happened to me.”

Nothing behind the eyes: Fully unconscious / Force feeding / “It's just me, go back to sleep.”

Wrong place, wrong time: Robbery / One of many hostages / “Stay behind me, I can take a hit.”

I don't mean to get emotional: Fear / Breaking point / “I can't stop crying, I'm sorry--”

Only way out is through: Tunnel collapse / Accidental Journey / “We can't just sit here and wait.”

ALTERNATES:

Seizure

Choking

Withdrawal

Drugged

Wild animal attack

Hangover

Strain/sprain

Broken bone

Bloody nose

Panic attack

Hey!! How do I get into making gifs? Any tips for a beginner? I literally know nothing about it just that the I'd like to start. Also is not having photoshop a big obstacle?

Hi there! Yeah I can give you some tips to get started! Keep in mind I use windows to make my gifs and not a mac.

So to get into gifmaking you don't need to have photoshop. If you find that you enjoy making gifs I do recommend you look into getting photoshop (and there are ways of getting it without paying *raises pirate flag*) but to start there are several online programs you can use.

Here's a few that i've used before I learned how to do it in photoshop:

photopea

ezgif

giphy

imgflip

makeagif

This is an excellent tutorial to using photopea to make gifs

Each one of those will allow you make a basic gif. For complex coloring, sharpening, layouts, typography, blending, etc you'll want to upgrade to using photoshop because the quality is just way better and you can do so much more but when you're just wanting to get start all of these websites are great places to learn.

I also recommend learning how to take screencaps because I find it's a lot easier to make gifsets using screencaps than it is to try and screen record, cut, and upload videos.

My recommendation for screencapping is KMPlayer. It's a video player that you download to your computer and has a very easy way to save screencaps. Then you can just upload the jpgs into whatever program you're using to make gifs.

I made a basic gif making tutorial using photoshop and kmplayer here if you want to take a look at it.

Basic gifmaking steps:

Get your video. You can download it through pirating sites or use dvds or screen record. I download from sites like soap2day.to.

Take screen caps of the specific scene you want to gif OR cut your video to just the scene you want

Upload either clip or jpgs into the chosen program

Set the speed

Do any trimming of the scene and/or cropping the sides you want to do

If your program allows you (some don't) you can sharpen it, brighten the colors, add text

Then just save it as a .gif

Some other things:

The higher quality video, the better quality gif. 1080 is better than 720. Try to get a nice quality video if you can

Some websites will have a watermark on it that can't be removed so keep that in mind. Another reason why I prefer using photoshop.

Try to keep the gif either the same speed as the episode or just a little slower. Too fast isn't good.

That's all I got for now! If you have any other questions please feel free ask! I'd be happy to help with anything!

Major Sharpe has a slash to the left shoulder that's gone to the bone, but what's gonna kill him is the bullet in his belly. If he were a dog I'd shoot him.

Sharpe's Sword (1995)

Merry Whump of May - Day 5

“Do unto others as you would bla bla bla…”

Bow and Arrow

Stalking

Cavern

(BBC Merlin)

@themerrywhumpofmay

“Quick, it went this way!” Prince Arthur hissed, leading the way into the cave.

Merlin furrowed his brow, panting, and shifted his pack further up on his shoulder. He stopped at the threshold of the cave entrance and looked up at the rocky ceiling and darkness within. Arthur was rapidly disappearing, his quiver of arrows on his back the last thing to vanish.

Something curdled in Merlin’s gut. They should not be going into this cave.

Besides, why would a startled deer run into a cave for safety?

A moment later, Merlin ducked into the cool dim shadows of the rock. He followed Arthur as best as he could, stumbling over loose stones. 

“Torch!” Arthur whispered from somewhere up ahead. “Now, Merlin!”

Merlin swung the bag off his shoulder and grabbed one of the torches, fumbling with his flint. 

When he raised the lit torch, hissing with fire, Arthur sighed. The Prince turned back.

“Finally.”

“Sorry.” Merlin grumbled. 

Arthur continued into the cave.

“Do you-” Merlin started, but Arthur shushed him. 

Merlin lowered his voice to a whisper. “Do you really think the deer ran in here?”

“Where else would it go?”

They had lost sight of the doe several times in the chase. Merlin speculated that it was probably anywhere in the forest but here.

“I suppose.” He sighed, following the Prince. 

