AN: This story is set in the Heroes and Villains storybook that Isaac wrote during Operation Mongoose 1 and 2. It focuses on the bandit Regina and Robin Hood's stories in the fictional book and how it felt for them to once again be forcibly separated. Several of your other favorite characters show up as their alternative book selves as well (spoiler: the full moon rises during chapter one). It's a wild ride! I adore these characters and did my best to stay true to them while exploring them in this slightly darker book. I would love to know what you think! Please read and review. Enjoy, fellow Oncer!
Heroes and Villains
Earlier Chapters
Chapter One
A Bandit to Save
Robin
"I have to hand it to you, Will, you truly have a knack for finding the most reprehensible establishments in the kingdoms," Robin said, pushing back the hood of the roughspun brown cloak he was wearing to conceal his more recognizable green leather doublet, and examining the wooden sign hanging over the entrance of the pub that clearly displayed a cooked pig with an apple in its mouth. The faded plank beneath it that was swinging by one rusted chain bore the words "The Blind Sow." A girl barely out of her teens with a garishly painted face was leaning on the wall beside the door. She spit out a hank of chewing tobacco, before smiling suggestively, revealing several missing teeth, as she trailed her fingers down between the cleavage that was barely contained by the rag of a dress that she was wearing. Robin cleared his throat a little awkwardly as she unashamedly looked him up and down.
"You're a tall fella, ain't ya?," She took a step towards him grabbing his belt, "I like 'em tall, I reckon you'd like me plenty, as well. Whatdaya say we ditch your friend here and I take you into the alley and you tell me exactly how you want it?"
"What do you say, you take this," Robin said, pressing a gold coin, fresh from a recent robbery of a royal carriage, into her palm. It was easily more money that she would earn in a month in an alley on her knees, "And take the rest of the night off?"
"The fuck is this?" she asked, immediately taking the coin between two fingers and looking at it warily as though it had offended her, "Is this fake? Are you having me on?" she demanded, before placing the coin between her remaining teeth and biting it, seeing that her teeth left a clear impression in the soft metal. She stared at him in shock before catching a glimpse of the green leather beneath his cape and noticing the royal seal on the coin. Suddenly, her eyes widened with understanding, "You're him! You're bloody Rob..."
"Yes, yes," Will interrupted, "you'll have to forgive my friend here. Already had too much to drink," then much more quietly, "Now run along and keep your mouth shut about it or I'll have that coin back."
The girl still looked a bit awestruck but she nodded, tucking the coin into her cleavage before hurrying off down the road. She paused a few paces away and glanced back over her shoulder, before continuing on her way. It was impossible not to notice that now even beneath the grime and the horrible make-up her face glowed with something else, something that looked very much like hope.
"Why did you have to go and do that?" Will scolded, as they made their way into the crowded Blind Sow, which Robin quickly realized upon entering and seeing that all of the servers were barely clad women was in fact not a pub but a brothel.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
"I mean," Will said in a hushed voice as they slid onto two rickety stools beside a small table with a good view of the door, "we are in the capital in disguise to get information and you go giving handouts to girls like that who have never had a man do anything decent for them in their lives and you are going to be the talk of the town by morning. You've got to be more careful, mate."
"Giving to those in need is exactly why we do what we do and I don't think I've ever seen anyone in quite as much need as that girl. If that buys her a couple nights of getting to sleep on her own or perhaps a fresh start than it's worth the risk. Besides we will be long gone by morning," Robin said, before conceding, "but you are right, I should have been more careful. I'm sorry, my friend."
"It's all right, I should've known better than to bring the prince of the bleeding hearts to a brothel in this part of town."
"Yeah, what the hell are we doing in this place?"
"Not up for a little company then," Will teased before adding more seriously, "my contact picked the place and believe me you're going to want to hear what she has to say. She said she has a lead on your favorite bandit."
"Regina?" Robin questioned, suddenly feeling that the trip to the capital might not have been a waste after all.
