I have to write vocabulary stories for English class, so I got slightly into one and produced this. :] I deleted all the vocab words for they were obnoxious and obscure, but here we go! Thanks to Mrs. G for helping me edit and for giving me an 86 even though it sucked!
I do not own Robin Hood BBC even though I wish I did! Or Jonas Armstrong . :[
ENJOY and don't forget to review!
Robin pulled the hood of his cloak farther down over his face, plunging it deeper into shadows. His men followed close behind him, subtly gripping the hilts of the assorted weapons buckled around their waists, underneath their cloaks. Sneaking into Nottingham was not the most ideal idea for members of their status (outlaws), but they had little choice. It was one of the many drop sites for the day, and they have over two hundred starving people relying on their 'donations' in Nottinghamshire alone. It made no difference that he had just fought tooth and nail to escape from the dungeon a few days before.
Gritting his teeth at the memory, as the escape had not been one of his finest; he pulled money out of a pouch under his cloak and pressed a few coins in the awaiting palm of a young woman standing in the corner of the forlorn marketplace with her small child.
"Buy yourself something to eat," he whispered softly. Her eyes snapped up, meeting his under his cowl. A slight grin appeared on her face, eyes shining with thanks. His heart lifted for the first time that day. The gratitude in her eyes was enough to lift his spirits indefinitely, and enough to banish the lingering exhaustion from his body.
"Thank you, Robin Hood," she murmured, before grabbing her son's hand and pulling him over to the butcher's stall. Robin fervently wished that Will and Little John had taken care of the rumor that the man was selling rancid meat. He hovered over the woman, watching. It seemed like his men had completed their duty when the meat the woman pulled out was fresh.
"Robin!" his head whipped around at the smothered hiss. His blue eyes swept around the marketplace, searching for the culprit. His men were nowhere near here; the few who had followed him into Nottingham had split up, going to cover more ground.
"Over here!" He looked back over to his right, and found himself face to face with Lady Marian.
"I knew you couldn't go even a day without seeing me," he muttered cockily as he pulled her in for a quick kiss. She squirmed away from his embrace, which she hadn't done for a while.
"Shush, you romantic fool. We haven't the time for this. I have information you and your gang will need to be quick to take advantage of," Marian hissed. He blinked. She has a stubborn streak, but something was wrong. Normally she always had time for a kiss, albeit a fast one. This must be very important.
"You're always on top of the news, my darling. What is the Sheriff's plan this time?" he asked solemnly. Robin wished for a brief second that he could be a normal soldier back from the Crusades, still holding his land and titles in a world that was not lead by a tyrannical Sheriff, Vaisey, with the beautiful young girl standing in front of him as his wife. He was snapped out of his daydream when Marian said, "—through Sherwood Forest,"
"Um…come again?" he asked, arranging his crooked smile on his face, the one that made most ladies think he was debonair. Sadly, it still held no sway on Marian, not that it ever had.
"Stop your drivel and listen to me! The Sheriff is sending ten men as well as Guy into Sherwood Forest with a cart full of stolen taxes. The cart is holding enough coins to feed the entire village of Locksley for the winter! It will be on the main road, probably passing your traps around sundown," she informed him. Robin nodded swiftly, already pulling his hood down and turning to gather his men.
Marian stopped him, putting one hand on his shoulder and pulling him around and into a fleeting kiss. Robin's heart soared for a brief second (this was a thousand times better than thanks from a villager) before Marian pulled away.
"Be careful," she whispered, "I do not know what I would do if I lost you."
"I will," he promised, winking at her, and melting into the crowd. "I will."
"I'm sure this is a trap, Robin! Think about it. Gisborne is an ass, surely, but he's not stupid, and neither is the Sheriff. We can't underestimate them! They are not going to send a giant cart of coins through Sherwood Forest without a good reason when they know for a fact we are just waiting to take it away from them!" Much demanded, glaring at the rest of the gang for wanting to attack the cart as soon as possible. He gripped his bright blue shield tightly, pulling it next to him as he tended the rabbit roasting on the fire, outside of the camp.
"Much, you hold a good point, my friend, but we have no choice," Robin sighed, settling himself down on a rock, deep in thought. "We cannot let that cart get through the forest. First, like Marian said, it will fill up the storerooms of Locksley for the entire winter, not to mention having enough left over for a month at Clun or Nettlestone, if we ration right. Second, if we don't get the cart in the name of Robin Hood, people will soon lose faith in us."
