Spring had come to Sherwood Forest. The trees were once again turning bright shades of green, and the flowers had begun to bloom. Bright rays of sunlight pierced through the canopy, melting the last of the snow. The forest was never any more beautiful than at this time of year. This was entirely lost on the young boy with whom our story begins.
He marched intently through the glade, a bow slung over his shoulder and determined look on his face. His hair was as wild and untamed as the glint in his eye, and as he marched, he mumbled to himself.
"Finally, my uncle finally let me go to the spring tournament. Finally! And what do I do? I start out late." The brown haired youth passed through a group of trees to find a small clearing, where a camp had been set, and recently abandoned. Sherwood Forest was not often occupied by people, and the ones who did venture into its depths were not always the sort you wanted to deal with. Yet, being young and inexperienced, he thought he could ask for a bite of the venison he saw roasting over their campfire. "Hello?" he called.
Moments later, a large brutish man stepped out from the foliage. He wore a black tunic and carried a broadsword of fine quality. "Who are you?" he grunted.
"My name is Yagami Taichi!" He stood tall and smiled confidently.
Staring, the man began to laugh boisterously. "The boy looks like he's on his way to the tourny!"
"Boy?" Taichi frowned.
"You heard me right," the man said, smirking. "Children shouldn't play with weapons! You could hurt yourself!"
Fuming, Taichi drew an arrow and fit it to his bow. "Choose your target. I'll show you what a real archer looks like!"
Silently, the man pointed to a stag that was standing off in the distance. "Surely then, a master archer like yourself could hit that? Unless you're worried, of course! Care to make a... small wager?"
"I'll bet you my entire purse! If you win, I want your broadsword!"
"Well, I don't think I can refuse that offer, now can I, boys?" He called back to a group of men who were emerging from the trees behind them.
"Come on, kid! Do it!" One of them laughed.
"I don't think he can even pull that bow, let alone aim it as well!" Another replied.
A soft breeze blew through the trees, and Taichi waited for it to pass to make his shot. Then, as soon as it let up, he let the arrow go. The men stared after it in amazement as it struck it's target perfectly. The deer fell to the ground with a moan, and the rest of his herd could be seen running away in fear.
"Your sword, my fine sir. That was the bargain." Taichi held out his hand smugly.
A look of anger passed over the dirty man's face, then it calmed again. "My sword? You'll get my sword alright, if you don't leave this place at once!" He grabbed the hilt and motioned threateningly.
"What?! We had a bargain!" Taichi retorted, unafraid.
"The law doesn't require you to keep wagers with outlaws!" Laughing, he shoved Taichi so that he fell to the ground. "Now leave my sight or I'll report this to the Sheriff! You've killed one of the King's deer! The punishment for this is death! Run away, now, child."
Taichi stood and turned. Step by slow step, he neared the edge of the wood. The sound of birds singing began to die down, and an eerie quiet settled over the men. Suddenly, Taichi spun around and before anyone could react, shot an arrow directly at the leader of the gang. It flew to the right of the man's face, just close enough to leave a deep gash running across his cheek, and slice through his ear.
Stunned, the man stared for a moment. Then, as if he realized what had happened, he snapped out of it. "GET HIM! Get the boy! I'll have his hide for boots!"
His young face may have been what attracted this whole mess, however, this youthfulness gave Taichi a speed and stamina that caused his pursuers to lose him within a few minutes. They reported back to their leader empty handed.
"We couldn't catch him, sir. He's as fast as a rabbit, that one!"
"Still, did he miss on purpose?" one of the grunts asked quietly.
"Of course not! He was out to kill me!" the boss screamed at them. "Come on, let's go. I'm reporting that scoundrel to the Sheriff after all. He'd better stay hidden in those woods! The moment he steps out, he'll be caught and put to death for my attempted murder!"