"Actually, the name's Ella," an unfamiliar female voice answered from over Will's shoulder. She was a petite blonde, with a slightly upturned nose and bright blue eyes. Despite the fact that she was wearing her bodice half open and her cheeks smeared with rogue like all of the other girls in The Blind Sow, there was something unmistakably different about her. Her big blue eyes seemed to hold a spark of mischief that hadn't been completely extinguished and it offered a marked contrast between her and the other workers and patrons of The Blind Sow, "Now how much for an hour with this exotic beauty or is he already booked for the rest of the evening?" she asked, winking at Robin as she wrapped her soft pale arms around Will's neck, sliding one of her hands inside his shirt and twisting his nipple.
"Oy, watch it there handsy, you gotta pay for that kinda thing in here," Will said with a laugh, before pulling her into his lap and allowing her to give him a slightly sloppy opened mouth kiss.
While still on Will's lap she reached across the upended barrel serving as the table between them and grabbed the back of Robin's neck, leaning forward so she could whisper in his ear, "I'm going to kiss you and then ask you to join us. You need to hand me some coins and then follow us to the back room. Look enthusiastic and hurry there isn't much time." With that she leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth before adding in a much louder voice, "Now, love, don't get jealous there's plenty of me to go around...for the right price of course."
Robin did as she had bid him placing several silver coins in her hand and wrapping an arm around her waist as she grabbed Will's hand and pulled them towards a back room. The instant they were inside, she shoved a chair under the door knob and turned to face them.
"So this is him then," she asked Will, crossing her arms over her chest and eyeing Robin critically, "this is the legendary Robin Hood?"
"It is," Will answered, "and he may not look like much, but I promise he lives up to his reputation."
"Let's hope so, for Regina's sake at least," Ella said, putting her hands on her hips, fully adopting an air of command and seeming completely unbothered by the fact that both men towered over her or that she was barely clothed. Robin found himself already respecting this woman for her confidence. "She's planning to rob a carriage tonight transporting a chest of freshly minted coins bound for the palace."
"We haven't heard anything about this shipment," Robin said, a little surprised that his sources within the palace had missed such a valuable piece of information.
"That's because it's a lie," Ella said, raising an eyebrow at him, "the carriage Regina will rob tonight will be empty, the entire thing is a trap laid by the Queen. She took the heart of one of Regina's favorite sources and had him feed her this story. As soon as she robs the carriage she's going to be surrounded by an entire company of The Black Guard."
"When is this happening?" Robin asked. One thief, no matter how skilled could never hope to escape an entire company of Snow White's most feared guards.
"The carriage is set to reach the crossroads of west gate and the king's road at midnight. It will happen then. Which I would say gives you two a little more than two hours to do something if you want to stop your competition's heart from ending up in the Queen's hands," Ella said, as she crossed to the only window in the room and started to fiddle with the latch.
"How do you know all this?"
"Because when I'm not spending my nights at this fair establishment I work in the palace tending the fires. I've tended the fire in Snow White's bedroom for the past year," she answered with a shrug after she succeeded in opening the window.
"What? Then why help us? How can we possibly trust you?" Robin demanded, grabbing her by the arm. She smoothly produced a knife seemingly from nowhere and pressed the blade against his throat.
"I could slit your throat right now," she snarled, pressing the blade against his throat, "Maybe even bring your head to Snow White to mount in her trophy room. Earn myself a bit of a promotion. I bet she would appreciate adding The Thief's head to her collection."
"Oy, now there's no need for that. We all want the same things," Will said conciliatorily.
"Will's right," Ella conceded, "I serve the Queen because she is a tyrant and the only way to bring down a tyrant is from inside their own house. I hate her with every fiber of my being and will never stop fighting to end her rule. Regina is one of the only people in this whole fucked up country that has the balls to fight back and say that what Snow White is doing is wrong...I care what happens to her because intentionally or not she ended the life of James, the only person worse than the Queen and the murderer who killed my father, and for that Regina will always have my loyalty. As to trusting me, that is entirely up to you," she jerked a thumb of the hand that wasn't holding the blade against Robin's throat towards Will, "this one does and I imagine that's good enough for you."