As they walked, Merlin noticed something dark on the cave walls. He paused. Then moved over to it and raised the torch. The cave wall was covered in paintings. Very old paintings. In colors of dark brown, black, and reddish clay. And it looked like they were all paintings of the same thing. 

Merlin swung the torch around. The entire cave was covered in paintings of bears. 

Very large bears.

“Uhh, Arthur?” Merlin took a few steps back, back towards the entrance of the cave. “Arthur, I think we should go.”

Arthur turned back to Merlin, face illuminated in the torchlight. “Really, Merlin? It’s just a cave!”

The torchlight also illuminated a pair of yellow reflective eyes in the darkness behind Arthur. They blinked once.

“Arthur, run!” Merlin cried, and ran towards him.

Arthur faced the eyes and a low growl echoed around them, so loud that it bounced and seemed to come from all sides at once. Arthur raised his bow and nocked arrow, letting it fly towards the beast in the darkness. 

An earsplitting roar shook the cave.

They ran together. Stumbling and falling towards the distant daylight. The torch went out. Darkness fell suddenly. Merlin lost track of Arthur. The beast’s snorting and rumbling growls coming from all sides at once.

He was blind.

Merlin fell to the ground. His head bounced off a rock. Something wet and hot trickled down the side of his face. 

He peered into the darkness, using his gift to part the gloom for his eyes.

He saw Arthur on the ground.

He saw a massive bear over him. 

Merlin scrambled over. He jumped between the Prince and the bear. 

He had to stop it. So they could escape. 

Merlin extended a hand to the cave ceiling and reached with magic. Reached, and twisted, and tore a rock from the cave.

A fiery pain erupted into his back. Merlin screamed. 

He could not breathe. 

Did a falling rock hit him? He did not stop and pulled the rock from the ceiling so that it fell between them and the bear. A small barrier, but enough to give them a chance to outrun the beast. 

“Come on!” Arthur was still blind in the dark so Merlin grabbed him by the collar and pulled him towards the daylight. Towards the entrance. They ran and ran.

The full light of the outside hit them and they were surrounded by the green forest again, a cacophony of colors. And they kept running. 

Merlin fell behind. Every breath was an agony. He saw Arthur disappear over a small hill. He was gone. Oh well.

Merlin felt his knees hit the mossy ground. He was dizzy. And he could not breathe.

Oh well.

The next thing he knew, his cheek was pressed against damp, earthy-smelling moss. Someone was calling his name. Merlin cracked his eyes open and the daylight hurt. His head throbbed. His back, around his left shoulder-blade, burned and raged. Every breath an effort.

He was turned onto his side, the movement jostling the wound in his back. Merlin cried out, wheezing.

He looked up. 

His head was in Arthur’s lap. Prince Arthur’s eyes were wide and he was pale.

“I shot you.”

“What?” Merlin rasped.

“There’s an arrow in your back, Merlin. I shot you.”

“Oh.” Merlin closed his eyes.

So that’s why it hurt so much.

“Wake up!”

Arthur’s voice hurts too. But Merlin opens his eyes.

Arthur’s face is closer. “I’m taking you back right now. But not if you’re going to die on the way. I’m not going to the trouble of carrying a corpse all the way back, alright?” Arthur’s voice trembles and there are tears in his eyes.

Merlin nodded a little. “I would carry your body back, you idiot.”

“Yes, well.” Arthur wiped his eyes. “Do unto others as you would, you know, blah blah. Right?”

“I wouldn’t shoot anyone in the back either.” Merlin whispered.

Arthur hiccuped out a laugh. “Would you be willing to tell everyone you shot yourself in the back?”

“Idiot.” Merlin sighed, and closed his eyes.

Looking forward to this!

Let's get whumping!

Welcome to my environmental whump blog! This is a side blog, main blog is @adzeisval.

Here be all thing environmental whump from hypothermia, to natural disasters, to animal attack, and good old fashioned whoops I fell off a cliff.

I'll have prompts and polls and gifs and all kinds of whumpy goodness.

Ask box is open, and I might eventually take submissions, we'll see where this goes. Just getting started so not much to see yet. Happy whumping!

Merry Whump of May - Day 6

“It's a long story.”

Knife Handle

Gagged

Under the table

(Original characters/story)

@themerrywhumpofmay

They awoke to pain. And drowning.

