Snow White and her Merry Men

Once Upon A Time

Snow / Robin Wood

Before there was Charming in Snow's heart, before there was Marianne (or Regina) in Robin's heart.

Snow didn't know what to do. She had just escaped from her step-mother, Regina, with the help of the Huntsman who had been sent to kill her and she didn't know where to go.

She had been raised in a castle, with maids and guard to protect her and give her everything she needed. She had cooks that cooked for her and now she was hungry, wondering which berries were eatable and which ones weren't.

Where was she going to sleep? What would she do against the cold and the wild animals? How was she going to find her way in those woods?

She only knew the main road, the one that lead to her castle... Well, it wasn't really her castle anymore...

Loosing her father wasn't enough, she had lost her home, her clothes, her maid, her mother's crown... her entire life.

Why did Regina hate her so much? All Snow had ever done was to try and be nice with her, to give her the chance to replace the mother she had lost... Things between them had started out so well... Snow didn't know why everything changed after She became Queen and married her father...

Snow didn't know which direction to take, all she knew was that she couldn't go back if she wanted to stay alive so she kept walking forward, going further in the woods, letting the loose branches tear at her clothes and scrap her skin as she cried for what she had lost. She must have been walking for 3 or 4 hours when she fell, tripping on something she hadn't seen. She sat there crying for a couple of minutes when she saw the whistle that the Huntsman had given her, telling her to blow in it if she ever needed help.

Feeling like she didn't have much to lose anymore, Snow blew in the little whistle and waited, not knowing who or what would come to her rescue.

"Are you lost, milady?" A masculine voice with a charming accent said from behind her.

Snow immediately stood up and turned around, facing a tall man with short blond hair, a bow and arrow and dressing entirely in green and brown. He seemed to be a few years older than she was.

"Yes actually... I... My name is Snow White, I... I don't know where to go." She replied.

"Who gave you that whistle?" The man asked her, pointing at the little object Snow still held in her hand.

"The Huntsman that my Step Mother the Queen Regina sent to kill me..." Snow replied, praying internally that he'd help her.

"Well, in that case, my name is Robin Hood Milady and if what you need is shelter, you're welcome to our camp. My Merry men and I will love the company and if you tell us your story, maybe we can help you decide on what you'll do next." He offered and Snow nodded.

She knew that trusting a stranger wasn't the best choice, especially since she recognize the name Robin Hood as being a thief she had heard about but she didn't have a choice. She needed to trust that he'd help her, that she'd be safe with him and his men.

.

Snow arrived in the Merry men's camp and was welcomed as if she was an old friend of theirs. She felt comfortable enough with them that she told them her story, not that there was much to tell and they agreed to help her, to show her how to survive in the woods until she could get her kingdom back.

"All in all, there's only one decision you need to make Milady. You need to decide right now if you'd rather be the arrow or the target in your life. You're in danger either way, being the Arrow, you'll survive but if you choose to remain a target, you'll be caught quickly and die at the Queen's hand." Robin told her before she went to sleep, asking her to make a decision by morning.

Of course, Snow decided that she'd rather be the arrow, that she refused to remain a target for the Queen's evil wishes any longer so after a good breakfast, Robin, Friar Tuck, Little John and the rest of the Merry men started to teach Snow how to survive in nature. What she could eat, what she shouldn't touch and what was poisonous. How to fish, hunt small animals and prepare them for dinner, how to make her own bow and arrows, how to find her way, how to fight with anything she could find, even how to make her own bow and arrow with what she could find around herself...

Snow was a good student though and she learned quickly everything she needed to know. Soon, she was a shot just as good as Robin.

A few weeks after she joined the Merry men, Robin took Snow with him to help some nearby villagers that were being tortured by a tyrant Lord. Then, for a few days, she was by his side anytime he went out on one of his missions. Attack the sheriff, give money back to some poor villagers, steal from the rich...