"It is," Robin said, "and we are grateful for your help. Will you allow me to give you a bit of advice in return?"
"What's that?" Ella asked raising an eyebrow at him curiously.
Robin unexpectedly took a step back away from her and ducked down and to the left. He caught hold of the wrist of the hand that was holding the knife in one motion and twisted that arm behind her back.
"Always make sure your opponent can't retreat before holding a blade against their throat," Robin said, his voice free of malice as he released his hold on her arm.
Ella let out an impressed little laugh, "I'll have to remember that one. Now we should all get out of here. I have a queen to serve and you have a bandit to save." She reached through the open window and fished around for a moment, "And if you are going to do that you will need this."
"A bundle of red cloth?" Will questioned, looking at the wad of faded red brocade she had produced from the outside window sill.
"An enchanted traveling cloak," Ella explained, shaking it out to reveal the hood, "that I risked my life to steal from the Queen, I'll have you know."
"What is this cloak enchanted to do exactly?" Robin questioned.
"The company of Black Guard Snow White sent after Regina isn't led by just any knight."
Regina
"Shh, steady, boy," Regina said, quietly to her horse, soothingly stroking his neck as they waited in the shadows of the trees a few yards from the edge of the West Gate Road. As horses went, Zancas, was nothing special to look at. He was a small sorrel gelding that had been a gift to her from the miller and his wife that she had lived with for a few years as a girl. The older couple had been killed one night during a battle towards the end of The Last Ogre Wars. Regina and Zancas had been the only survivors of the attack. He had been with her ever since. He was fast and loyal and the only remnant that she had of anything even resembling a home. She couldn't blame him for being antsy tonight though, something about the air around them felt wrong and Regina found herself jumping at each noise.
Twice already she had considered simply abandoning this job and waiting for another score, but she knew that she was already living on borrowed time and if she didn't find a way to buy passage out of the kingdom soon then her head was going to join the other unseeing faces that lined the walls in the Queen's trophy room. At this thought a shiver crept up her spine and Regina firmly resolved that that would not be the way her life ended. She would continue to what she had been doing all of her life, fighting to survive.
The familiar taste of loneliness settled on the back of her tongue and she was forced to confront the question of whether survival really even held that much of an appeal to her anymore. She had been doing it for so long because it was all she knew how to do. Everyone around her died or left her behind, but she always picked herself back up, never questioning whether or not she actually wanted to keep going.
For the first time tonight as the full moon showed glimpses of its face between the interlaced fingers of the clouds, Regina finally realized just how tired she truly was. She was exhausted of the running, tired of always fighting an enemy that was better equipped than her in every way. She was sick of apologizing for a mistake she had made years ago and already paid for a thousand times over. She was exhausted of forever feeling like a hunted fox, darting in and out of the undergrowth, never allowed to rest, never allowed to feel settled. She was sick to death of Robin Hood and his band of misfits forever stripping royal carriages just before she got to them, keeping her trapped within this kingdom. But the thing that weighed heaviest on her heart was the feeling she got each and every time she walked through the familiar opening into the hollow tree that was her home. Each time coming back to realize that she had fought so hard and survived yet again for nothing and no one.
She longed desperately for companionship, for it to matter to another person whether or not she made it home at the end of the night. Regina shook her head against this train of thought, knowing that their was no way that she could risk bringing someone else into her life right now. Not when Snow White wanted her dead and had threatened anyone who associated with her. Even people who had just been foolish enough to speak out in her defense had suffered horrible deaths at the Queen's hands. Regina could only imagine the kind of fate that would befall someone that Snow discovered she actually cared about.
"Guess it's just you and me, friend," Regina whispered quietly to Zancas, pulling him back further into the shadows as she heard the sound of carriage wheels coming down the road. She glanced up at the rope that she had climbed up and tied between two trees across the road. She had estimated that it should be right at the height of the carriage driver and hoped that it would hold.