Much growled softly under his breath at the logic of the statement, poking with more force than strictly needed at the rabbit. But Robin knew that Much was a complaisantfellow who wouldn't go against Robin's orders, and for that he was grateful. It was difficult enough to be a leader, not to mention being a leader when his men were going against his every decision.
"Why is the Sheriff even sending away this much money? We all know he is a stingydictator! It doesn't make sense that he's sending off all these coins! What is he seriously planning on buying that costs that much?" Will asked grimly.
"You know as well as I do, Will. Mercenaries, for the Black Knights and Shah-Mat…which is one more reason why we can't let it get into the hands of whoever he's sending it too. There are already enough people fleeing Nottingham and England herself."
A bell, a system rigged up to tell the outlaws that someone was approaching their traps, rang inside the camp. Robin leapt to his feet in alarm, his entouragefollowing suit.
"I can't ask you to risk your lives, my friends. If you are coming, let us fight! If not, then wait here and I will think nothing less of you." His men looked at each other in disbelief, resolve hardening on their faces.
"If you think we will let you go alone, then you are foolishly mistaken. We will follow you to the ends of the earth," Djaq swore, smiling a feral smile and holding up her sword.
"Djaq, you may be a girl, but you will always be one of the lads. Now, come on!" Robin replied. "We are Robin Hood!"
"This is an ambush!" Robin yelled, striding down the steep slope to stand in front of Guy of Gisborne, who was perched on a horse, and leading a giant cart surrounded by soldiers. Robin drew his bow and nocked an arrow, holding it steadily aimed at Guy's face.
"This is how it works," said Djaq, sideling down to him, smiling as she spoke the same words they have all repeated thousands of times before. "We ask how much money you're carrying. If you're honest, and offer no resistance, we take one-tenth and you're on your way."
"If you lie," Robin cut in, smirking, "or offer any sort of resistance, which includes just being your ugly self, we take it all. Men!"
"Hood! How do you know about this?" Guy swore, staring at him, drawing his sword.
"I know everything that's going on in my shire, Gisborne. Sherwoodshire," Robin teased, smiling arrogantly. Around him, a battle raged. Little John thrust his sword into a soldier's stomach, and with a battle cry, Will sunk his axe into another one's shoulder, felling him.
Gisborne snarled, oblivious of the carnage, "You think you're in a good position, don't you?"
"By the look of things, my men have already taken out half your soldiers, and are steadily working through the second half. So, yes, I do," he laughed, releasing the drawn arrow at a soldier who tried to stab Little John from behind. The arrow struck the man's shoulder blade, where Robin was aiming, and knocked the soldier to the side. Robin quickly reloaded an arrow, drawing the string back up to his face in one fluid movement.
It was Gisborne's turn to smirk. "Elite! Rise! Take out Robin Hood and his vermin!"
"Wha-?" Robin barely had time to blurt out before the man who he had just shot leapt up from the ground, shedding cumbersome black armor and helmets. Djaq let out a fearsome shriek as the man she had thought she had just defeated jumped up, bowling her over onto the ground and slicing her arm.
"My normal soldiers are maladroit, Hood. Meet the Elite. They are the strongest and fastest that England has to offer."
Robin grimaced as he found himself in a sword fight with a soldier who could rival Carter and himself. He didn't allow himself to answer Gisborne, or look up when one of his men let out a yell or scream. He needed to focus full-heartedly on his opponent, as his bow wasn't worth anything in this close combat.
He thrusted and parried with all his might as he was locked in a battle of wills with this man. Blood ran from a few slices on his arms, and he was steadily tiring. He needed to end this battle, and he needed to do it quickly.
Suddenly, Djaq let out a piercing scream. Startled, Robin turned to look if she was alright, and something hit the back of his head with the force of a three ton rock.
"Robin!" he heard someone scream in anguish before he sank to his knees and embraced the darkness rushing in.
Agony pounded in his head as he slowly cracked his eyes open. Stifling heat came from somewhere and everywhere, pressing in on him in waves, and his hands were shackled in front of him. Robin groaned, not knowing if he had a fever or if the fire was actually that hot. Closing his eyes again, he decided it was best to just listen to the conversations around him.