Omen opened their eyes, gasping, choking. Their eyes stung with water and their head throbbed. Skull felt split open. Can’t. Move. Can’t. Breathe.

Within a moment, Omen realized that their hands were bound behind them. Their ankles were bound together. And there was a gag in their mouth. 

They were wet but they weren’t drowning. Small mercies. 

Omen squinted up at the man holding a dripping bucket over them.

“Good.” He said and set down the bucket. “I was beginning to think that I’d bludgeoned you a little too hard.”

The man was dressed in a fine, dark doublet and hose that were stained lightly with travel. He moved to sit down at a nearby table.

Omen flexed their calf. He had missed the knife in their boot. Interesting.

Omen eyed the room. 

This was some sort of cottage. The floorboards creaked and were caked with dust. The fireplace had been lit but was belching smoke, meaning it hadn’t been cleaned recently. There was a lit lantern on the single table. And the window to the outside, beside the only door, spoke of midafternoon or late morning. The sun was bright and the trees swayed in a breeze, creating a shifting dappled effect on the floor. 

Omen could only hear the crackling fire and birdsong from outside. They were alone. 

Their possessions were tossed to the side, laying haphazardly on the floor. But nothing had been searched yet. Caey was safe. For now. 

Omen was laying on the floor, so that when the man sat down, he was still looming above them.

“I’ve been looking for you for a while.” The man took a swig from a waterskin. “You’re difficult to find, girl.”

Omen winced at ‘girl’. It shouldn’t have bothered them. That was the least of their problems right now.

The man continued talking. “I’d been hearing rumors for a while of a girl fighting in the False Queen’s little band. A girl matching the description of someone I killed several years ago.”

Omen’s belly turned to ice and they stopped breathing.

“I was contracted to kill a highborn lady suspected of aiding the escaped False Queen. And I did so. She was easy to identify due to a mark on her wrist, a brand. A very-”

The man roughly reached down and yanked on Omen’s bound arms.

They cried out through the gag. Arms pulled into a painful twist, shoulder sockets screaming.

“A very distinctive mark.” The man breathed, looking down at Omen’s wrist.

The wrist that bore the brand that he spoke of.

The man, the assassin from all those years ago, released Omen’s wrist, letting them fall back to the dusty floor.

“So, you lived.” He murmured.

Omen grunted around the gag. 

The assassin leaned down and pulled the gag out. “Where is the False Queen?”

“Fuck off.” Omen spat.

He popped the gag back in, wound back his foot, and kicked Omen in the stomach. Hard.

Omen struggled to draw breath. The wind was knocked out of them. Before they could recover, there was another vicious kick.

A blow to their nose. Stars. Blinding pain. Watering eyes. Blood streamed down their face and trickled into their throat. Metallic and hot.

Omen writhed, crying out through the gag.

They arched their back. Reached with bound hands into their boot. Felt the slim, bone knife handle, warm with body heat. Good. 

They grasped it and hid it behind their body, working on the bonds as best as they could.

The assassin paced around the cottage.

Omen sliced their fingers and hands. The knife was sharp. Blood made the process slippery.

“I’m going to ask you again.” The man circled back around to them.

The rope was cut. The bonds loosened. Omen pulled free.

“And if you say-”

Omen hurled the knife. It stuck neatly in the assassin’s shoulder.

He bellowed. 

Omen rolled away, under the table, and began to attack the rope that bound their ankles. Halfway through, the assassin came at them, their own bone-handled knife in hand. Omen scrabbled back with their legs untangled and the rope in hand.

They leapt on the man.

Spat blood in his face.

And it was quick work after that.

Several minutes later, Omen stood. Head throbbing, nose swollen and bleeding, and ribs maybe broken. They wiped off the knife and placed it back in their boot.

They limped over to their pack and belongings. With cut and bleeding hands, they prepared to leave. The diadem still lay within their pack. As soon as they touched it, Caey spoke into their thoughts.

“You look terrible. What happened?”

Omen snorted and spat blood onto the cottage floor. “It’s a long story.”

Whumpay - Day 7

Main Challenge - Attacks, Mental & Physical - Heart Attack Mini Challenge 7 - Torture - Shock Collar Fandom - BBC Merlin (2008-2012)

“We have a special restraint for your attack dog. If he tries anything, he’ll regret it.”