The ground started to vibrate slightly with the pounding of the carriage team's hooves as they approached her hiding spot and Regina tensed ready to ride hard and fast after the carriage once the driver fell off. There was a satisfying cry and a twang as the rope did its work and caught the driver around the middle sending him flying off of the back of the carriage. Regina put her heels hard in Zancas' sides and rode after the carriage team until they started to slow and she was able to lean over and catch hold of the reins.
"Whoa," she urged as she pulled them to a stop, before quickly dismounting and running to the carriage door. She used the dagger she wore at her waist to jimmy open the lock and smiled to herself when it clicked open. She tossed the lock into the dirt and swung the door open, reaching into the carriage preparing to start the process of picking open the lock on the chest of coins.
"What the hell?" Regina hissed to herself when she saw that the carriage was empty. It took a moment for the icy fist of fear to twist itself around her stomach as she realized the only explanation for the empty carriage. This was a trap.
She reached for one of the arrows that she wore on her back and hurried to free the bow that was strung across her chest. As she spun around she turned right into one of Queen's Black Guard and he smashed her below the eye with the heel of his sword with enough force to knock her backwards against the carriage. The blow dazed her and she lost her grip on the arrow in her hand, but she saw her dagger lying on the floor of the carriage and grabbed it, knowing she was only going to get one shot and she had to make this blow count.
"I've got her," the knight called to his companions, reaching forward to grab her by the collar of her vest.
Regina waited until he leaned in close and then buried the dagger in the space just above his collar bone. She had tangled with enough of the black knights to know that their armor gapped between their gorget and breast plate. It wouldn't kill the knight, but it would definitely leave him in a world of hurt.
He let out a howl of pain and shoved her to the ground as he scrabbled at the dagger poking out above his armor.
"You stupid bitch," he yelled, and went to kick her in the stomach, but she anticipated him and kicked out hard at his knee causing him to scream again and collapse in a heap on the ground.
"Careful, what does that say about you?" Regina spat at him.
"Enough!" Another more forceful female voice commanded and suddenly Regina felt the cold tip of a sword against her throat and looked up to see that she surrounded by a company of at least ten Black Knights and two of the Queen's feared dwarves both wielding their axes, one of which was holding the reigns of her horse.
"Stop struggling or I will gut you and feast on your bones right here, " The knight who was clearly in command said again, before taking off her helmet and revealing a mane of dark brown hair falling around a deceptively sweet looking, pretty face. Regina immediately recognized her as the younger of the two werewolves that both served Snow White. Regina blinked her eyes against the memory of a time that she had seen this young woman transform and eat every member of family that had been foolish enough to offer her shelter for the night. "Your call, Regina, you know what I can do and the night is young. I would love the chance to conclude our business early and still have time to hunt."
"We both know that the Queen would be furious if you ate me and robbed her the pleasure of killing me herself," Regina said boldly, willing her voice not to shake.
"You know, I actually asked my queen this very question the other day and she said that I was welcome to whatever parts of you I wanted as long as I brought her your heart," The werewolf snarled, licking her lips, before looking up at one of the dwarves and one of the knights standing in the circle behind Regina, "Get her on her feet and hold her; the Queen wants her to see something."
They each seized one of her arms and pulled Regina roughly to her feet.
"Tie the beast over there," The werewolf girl commanded, motioning towards a tree at the edge of the road, a few yards from where they were all standing. The dwarf holding Zancas' reins accepted a length of rope from one of the knights and secured it around the horse's neck before attempting to lead him through the center of the circle of knights.
The wind shifted and Zancas caught one hint of the werewolf's scent and immediately started to rear and paw and the air attempting to break free.
Good boy, get the hell out of here, Regina thought, hoping that he might be able to break away and make a run for it, but the hope died in her chest as several of the other knights helped the dwarf subdue him. They eventually succeeded in tethering Zancas' lead securely to the tree.
Regina thought it was odd that they would take such pains to secure her horse. It wasn't as though she were going to be able to make a break for it with this many of them surrounding her and even if she did she could just as easily steal one of their horses to ride away on.
"Grumpy, hold her tight and make sure she can't look away. I don't want her to miss a minute."
