Sherwood Forest was quiet; the faint chirping of the birds and the rustle of leaves could be heard on the soft breeze. A lean man wandered along a wide dirt trail on top of a short horse; he had a longbow slung over his shoulder and a dark green mottled cloak to protect him from the wind. His horse was stocky with brown shaggy hair and led a similarly sized pale grey horse behind them. Both horses' ears twitched every few moments, shaking their heads in unison. They carried packs that held food and camping equipment; the grey horse also had a stringed instrument strapped to the saddle. The rider of the first horse had the hood of his cloak up, covering his face in a layer of shadow as he continued down the secluded path.
A moment later, a man with a scruffy beard and spiky brown hair and a slightly bent nose ran down the slight incline on the right of the path, in front of the horses, signaling with his hand for the rider to stop. The rider complied not wanting to run over the fellow.
"This is an ambush, my friend." the man in the path stated, smiling mischievously. The rider did not move; unseen by the ambusher, he gently pressed his heels into the side of his horse, preventing it from kicking at the man.
Five more figures rushed out of the trees and surrounded the horses on either side. They all held a weapon except a large man, with curly black hair and a matching beard; he held a large tree branch that had been sanded down until it was smooth.
The leader of the group, a man clad in green holding a bow that was pointed at the rider, stood slightly off to one side. "I am Robin Hood. Tell us how much money you have, and we will only take one tenth of it. Lie and we will take all of it." He was smiling as well, the slightly crooked grin brightening his face.
The man on the horse had yet to move or speak, but he did so now. He slowly pulled back his hood to reveal his face. He was older than any of the men attacking him and he had dark hair flecked with grey and a scruffy beard, cut at odd angles. He frowned, almost as if it was his natural expression, as he spoke in a low voice; soft enough that the men had to strain to hear him, "A bit of advice, it is not a good idea to threaten one Ranger, let alone multiple."
"Multiple?" A man with reddish hair, standing to the right of the rider, asked. Worry edged his voice as he held his sword and shield held closely to his chest for protection.
Before any of the ambushers could ask what a ranger was, a black shafted arrow appeared next to the foot of the gang's leader, creating a hiss and a thunk as it embedded itself into the ground. This was followed by second arrow landing next to the large man, and a third in between the feet of the man that had appeared to stop the horses. All six of the outlaws flicked their eyes upward, searching for the unseen archers. When they looked back, to the mysterious rider, a fraction of a second later, he had his long bow fully drawn, with an arrow nocked and pointed at the leader of the outlaw group.
"I assume you don't know what a Ranger is, or you would know that we tend to know if we are being followed." The Ranger sneered, although it looked more like a growl because he was still frowning. The man was standing in the saddle of his horse, which seemed to be glaring at the outlaws, if horses could glare.
"If you don't lower your weapons now, I'll put an arrow in you and each of your buddies; if you do lower your weapons, I still might shoot you." The ranger and the outlaw leader stared at each other for a moment before the outlaw lowered his bow, dropped it, and held up his hands. His smile from before had faded, replaced by a blank stare and the slightest curve of a frown on his lips. The other men in his group followed his lead and let go of their weapons. A flicker of a smile tugged at the corner of the ranger's mouth before he yelled to someone in the trees. "Will, come tie these men up." He didn't bother to lower his bow.
A younger man leaped down from a nearby tree. He was wearing the same mottled green cloak as the older man that had been riding on the horse. Will swiftly grabbed rope from the pack of the grey horse and tied up each of outlaws, collected their various weapons, and retrieved his arrows from the dirt. Once the six of them were all tied to trees in a line facing the path of the travelers, the older man dismounted his horse and lowered his longbow. He was shorter than he appeared to be while riding his horse, the horse also seemed to be shorter than any of the guards' horses that the outlaws had seen at the castle.
"Do you want to introduce yourselves?" The older man asked, raising one eyebrow at the group.
The man in green spoke up for the group, "Shouldn't you introduce yourselves first. You said there were multiple of you?" The tone in his voice indicated that he wanted to know how many of the rangers there were. Halt guessed that it was to assess whether or not the outlaws could have beaten the rangers in a battle.
The younger man spoke up now, "Two is multiple." He failed to hide the wide grin on his face. He was of medium height and had a slim appearance that hid his strength.
Robin frowned grimly, realizing his mistake, and secretly conceding that it was a trick he probably would have pulled. "Fooled by one of the same tricks I use on others." He commented to himself. He also noted that the young ranger possessed skills with a bow that could match his own; and if he had to guess, the older ranger did too. The older ranger spoke once again, "I am Halt, Royal Ranger for the crown and kingdom of Araluen and this," he gestured slightly to his younger companion, "is Will Treaty, also a Royal Ranger and my former apprentice."
The outlaw leader's brow furrowed questioningly, "You don't have a surname, Halt?"
"Halt Arratay." Halt stated without giving explanation. Robin noticed that Will Treaty's smile widened even more at the mention of Halt's 'full name'. Robin guessed there was some context he was missing.
He looked confused for a moment and then decided to let it go and introduced himself. "As you know, I am Robin Hood and these are my men." Since his hands were immobile, he tilted his head to either side. "We are outlaws in Nottinghamshire - not rightfully I might add - and we steal from the rich to give to the poor."
Each person in the band of outlaws introduced themselves. Little John, Allen a Dale, Much, Will, and Djaq. At the Mention of Djaq's name, Halt raised one eyebrow, for the second time since meeting this group, and stared at the Saracen.
"Your parents named you Djaq?" Halt asked, putting slight emphasis on the word you. His apprentice, Will, looked confused at his question.
"What?" Will asked, staring at his mentor, then at Djaq. Djaq glanced at him; a second later Will noticeably blushed and stopped talking.
Jack replied politely and quietly to Halt, "No, it was the name given to my brother." Halt nodded and didn't press her for more information, realizing that there must be a reason she would use his name and not her given name.
Halt thought for a moment before speaking, "I only have one more question." Halt glanced at Will with the slightest of smirks. "Do you guys like coffee?"