"I told you it was a trap! Why didn't you just listen to me for once!" That was Much, of course, complaining again. It seemed, even in the face of mortal peril, they could never get that man to shut up. A small grin appeared on Robin's face, however. He loved Much like a brother.
"You're normally not clairvoyant, Much. Please excuse us for ignoring your one day of unusual perceptiveness," Will snapped from what Robin imagined as the cell across from Much.
"Men, please. We will never get out of this if you're at each other's throats," Robin groaned, struggling into a sitting position once his headache had abided a minuscule amount. He fondled his head for a brief moment, unsurprised to feel a nasty lump, covered in blood, among his hair.
"Master!" Much yelped, ignoring his handcuffs and gripping the bars tightly. "Are you alright?"
"I'm as fine as I can be at the moment, Much," he sighed.
"So what's the plan?" Little John asked from his cell, stationed near the others. He was shackled as well, which was smart on the jailer's part. Little John was strong enough to bend the bars in half if he wanted to, but Robin pessimistically assumed that they were all shackled.
"The plan is to enjoy the last two days of your life," Gisborne sneered, appearing in the hallway of their cell, facing Robin through the door.
"Oh, look what the cat dragged in. The Sheriff's little right-hand man." Robin scoffed, ignoring the fact that this man could kill him in an instant. He was Robin Hood; he would find a way to get himself and all of his men out of this mess…even if there were always men on the outside whenever he was in the dungeons of Nottingham.
Gisborne sputtered, rage filling his eyes, "For a matter of fact, the Sheriff is away on business. I am his second in command, and therefore I am in charge. Think about how delighted the Sheriff will be when he returns home from London to find his worst enemy in chains in his dungeons, ready to become the main entertainment in his homecoming party!"
Robin decided it would be best to boast in order to hide the rising terror. The Sheriff's late return might buy them more time, but having Gisborne in charge would never be good.
"So, you're the Sheriff's devotee, aren't you? Do you worship the ground he walks on? Kiss his feet? If we are the honored guests at the Sheriff's homecoming party, maybe you could put us a place that isn't so uncomfortable?" Robin snarled. He was furious that he didn't see through Gisborne's tricks. He didn't mind if he died, because there were plenty of people who would continue his work. But his men depended on him, and Robin had no choice then to get them out.
"Oh, the dungeons aren't so bad," Gisborne said nonchalantly. "I hear they're pretty comfortable this time of year, plus, the concierge will be more than happy to get you anything you need," he said, gesturing sarcastically at the jailer behind him, who grinned widely, showing his broken and crooked teeth.
"If I get tired of all these pleasures, can I go somewhere else?" Will called out from another cell, joining in on the sarcasm to take some of the blow of words away from Robin. Internally, Robin thanked him. His head was pounding and it was getting hard to think straight. He wouldn't be surprised if he had a concussion.
"You're only the Sheriff's confident, Gisborne! You might find yourself with the same people, but he'll never give you power! You're nothing to him!" Robin yelled out loud as Gisborne turned to go, his voice echoing around the corridor, to give Gisborne something to think about later that afternoon.
"-And I'll need you nobles to help with the homecoming party for the sheriff. Any entrepreneur who wishes to try his luck at whatever business he runs needs to have it first approved by myself. The Sheriff will be back in Nottingham soon enough, and I want him to see that it was shining under my rule. Shining, you hear?" Gisborne barked at the Council of Nobles later that afternoon. The nobles were the solid middle class, not as poor as the peasants, but not as high up as the Sheriff and as his right-hand man, Gisborne. Robin was a noble once, Lord of Locksley, before becoming an outlaw for saving some of his villagers from hanging.
"Obviously, the Sheriff will be ecstatic, as I have captured Robin Hood and all his men earlier today. They will all hang at the party, as I am sure the Sheriff will enjoy. I doubt I will have to remind you that the Sheriff is a connoisseur of outstanding hangings and parties. I do hope we will not let him down," Gisborne followed up the veiled threat with a glare, punctuated by his coal-black eyes.
Marian snapped her head up to stare in disbelief at Gisborne. Captured Robin and all his men? He couldn't! He wouldn't! Marian steeled her nerves. She was going to get them out of the dungeons. Tonight.