"Yes, Commander Ruby," the dwarf holding one of Regina's arms answered. He twisted the arm he was holding behind her back and grabbed a fistful of her braid, pulling on it so hard that she let out an involuntary gasp of pain.
Ruby stalked towards them, leaning in close so that her nose was almost touching Regina's, her wide mouth spreading into a wolfish grin before saying, "You know you've kept up a pretty brave front, but can I let you in on a little secret? We really can smell fear and you positively reek of it," as she spoke Regina could smell blood on her breath, "Now, we've reached the object lesson portion of our evening. Snow asked me to show you exactly how it feels to watch something you love die...and she happened to mention that you've had this horse ever since she's known you..."
"No," Regina breathed out as everything suddenly made sense.
"I have to say that I never get sick of that look in someone's eyes when it all finally clicks and they understand what's about to happen," Ruby said, rolling her shoulders before turning her back to Regina and starting to walk away from her. Regina instinctively struggled against the men that were holding her.
"You don't have to do this!" she called after Ruby, "please, he's innocent!"
"Nothing's innocent. And Snow said you'd beg," the girl said, with one last cruel glance over her shoulder, her eyes flashing gold as she transformed into the monster she truly was.
Robin
A bone chilling scream cut through the night air, so raw and filled with pain that Robin felt it in his chest like a knife. It was followed by the incongruous sound of a horse naying in panic and wet snarling chomping sounds.
"We're too late," Robin whispered, a feeling of panic rising in his chest. He imagined it was probably strange to feel so invested in the welfare of someone that he had never actually met, but he had long admired Regina's skills and he had felt a kinship to her ever since he had first heard of her exploits. Everything about the idea of her pulling jobs completely on her own reminded him of his early days as a thief before he had established his code or formed the band that had become his family. The moment he had started to consider retiring from leading The Merry Men, he had known that she was the only person that he would trust to take over the job. But in this moment the fear he felt tensing around his heart did not feel like simple concern for a colleague or a rival.
"Stop! Please, Stop!" A distinctly female voice, rough with pain, carried from a few hundred yards up the road.
"Sounds like your girl's still alive, at least for now," Will said. He had the red cloak that Ella had given them rolled up underneath his arm and his bow already in his hands, "you go see to her. I'll draw out this wolf."
"Will..." Robin started to say, torn between a desperate desire to stop whatever was happening on the road and concern over his young friend tangling with a werewolf. There was also the tiniest part of him that felt a little swell of guilt at Will referring to Regina as "his girl" when he had a fiance waiting for him at home, but Robin recognized that this was a ridiculous thought to have at such a moment.
"No time to argue, Robin."
The screaming came again along with the sickening chomping noises and they made Robin's decision for him. He had seen the Black Knight's handiwork first hand on several occasions and knew just how savage they could be.
"Right, meet back at camp at dawn. Whistle the signal if you need help," Robin commanded, already nocking an arrow.
"Ay ay, boss," Will said, with his characteristic lopsided grin, before sparking a flint against a wool wrapped arrow and standing to fire it at dead tree they had coated with pitch a few yards behind them.
The instant the arrow touched the pitch, the tree exploded into flames just as they had planned. It illuminated the road, rendering everyone on it temporarily night blind and casting the entire tableaux in a dizzying mix of reds and oranges. Robin choked down the bile that rose in his throat as he saw an enormous wolf feasting on the innards of a small horse that was tied to a tree.
He saw one knight and a dwarf holding a struggling woman between them. Her face was streaked with tears and one of her eyes had a deep purple bruise swelling beneath it. She fit every description he had ever heard of the Bandit Regina and Robin had the odd feeling of surreality that always accompanied seeing something or someone that you have heard described so many times. He felt his heart ache in his chest at the pain so clearly written on her undeniably beautiful face and everything in him wanted to do whatever it took to make her never make that expression ever again.
He saw Will run out into the open across the road and immediately started to make his way through the underbrush in the opposite direction getting closer and closer to the circle of knights. The wolf let out a snarl and bounded in the direction that Will had run, effectively knocking down a couple of its own company as it went. Robin said a silent prayer for his clever young friend and then focused on creating enough chaos for Regina to escape with her heart still beating in her chest.