After running for a short distance, Taichi stopped and leaned against a tree to catch his breath. "I've done it now," he grumbled. "Now I can't go to the tournament or go home! Still, I did the right thing! It's not my fault I killed that deer! He tricked me into doing it!" Sighing deeply, he sat down in the midst of a patch of red flowers. "I'm as useless as these posies," he stated to himself. "What will I do now?" Reaching out, Taichi picked one of the red blossoms and held it to his nose. He inhaled deeply and smiled.
"What do you think you're doing?!" A shrill voice rang through the forest and Taichi looked up, startled. The woman standing before him wore a green tunic and leggings, and carried a long staff of oak. Her auburn hair was cut short, and held back by the small green cap she wore on her head. "I said, WHAT do you think you're doing?!"
Standing, Taichi tipped his cap to her and said, "I'm just enjoying the fresh air and the sweet smells of the forest. But what is a young lady like yourself doing alone in Sherwood? It's not a safe place to-"
Throughout his speech, the girl seemed to get angrier and angrier, and now she cut him off. "For your information, those flowers are my mother's! And you're tromping all over them!" She pointed accusingly at Taichi's feet.
"Your mother's? This isn't a garden! It's public land and I can stand wherever I like!" Taichi stated stubbornly. He was tired of being told what belonged to whom, and what he could and couldn't do in the very forest he had grown up playing in.
"You'll regret that! Or are you afraid of fighting a woman? Scared you'll lose, little boy?"
His face red with anger, Taichi stood and faced his opponent. "Give me a staff like yours and I'll show you who the better man is!"
"The winner cannot be the better man, because neither of us are men! I am a woman and you are but a boy!" With a smirk, the girl stepped to a nearby tree and, with her dagger, cut a branch off. Quickly, she stripped it of bark and twigs. When she was done, she tossed it to Taichi.
Grabbing the staff with both hands, Taichi approached the woman clad in green and prepared to swing a blow at her. Before his could reach her, however, she had blocked and swung her staff at his head. Taichi dodged and attacked her again, and again he was blocked. She seemed to have no trouble keeping his staff far from her body, whereas Taichi had already suffered two blows to the ribs. The two circled each other quietly, sidestepping and always watching for an opening.
'There! She's off guard!' Taichi thought to himself. Quickly, he leaped towards her and swung his staff with all his might. Hardly suprised, she stepped aside. Taichi's weight pulled him off balance. As he stepped forward to catch himself, the girl stuck her foot in front of him and he tripped, falling flat on his face.
Laughing uproariously, the girl poked his back with her staff. "That's all you have to show for your performance?"
A moment passed and soon, Taichi sat up and began to laugh as well. "Looks like I lost!" The two laughed together for a few minutes, and then the girl reached out her hand to pull Taichi to his feet. Brushing the dirt from his clothes, he smiled at her. "You're much better with a staff than I thought you'd be! Although, if you'd challenged me to archery, I think you would be the one who ended up on the ground!"
Still chuckling a bit, the girl said, "Is that so? No wonder you lost. Archers are fine when their enemy isn't close enough to fight back!"
"So what's your name? Or should I continue to think of you as the girl who showed me up?"
"My name is Sora, and I live in these woods," she said with a smile. "And those flowers really were my mother's. I brought the seeds from her plants when I came to hiding here."
"What are you hiding from? An arranged marriage?"
"Nothing that romantic at all! My mother starved to death because of the taxes on our land." Sora's face grew serious. "The Sheriff took all of our money. My mother barely kept me alive. I killed him."
Shocked, Taichi asked, "You're an outlaw, then?"
"Yes, if I stepped one inch out of Sherwood, I'd be killed instantly. I want to fight back and help the people I left behind, the people like me." She hung her head. "But I can't. I'm not strong enough to take on the King's whole army."
"Oh, you're right. A girl as sweet and gentle as you could never get involved in battle!" Taichi laughed. "Just calling you 'Sora' doesn't really fit a girl that feminine, now does it?" He thought for a moment. "I know! I'll call you Sora-chan! That's much better!"
"Hey! That's not funny!" Sora said angrily, but after a moment she joined him in laughter.