"You are dismissed," Gisborne said with a sharp wave of his hand, and the nobles scurried out of the room, leaving only Marian and Gisborne.
"Marian, love, you must come with me to the Sheriff's homecoming party," he said huskily, leaning down over her. Marian shuddered softly and pulled away from his hand, which was trying to pull her closer.
"I am busy that night, milord. Please excuse me," she said forcefully and ripped her hand away from where he clutched it.
"Please excuse me for being brash, Marian, but twenty-one and still a maiden? Most girls are already lined up to marry from the time they are teenagers!" he growled, "I can give you a good home, Marian! I can care for you!"
Internally, Marian sighed. Yes, she might be a maiden on the outside, but in secret, she was engaged to Robin Hood, and was planning to marry when the king returned to England. She would not marry his enemy- the man who was planning on killing her fiancé.
"I am sure you could be a good husband, milord, but I am not interested. I am sorry," she snapped, and stormed out of the room. She ran blindly up into her own chambers, where she slammed the door and slid to her knees. Racking sobs caught her body for a brief moment as she couldn't believe that Gisborne had Robin, and all his friends. She couldn't let them die…she herself would die from the grief.
Pulling herself back together, she rose from the floor, wiped her face off, and opened the hidden back on her wardrobe. There, her Night Watchman uniform was stored, waiting to be used. As soon as it turned dark, she would don the mask once more and get the keys for Robin.
Marian tiptoed over to the cell in the back of the dungeons, praying that she would not make a sound. Her lamp was smothered in a piece of cloth so it only made the most minor of lights, and she had easily beaten off the few guards it took to get to Robin.
Her heart almost stopped as she saw him in his cell at the end. His hair was matted to his head from blood, probably the reason he had been captured in the first place. He didn't have many other injuries, but he was sleeping against the back wall and looked so tortured, twitching in the grip of some dream he couldn't break free from.
"Save-king-," he muttered in his sleep.
"Robin," she hissed as loud as she dared.
"Marian? Is that you?" someone whispered fiercely from the cell next to Robin's. She twirled around, sword out, to find herself staring at Much's haggard face.
"Much! Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied wearily, "The Elite didn't want to wound us…it would ruin the show, I'm assuming. The worst wound among us is either Robin's concussion or a slice on Djaq's arm. She fixed herself up pretty quickly, but we couldn't stop Robin from falling asleep,"
"He'll be fine. He has to be," she swore, partly to reassure Much, and partly to reassure herself. "I'm the envoy of both good and bad news. Gisborne plans to have you killed in front of all of Nottingham in two days, but I have some keys."
"Thank the Lord," he whispered reverently, reaching as far as he could through the bars to get them.
"Let me do it," she heard from behind her. Surprised, she turned and saw Robin propping himself up against a wall near the door of his cell. She flew to her feet and over to him.
"You're alright!" she cried softly, tears dripping down her face under her mask. Through the bars she caressed his cheek tenderly, stroking his hair out of his eyes. He grinned at her, and she almost crowed with joy, seeing his normal crooked grin. It meant he would be fine and everything would be okay.
"Open the locks, love," he whispered soothingly. Obligingly, she tried to fit one of the keys into the locks. To her terror, not one of the keys fit.
"Robin!" she squeaked, staring up into his bright blue eyes, void of the spark of life that usually resided there.
"Give me the keys, darling," He took them from her gently, and tried them on the locks on the handcuffs he was wearing. To her great surprise, they unlocked.
"That's better! Thank you, my darling," he said, grinning again, the light back into his eyes as hope flooded through him. Marian took the keys from Robin and passed them around the other cells, so all of Robin's men could undo their bonds.
"Now, men, and my lovely Marian. I have a plan. It is dangerous, but it just might work…"
Two days later, Robin well-informed his men on the plan. They all knew their parts, and they all knew what they had to do in order to make sure the scheme worked out correctly. They were pulled out of their hurried whispers when they heard feet stamping down the stairs to the dungeons.
Frantically, Robin pulled on his shackles and ruefully clicked them firmly shut. As much as he hated it, the guards would not allow Robin and his men to leave their cells without being firmly restrained. This was, unfortunately, the first part of the plan.
"Oh, too bad. I much enjoyed our little rivalry, but there can only be one winner, and today, that will be me," Gisborne laughed as he walked downstairs.