Regina
"She's not alone..." the knight holding Regina's arm started to yell to his companions, but his words suddenly died in his throat. She looked up as she felt his grip loosen on her arm and saw that there was an arrow sticking out of his eye just below the lip of his helmet. Even through the tears that threatened to blind her, Regina recognized what an amazing shot that was. Her brain was so beleaguered with too many emotions and more questions than she could ever hope to answer that she felt herself instinctively just switch completely into survival mode as chaos exploded around her.
"What the fuck is going on?" Grumpy snarled, as another of the knights fell to his knees, clutching at an arrow protruding from under his arm. The dwarf let go of his grip on her hair in his attempt to get a better look at whoever was attacking him and his men. As he leaned around her he leaned forward slightly and Regina could finally move her arm without risking him snapping it in two. Regina stomped down hard on the arch of the dwarf's foot and threw her body weight forward, pulling him with her as she fell to the ground. She quickly rolled to the side to avoid getting trapped beneath him and grabbed the axe that he wore strapped across his back. It was a heavier weapon than she would have chosen in such a close combat situation, but it was the only thing within easy reach and she resolved to make the best of it.
"Bold choice, sister," the dwarf spat at her, closing his big meaty hand around her ankle and starting to drag her back towards him, "no one has ever touched my axe handle and survived. I think I'm gonna enjoy splitting your pretty little..."
"Shut up!" Regina snapped, using every ounce of her strength to swing the axe against the side of his head. There was a resounding clang as the metal of the blade connected with the metal of the helmet he was wearing and he collapsed against the ground. She had no idea whether a dwarf could be killed with their own axe and she did not intend on sticking around to find out. She pulled herself into a crouched position and scanned the scene around her quickly.
There was a dead knight a few feet from her with a bow still in his hands. Regina quickly made her way to him and stripped him of his bow and quiver and nocked an arrow. She glanced around, trying to see where the knights had tethered their horses and spotted them about ten yards down the road. Regina circled back towards the wagon using it for cover as she attempted to make a break towards the horses. One of the men realized what she was doing and made to follow her but she quickly dropped him by firing two arrows in quick succession into his chest, feeling a little thrill of relief at having a weapon back in her hands that suited her skills.
She stopped to catch her breath behind the wagon and through the dizzying light of the flames from the burning tree she saw a man she didn't recognize dressed in a roughspun brown cloak and green leather doublet. He was locked in a furious sword fight with two of the Black Knights. Regina paused for a moment trying to make sense of who on earth this stranger might be and why he had intervened on her behalf. Through the shifting shadows she could not get a clear look at his face, but something about him felt strangely familiar. She caught a glimpse of a tattoo on the inside of his right wrist, it appeared to be some sort of black shield or crest. He was clearly not nearly as skilled with a sword as he apparently was with a bow and was being badly out fought. Regina felt fear tighten in her stomach as he just barely managed to get his sword in front of his chest and block a blow from one of his opponents, but not before the sword sliced into right shoulder. The other knight approached while the man was distracted, preparing to drive his sword through the her rescuer's currently unprotected left side.
"Hey," Regina called, stepping from her hiding spot and firing an arrow at the knight's throat as soon as he looked up. This action bought whomever her rescuer was enough time to drop to one knee and drive his sword into the chest of the Black Knight who had cut him. It also caused the remaining three knights to immediately discover where she was hiding. Without giving herself another moment to think Regina made a mad dash towards the horses.
She managed to catch hold of one of the saddles and started to pull herself up, just as she felt a searing pain as black arrow tore across the skin of her outer thigh. She forced herself to continue to swing herself up into the saddle despite the pain, knowing if she let go or fell off she was doomed. Regina gripped the reins firmly in her hands and kicked as hard as she could manage against the great black beast's sides, tearing off down the road. As she rode she said a silent prayer to whoever would listen for the safety of the stranger who had just risked everything to save her life and she was now leaving bleeding on the road.