Arthur scoffed. “My attack dog?” He looked around and noticed that

Merlin had six men surrounding him while Arthur was being held by only two. “You can’t mean Merlin? That’s ridiculous!” Arthur laughed a little but quickly stopped when it became obvious that his captors weren’t joking. No one else was laughing. Least of all Merlin.

Merlin was on his knees, head bowed, blood dripping from his nose.

“You can’t be serious.” Arthur tried again.

No one spoke. They were indeed serious.

Arthur and Merlin had been out hunting when they had been ambushed by these bandits. But something wasn’t normal about all this. The way they were treating Merlin was odd. Arthur felt like an afterthought to them.

“Tie them up.” The obvious leader ordered.

The bandits were all wearing rough cloaks and patched clothing, mud-spattered and travel-worn. The leader looked much the same, except for the strange necklace he wore and the fact that he was the only one who had uttered a word so far. Every other bandit had been absolutely silent.

As Arthur’s and Merlin’s hands were bound behind their backs, Arthur took a moment to examine the necklace that the leader wore. It was a long leather band with a metal charm. The charm was similar to a coin, flat and round, engraved with a honeycomb shape.

Once Merlin’s hands had been tied, the leader brought over a small trunk and knelt beside Merlin. He spoke some words in Merlin’s ear that Arthur could not hear. But Arthur saw Merlin’s eyes widen. He saw Merlin become pale.

The leader then opened the trunk.

“You do not want to do this.” Arthur warned the bandits. “I am the prince! Either I will get myself free and kill all of you, or the king’s men will arrive and do the same.”

From the trunk emerged a strange metal collar. It shone dully in the fading sunlight. The leader of the bandits opened the collar and fastened it about Merlin’s neck. It clicked into place with an ominous grating sound.

Arthur just couldn’t believe this was happening. “Come on, he’s harmless. Merlin, tell them, you’re practically useless!” Merlin did not look up. Merlin just let them collar him.

The leader straightened up again and looked over to Arthur. “Watch now. This is what will happen if either of you make trouble.” He pressed a hand to his chest and spoke a strange word.

Suddenly, Merlin cried out. Arthur squinted against the blinding light. Lightning struck out from the metal collar and ran down Merlin’s body. Merlin seized and twitched and fell to the forest floor where he continued to writhe. His face was twisted in agony.

“Merlin!” Arthur cried out. “Stop!” He ordered the leader. “Stop hurting him! He’s just a servant!”

As soon as it appeared, the lightning disappeared and Merlin lay still on the ground.

The leader looked to Arthur. “Bring them.”

Arthur was marched. Merlin was dragged.

They traveled through the forest until the sun fully disappeared and a thin mist formed on the ground. Arthur only realized they were descending into a cave when the stars above disappeared. They were brought to a small chamber, lit by the torches that the bandits carried. Merlin was dropped on the dirt floor beside Arthur, awake, but shaking and pale.

“Merlin?” Arthur nudged him gently with his foot.

Merlin looked up at Arthur. His bloody nose had coated the lower half of his face in a patchy bloodstain. Merlin grimaced up at Arthur. Something raw and pained.

Somehow, that didn’t comfort him.

“Merlin, are you okay?” Arthur whispered.

“Do I look okay?” Merlin’s voice was cracked and hoarse from screaming.

“You could just say no.” Arthur sighed and looked around. They were still being guarded by a lot of bandits. The leader was nowhere to be seen though.

“Sorry.” Gasping, Merlin worked hard to sit up. “I thought it would be obvious.”

“Now is not the time for sarcasm.”

Merlin was quiet a moment, then spoke again, quieter than before. “I can get you untied. But I can’t get this collar off. You will have to leave me.”

“Nonsense.” Arthur laughed. “I’ll get it off you.”

“You can’t.”

“And how do you know that?”

Merlin turned towards Arthur and met his eyes. “Osgar told me.” Osgar must be the leader’s name.

“Then he was lying.” Arthur did not understand how Merlin was so gullible.

“He wasn’t.” Merlin’s gaze flicked to the entrance. “He told me…” Merlin swallowed hard. “He told me that if anyone else tries to take it off, it’ll kill me.”

Arthur watched as Osgar entered the chamber. It would make sense for a magic object to be so stupidly difficult to take off. But he didn’t feel like admitting that Merlin might be right.

“He was lying, Merlin. Why would it do that? It’s stupid.”

Merlin fell silent.