"Sora! Finally, I found you," a voice called. Taichi and Sora looked over to see a young man approaching them. "Who is this?" he asked skeptically.
"This is..." Sora turned to him. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Taichi... Yagami Taichi."
"What happened?" The boy approached them now. He was wearing a similar outfit to Sora, but he carried a sword at his side. His soft face and bitter demeanor didn't seem to match. Taichi wasn't sure if he was a young boy or a man.
"Oh, nothing, Iori. I just showed Taichi here what a woman really fights like!"
"Yes, and I have the bruises to prove it! Your Sora-chan is quite the fighter!" Taichi laughed.
"Are you sure he isn't a spy? We can't trust every person we meet!" Iori snapped.
"Not very trusting, are you? Look, I got tricked by some guy to shoot a deer to show my skills with a bow," he paused. "I shot it perfectly, might I add." He smiled for a moment, then it faded. "But it was a trick. By now I'm sure he's told the Sheriff and there'll be a price on my head."
After thinking about it for a moment, Iori stepped forward. "I'll offer you a deal. There's a tournament in Nottingham this afternoon. It's only a few hours from here, you can still make it. The prize is to be a golden arrow and a plaque stating you won. If you win, and return with the proof, I'll not only invite you to stay here with us... I'll follow you as my Prince." Iori shoved his hand out to shake Taichi's. "Are you interested in being a Prince of thieves? Sora and I want a way to fight back against the oppression that has stricken the land, but we can't do it without a leader."
Proudly, Taichi shook Iori's hand. "I'll bring back the goods, and I'll help you fight." With that, he picked his bow and arrows off the ground, and slung them over his back. "I'll be back tonight with the gold arrow!" Smiling happily, he took off towards Nottingham.
"Are you sure about that, Iori? He's nice, but we barely know him!" Sora said worriedly.
"This tournament is going to be huge. The Sheriff himself is competing, and all the best archers from far and wide. If he can win this, that would make him the best archer in the land. I would trust him to lead us if he can shoot that well. If he can't," Iori shrugged. "then nothing is lost." He paused and looked at her with a funny expression. "Sora-chan, hm?"
"Oh, shut up, Iori."
He marched intently through the glade, a bow slung over his shoulder and determined look on his face. His hair was as wild and untamed as the glint in his eye, and as he marched, he mumbled to himself.
"Finally, my uncle finally let me go to the spring tournament. Finally! And what do I do? I start out late." The brown haired youth passed through a group of trees to find a small clearing, where a camp had been set, and recently abandoned. Sherwood Forest was not often occupied by people, and the ones who did venture into its depths were not always the sort you wanted to deal with. Yet, being young and inexperienced, he thought he could ask for a bite of the venison he saw roasting over their campfire. "Hello?" he called.
Moments later, a large brutish man stepped out from the foliage. He wore a black tunic and carried a broadsword of fine quality. "Who are you?" he grunted.
"My name is Yagami Taichi!" He stood tall and smiled confidently.
Staring, the man began to laugh boisterously. "The boy looks like he's on his way to the tourny!"
"Boy?" Taichi frowned.
"You heard me right," the man said, smirking. "Children shouldn't play with weapons! You could hurt yourself!"
Fuming, Taichi drew an arrow and fit it to his bow. "Choose your target. I'll show you what a real archer looks like!"
Silently, the man pointed to a stag that was standing off in the distance. "Surely then, a master archer like yourself could hit that? Unless you're worried, of course! Care to make a... small wager?"
"I'll bet you my entire purse! If you win, I want your broadsword!"
"Well, I don't think I can refuse that offer, now can I, boys?" He called back to a group of men who were emerging from the trees behind them.
"Come on, kid! Do it!" One of them laughed.
"I don't think he can even pull that bow, let alone aim it as well!" Another replied.
A soft breeze blew through the trees, and Taichi waited for it to pass to make his shot. Then, as soon as it let up, he let the arrow go. The men stared after it in amazement as it struck it's target perfectly. The deer fell to the ground with a moan, and the rest of his herd could be seen running away in fear.