At first, a few days after escaping the Queen, Snow found a WANTED poster with her head on it, saying she was wanted for her own father's murder. She was glad to realize that nobody believed it and that even the people who had seen her refused to reveal where she was. Quickly though, as she went on outings with Robin and his men, the Wanted Poster added the charges of thievery. Once again, the people didn't tell on her and remained faithful to their princess.

"Snow, Little John has news. Our posters are now hanging side by side in town." Robin told Snow that afternoon.

"Who wins?" She asked him with a smile.

It was a little game between them, the one worth the biggest amount of money won. Last time, he was still slightly higher than she was.

"You do. Seems like the Queen wants you more than the Sheriff wants me." He replied.

"Or she simply has more money to spare on this, as well as magic." She argued.

"You're probably right." he nodded.

The two of them were growing very close and from simple friends, they were now best friends, family. He was like a big brother to her now.

Of course, hiding Snow White from the Queen meant that the Merry Men's camp had to move several times. If nobody seemed to mind, Snow was feeling guilty because every time the Dark Knights attacked their camp, her friends and saviors would get hurt and it was all her fault.

That day wasn't any different. The Queen's knights found them and attacked the camp, forcing them all to break camp and run once more.

"This is getting out of hand... I should leave. If I leave, the Queen will leave you alone and all you'll have to worry about is the Sheriff, who's not much of a threat anyway." Snow told Robin after they were done dressing everyone's wounds.

"Don't be silly Snow. You're one of us now. We don't abandon family." Robin told her.

"I know, and I'm grateful fur your help and support Robin but this can't go on longer! Look around you, it's all because of me." Snow argued.

"No, it's because of the evil queen!" He shook his head.

"And she's doing this because of me! Listen to me just one minute Robin. Please. Look around you. Little John's pierced shoulder, Friar Tuck's injured leg, this broken arm, all the cuts... It's because I'm here." She insisted, pointing people out as she spoke.

"It doesn't matter, we don't mind." Robin replied and she could see her friends nodding their agreement with Robin in the back.

"What about Marianne?" Snow asked Robin.

"What about her?" He asked back, confused.

"I know you love her Robin, and she loves you back. Can you imagine her living here, having to be on the look out for attacks every minutes? What if she ends up pregnant? Your child won't be safe here. Not with me."

"Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself here? We met only a week ago and she's promised to the sheriff." Robin shook his head.

"And you're trying to deny your feelings but you shouldn't. You love her, and she loves you. She won't marry that sheriff, even if it means she has to hide in those woods. She told me so yesterday. Do you really think she'll be happy if she has to run away from arrows and black knights constantly?" Snow argued and she could see reason starting to form in his eyes.

"I can't abandon you..." He shook his head.

"You taught me everything I need to know to survive Robin, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." She smiled.

"Is this really goodbye then?" Little John asked and Snow nodded.

"I'll be gone by morning." She replied.

"Then tonight, we party. And when you defeat the Evil Queen and win your kingdom back..." Robin started to say.

"I'll have the sheriff arrested and send for you and you'll come for an even bigger party in my castle." She smiled before they hugged.

As a goodbye gift, Robin gave Sow a necklace in which a special kind of fairy dust was hidden. They had stolen it a few days ago and learned that it was Dark Fairy dust, a magic capable of turning even the most powerful beings into a bug. They were giving her a chance to escape the queen or to try and defeat her. They could have used it on the sheriff or on many other people and it touched her that they chose to give it to her.

.

The next morning, Snow left before any of the men could wake up, refusing to spend anymore time with tearful goodbyes. She left a letter with her last farewells, wishing them all good luck and assuring her friends that they'd meet again some day.

Thanks to them, she knew how to survive, how to hide, feed, fight...

She's be able to escape her evil step mother's dark knights long enough to either find a way to defeat her or to escape the realm. Thanks to her Merry Men friends, she had a real chance.

She was no longer the innocent little princess who relied on everyone else to help her, she could handle her own in any situations.

Here you go, another short story about something that could have been... Maybe...

What do you think?

Tell me in a review?

Happy Holidays.

Lorelei Candice Black