Osgar walked over and sat down in front of Arthur and Merlin. “I have some questions. If they are answered, then no one will be hurt.” He nodded at Merlin.

“I won’t tell you anything about Camelot.” Arthur snarled.

Osgar froze, then sighed and stood up. “I don’t want to know anything about Camelot.” He nodded at the other bandits in the chamber and they moved over to Arthur. They grabbed hold of him and kept him still. “I want information about Emrys.”

“Who?” Arthur spluttered. “I don’t know an Emrys.”

“I know.” Osgar stood over Merlin and looked down at the servant.

“I’m not talking to you.” Osgar touched his hand to his chest again, to the metal pendant he wore. “Am I?

Merlin slowly looked up at Osgar. “I don’t know anything.” He whispered.

“Liar.” Oskar spoke that strange command again.

Lightning flared. The very air blazed with heat. Merlin screamed. And Arthur, may he be forgiven, closed his eyes.

The questioning went on and on. Over and over, Osgar demanded information about Emrys. And over and over, Merlin denied him.

Arthur could hear his friend’s voice growing weaker. At first, Arthur struggled against his bonds and the bandits holding him. But it was no use. He could not escape. He could only witness.

Finally, there came a point where Merlin did not move anymore. He lay prone upon the dirt floor, still, too still. The metal collar about his neck had formed a shiny burn. Osgar approached, and using the toe of his boot, he flipped Merlin over onto his back.

“Stop.” Arthur begged with a raw voice. “You will kill him.”

Osgar’s eyes flicked over to Arthur for the first time in a while. “How does one kill an immortal?” Then he squatted down beside Merlin, looking down at him. Merlin’s face was slack. He was unconscious. Or dead. Arthur dearly wished he was unconscious.

Osgar stood up again. “Let him rest. We’ll try again later.”

And suddenly, Arthur was alone with Merlin.

Arthur scrambled over to his servant. He tripped and fell, finding it hard to get up again due to his bound hands.

“Merlin.” Arthur whispered and shook Merlin’s limp body.

Nothing. No reaction. The shiny burns on Merlin’s neck were the only color on him; he was so pale.

“Merlin.” Arthur shook him harder. Still nothing. Arthur bent awkwardly down and placed his ear next to Merlin’s lips. He could feel no breath. Merlin wasn’t breathing.

“No, no, no…”

Hoping he was mistaken, Arthur moved lower and placed his ear against Merlin’s chest. He listened hard. He held his breath. Willing that heartbeat into existence.

Silence.

“No.” Arthur sat back and sniffed. “No, I can’t-“ He stifled a sob.

He had to do something.

Arthur scooted down to Merlin’s boots. It took some angling, but he managed to pull Merlin’s knife out of his boot with his bound hands. Not minding the bite of the blade into his own flesh, Arthur got to work on his bonds. Hands free and slippery with blood, he pawed at Merlin’s face. He was cold and damp with sweat.

He had to do something.

Tears in his eyes, Arthur raised his fist and brought it down on Merlin’s chest. Hard.

He pressed his ear to Merlin’s chest. Nothing.

Arthur did it again. And again. Weeping silently so he could listen for a heartbeat.

His fist hurt. He had to do something.

One more time.

Merlin gasped and coughed. His eyes flew open. His limbs shook.

Arthur laughed and gathered Merlin up into his arms and held him tightly.

“Ow.” Merlin rasped. “That hurts.”

“Too bad.” Arthur sighed.

TW: MEDWHUMP/MEDICAL LANGUAGE

Hi everyone! @whumpetywhumpwhump here- I noticed there doesn't seem to be an official Medwhump May running this year, so I'm running one myself :)

I appreciate it's pretty late in the game to be releasing prompts, but I was waiting to see whether the official page was going to post anything before deciding to start mine. Hopefully a few of you would like to get involved (even if it is short notice lol)

RULES!

No AI-generated content

Please tag this account if you post your challenge submissions on Tumblr and use the tag 'medwhump may' (as in the tags of this post)

For completionists, all 31 days must be completed (using either the daily prompt or an alt prompt)

When creating content for chronic illnesses and seizures, PLEASE USE THE RELEVANT WHUMP TAGS INSTEAD OF THE GENERAL TAGS. e.g 'seizure whump' rather than just 'seizures'. This avoids important tags being flooded with whump fics

Have fun!

I will update these rules if necessary! Happy whumping!

Please reblog this to get the word out :)