"Your sword, my fine sir. That was the bargain." Taichi held out his hand smugly.
A look of anger passed over the dirty man's face, then it calmed again. "My sword? You'll get my sword alright, if you don't leave this place at once!" He grabbed the hilt and motioned threateningly.
"What?! We had a bargain!" Taichi retorted, unafraid.
"The law doesn't require you to keep wagers with outlaws!" Laughing, he shoved Taichi so that he fell to the ground. "Now leave my sight or I'll report this to the Sheriff! You've killed one of the King's deer! The punishment for this is death! Run away, now, child."
Taichi stood and turned. Step by slow step, he neared the edge of the wood. The sound of birds singing began to die down, and an eerie quiet settled over the men. Suddenly, Taichi spun around and before anyone could react, shot an arrow directly at the leader of the gang. It flew to the right of the man's face, just close enough to leave a deep gash running across his cheek, and slice through his ear.
Stunned, the man stared for a moment. Then, as if he realized what had happened, he snapped out of it. "GET HIM! Get the boy! I'll have his hide for boots!"
His young face may have been what attracted this whole mess, however, this youthfulness gave Taichi a speed and stamina that caused his pursuers to lose him within a few minutes. They reported back to their leader empty handed.
"We couldn't catch him, sir. He's as fast as a rabbit, that one!"
"Still, did he miss on purpose?" one of the grunts asked quietly.
"Of course not! He was out to kill me!" the boss screamed at them. "Come on, let's go. I'm reporting that scoundrel to the Sheriff after all. He'd better stay hidden in those woods! The moment he steps out, he'll be caught and put to death for my attempted murder!"
After running for a short distance, Taichi stopped and leaned against a tree to catch his breath. "I've done it now," he grumbled. "Now I can't go to the tournament or go home! Still, I did the right thing! It's not my fault I killed that deer! He tricked me into doing it!" Sighing deeply, he sat down in the midst of a patch of red flowers. "I'm as useless as these posies," he stated to himself. "What will I do now?" Reaching out, Taichi picked one of the red blossoms and held it to his nose. He inhaled deeply and smiled.
"What do you think you're doing?!" A shrill voice rang through the forest and Taichi looked up, startled. The woman standing before him wore a green tunic and leggings, and carried a long staff of oak. Her auburn hair was cut short, and held back by the small green cap she wore on her head. "I said, WHAT do you think you're doing?!"
Standing, Taichi tipped his cap to her and said, "I'm just enjoying the fresh air and the sweet smells of the forest. But what is a young lady like yourself doing alone in Sherwood? It's not a safe place to-"
Throughout his speech, the girl seemed to get angrier and angrier, and now she cut him off. "For your information, those flowers are my mother's! And you're tromping all over them!" She pointed accusingly at Taichi's feet.
"Your mother's? This isn't a garden! It's public land and I can stand wherever I like!" Taichi stated stubbornly. He was tired of being told what belonged to whom, and what he could and couldn't do in the very forest he had grown up playing in.
"You'll regret that! Or are you afraid of fighting a woman? Scared you'll lose, little boy?"
His face red with anger, Taichi stood and faced his opponent. "Give me a staff like yours and I'll show you who the better man is!"
"The winner cannot be the better man, because neither of us are men! I am a woman and you are but a boy!" With a smirk, the girl stepped to a nearby tree and, with her dagger, cut a branch off. Quickly, she stripped it of bark and twigs. When she was done, she tossed it to Taichi.
Grabbing the staff with both hands, Taichi approached the woman clad in green and prepared to swing a blow at her. Before his could reach her, however, she had blocked and swung her staff at his head. Taichi dodged and attacked her again, and again he was blocked. She seemed to have no trouble keeping his staff far from her body, whereas Taichi had already suffered two blows to the ribs. The two circled each other quietly, sidestepping and always watching for an opening.