"There will never be an end to this, Guy. This will only end when there are no people left on this earth to oppose you. Whenever you oppress someone, there will always and I repeat, always, someone to oppose the cruelty," Robin sneered, "I just hope whoever it is annoys you as much as I do."
Guy roared, and slapped Robin across the face, but Robin plastered a grin on his face. For better or for worse, he loved riling Guy up.
Robin and his men were shackled together in what looked like a chain gang and led up and out into the bright sunshine. Robin blinked for a few seconds, trying to get his eyes to stop watering. The sun was almost unbearable.
When his eyes stopped watering, he could make out Marian scuttling over to where they were. As much as he knew what she was going to do, it didn't make him like it any better.
"Guy! Please, wait up!" she giggled, her voice high-pitched and girly, and not at all like her normal voice.
"Marian?" He asked, turning to her, "What do you want?"
"I was thinking, milord, about your invitation to the party. My answer still stands on the marriage, but maybe it would be enjoyable to have you as an escort," she simpered. Gisborne's eyebrows rose in disbelief, but then he broke into a grin.
"That would be wonderful. Just let me bring these prisoners to the gallows," he replied.
"Don't let me keep you," she smiled, before 'accidently' stumbling on a crack in the courtyard, and letting her hand brush up against Robin's shackled one, transferring the small key she had hidden inside to his palm.
"Oh my goodness!" she shrieked, and as fast as lightning, Gisborne caught her, holding her unnecessarily close as he helped her up.
"Thank you, milord," she cooed. She looked unbelievably stupid to Robin's eyes, and he couldn't quite believe that Gisborne fell for it, but Guy did love her and Guy did have a skewed idea about woman.
Robin shook his head quickly to rid himself of any lingering thoughts of jealously, and quickly loosened his shackles so he could pull his hands out. Sliding one hand out, he passed the key to Little John, who was behind him. Quickly, it made it all the way down the line.
By now, the gang was already at the gallows. They're weapons were in a heap next to the gallows, ready to be burned in a ceremony suggested by Marian herself, to honor the deaths of the criminals. Really, it was so the outlaws could easily grab them and fight their way out.
Robin winked at Marian quickly. She saw and nodded just as fast.
"The Night Watchman! I just saw him, Guy! He wants to free his friends! He was up on the tower! Hurry! The outlaws have no way of getting out of iron shackles, Guy, go and get the Night Watchman!" she cried, convincingly, pointing up to the top of the tower and going into fake hysterics.
"Where?" Guy roared, having personal hatred for the Night Watchman. Marian pointed again, pretending to be so frightened she couldn't speak. Robin could barely hold in his own laughter.
"Guards! Go capture the Night Watchman!" Gisborne roared, and sent all the men around Robin, plus most in the courtyard itself, for the phantom Night Watchman.
"Guy, you need to go too! I heard rumors…I heard rumors that he wanted to kill me, Guy, to get to you! Please!" Marian sobbed, making ideas up as she went. Guy still looked uncertain, so against her will Marian went for the clincher. She leaned up and kissed him.
When they broke apart, Guy smiled at her and ran full-tilt to the other end of the courtyard, where the guards were looking for the non-existent Night Watchman. That was Robin's cue. He wrenched his arms out of the shackles with all his other men and ran hell-for-leather to his weapons, snatching up his bow, quiver, and sword in one fell swoop, his men close behind.
"The outlaws are escaping!" a guard hollered before Robin knocked him down with a well-placed arrow. They fought their way over to the portcullis and Little John fought off the guards surrounding the pulley holding the portcullis down. Heaving, Robin and John lifted the gate a few meters off the ground, enough for everyone but them to escape.
"Go, John!" Robin called, and John haltingly obliged, rolling under the gate. Robin yelled from the abrupt change in weight against his back, but kept the gate open. He shot an arrow straight and true straight through the rope holding the second gate up, and then ran full tilt, throwing himself under both gates before the crashed down behind him.
Robin Hood pulled himself to his feet, winking at Marian before running out of Nottingham, back into Sherwood Forest.
All he could hear as he ran was an outraged, "Gisborne!"
Aww poor Gizzy. Getting yelled at by a furious Sheriff. YAY R/M love! REVIEW