'There! She's off guard!' Taichi thought to himself. Quickly, he leaped towards her and swung his staff with all his might. Hardly suprised, she stepped aside. Taichi's weight pulled him off balance. As he stepped forward to catch himself, the girl stuck her foot in front of him and he tripped, falling flat on his face.
Laughing uproariously, the girl poked his back with her staff. "That's all you have to show for your performance?"
A moment passed and soon, Taichi sat up and began to laugh as well. "Looks like I lost!" The two laughed together for a few minutes, and then the girl reached out her hand to pull Taichi to his feet. Brushing the dirt from his clothes, he smiled at her. "You're much better with a staff than I thought you'd be! Although, if you'd challenged me to archery, I think you would be the one who ended up on the ground!"
Still chuckling a bit, the girl said, "Is that so? No wonder you lost. Archers are fine when their enemy isn't close enough to fight back!"
"So what's your name? Or should I continue to think of you as the girl who showed me up?"
"My name is Sora, and I live in these woods," she said with a smile. "And those flowers really were my mother's. I brought the seeds from her plants when I came to hiding here."
"What are you hiding from? An arranged marriage?"
"Nothing that romantic at all! My mother starved to death because of the taxes on our land." Sora's face grew serious. "The Sheriff took all of our money. My mother barely kept me alive. I killed him."
Shocked, Taichi asked, "You're an outlaw, then?"
"Yes, if I stepped one inch out of Sherwood, I'd be killed instantly. I want to fight back and help the people I left behind, the people like me." She hung her head. "But I can't. I'm not strong enough to take on the King's whole army."
"Oh, you're right. A girl as sweet and gentle as you could never get involved in battle!" Taichi laughed. "Just calling you 'Sora' doesn't really fit a girl that feminine, now does it?" He thought for a moment. "I know! I'll call you Sora-chan! That's much better!"
"Hey! That's not funny!" Sora said angrily, but after a moment she joined him in laughter.
"Sora! Finally, I found you," a voice called. Taichi and Sora looked over to see a young man approaching them. "Who is this?" he asked skeptically.
"This is..." Sora turned to him. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Taichi... Yagami Taichi."
"What happened?" The boy approached them now. He was wearing a similar outfit to Sora, but he carried a sword at his side. His soft face and bitter demeanor didn't seem to match. Taichi wasn't sure if he was a young boy or a man.
"Oh, nothing, Iori. I just showed Taichi here what a woman really fights like!"
"Yes, and I have the bruises to prove it! Your Sora-chan is quite the fighter!" Taichi laughed.
"Are you sure he isn't a spy? We can't trust every person we meet!" Iori snapped.
"Not very trusting, are you? Look, I got tricked by some guy to shoot a deer to show my skills with a bow," he paused. "I shot it perfectly, might I add." He smiled for a moment, then it faded. "But it was a trick. By now I'm sure he's told the Sheriff and there'll be a price on my head."
After thinking about it for a moment, Iori stepped forward. "I'll offer you a deal. There's a tournament in Nottingham this afternoon. It's only a few hours from here, you can still make it. The prize is to be a golden arrow and a plaque stating you won. If you win, and return with the proof, I'll not only invite you to stay here with us... I'll follow you as my Prince." Iori shoved his hand out to shake Taichi's. "Are you interested in being a Prince of thieves? Sora and I want a way to fight back against the oppression that has stricken the land, but we can't do it without a leader."
Proudly, Taichi shook Iori's hand. "I'll bring back the goods, and I'll help you fight." With that, he picked his bow and arrows off the ground, and slung them over his back. "I'll be back tonight with the gold arrow!" Smiling happily, he took off towards Nottingham.
"Are you sure about that, Iori? He's nice, but we barely know him!" Sora said worriedly.
"This tournament is going to be huge. The Sheriff himself is competing, and all the best archers from far and wide. If he can win this, that would make him the best archer in the land. I would trust him to lead us if he can shoot that well. If he can't," Iori shrugged. "then nothing is lost." He paused and looked at her with a funny expression. "Sora-chan, hm?"
"Oh, shut up, Iori."