The Nameless – Chapter 1
Summary: Things are going missing from the camp, Robin's stolen things he hasn't stolen. The outlaws are in danger, but is this just the Sheriff or is it the work of someone else? Someone who may be much more dangerous.
Disclaimer: I do not own Robin, Marian, Little John, Will or Alan, more the shame. The only character I own is, well, I can reveal nothing at this moment in time, so you'll have to read on to find out.
The Sheriff's Chambers – Nottingham Castle
"I want him found!" The Sheriff demand of Gisbourne. He banged his hands on his desk for extra emphasis, "I want Robin Hood and his band of sodding outlaws found and brought here! Do you understand, Gisbourne?"
"Yes my Lord." Gisbourne replied reluctantly, he was asked this almost everyday, it didn't make catching the elusive outlaw any easier, "And how do you suppose I do that?"
"I don't care! Just catch him!" The Sheriff fumed, "He's stolen my ring! The one that my sister brought me." He winced at the thought of what his sister would do if she found out, "I want you to find him and get the ring back!"
"Of course, my Lord." Gisbourne stated again getting bored with the Sheriffs rant already. "What does the ring look like?"
"It's pure gold, with an extremely expensive, cut red ruby and engraved on the back of it is; I will kill that stupid outlaw!" The sheriff shouted.
"Right," Gisbourne turned slowly towards the door, "I'll get my men." Gisbourne strode out of the room, his black jacket flapping behind him. The door closed behind him and left the Sheriff alone in his own chambers.
He felt his finger where the ring should have been. He felt incomplete without it there, as if he wasn't properly dressed. It worried him to think that Robin Hood could climb into his own personal chambers during the night and steal something from right under his nose, or, in this case from off his finger; he never took that ring off.
He moved to the window and looked out over Nottingham. He controlled all this land, here people obeyed him. Sherwood Forest was there in the distance, the home to those thieving band of Outlaws. He wondered what Robin was up to now, what was he scheming and plotting to do next? The Sheriff drummed his fingers on the window sill in thought.
Whoosh. An arrow landed with a thud in between his third and fourth fingers. The Sheriff snatched his hand back and stepped away. Speared on the arrow was an envelope. He tore it off and withdrew from the window in case there were any more arrows. He tore it open the envelope.
Inside it was his ring, perfectly intact. The one Robin Hood had stolen that previous night. Now he had given it back. Showing off his superb archer skills at the same time, of course. That was strange. Why steal something to then give it back? Was it to prove what he was capable of? Was it to scare him? Was it a threat?
That only made the Sheriff more determined than ever to catch him.
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The Outlaws Camp – Sherwood Forest
"Much, where have you put my bow and quiver?" Robin asked, his hands resting on his hips.
"I haven't touched them, Master." Much replied honestly.
"What about you Allan?" Robin turned to the man behind him who was at that moment sat down eating his breakfast. Allan shook his head, "Will? John? Djaq?" he asked the outlaws in turn, each shook their heads. "Are you sure? I could have sworn I left them here." He stared in puzzlement at the empty spot as if by looking at it, it could tell him where they were.
He moved through the camp searching for it. "Have any of you seen them?" he asked once again, none had. The rest of the outlaws stood up to help him look for the weapon.
"I'm not being funny right, but I don't think it's here." Allan came to the conclusion.
"What do you mean? Of course it's here! Where else would it be?" Robin held his arms up in exasperation.
"I dunno, maybe you left it in Nottingham?" Will suggested.
Robin shot him a look, "I wouldn't do that, I'm not stupid." he snapped.
"Well if it's not here, where is it?" John asked the obvious question. The outlaws looked at each other blankly.
"Stolen?" Djaq voiced.
"How would it be stolen, no one knows where the camp is." Much pointed out, "Do they?"
Robin look grave, "How would they? And why would they steal my Bow and Arrows?"
"You don't think it's the Sheriff do you?" Much worried.
"I don't know. But I'm not going to stay here to find out. Take your belongings and come with me. I think we need to have a talk with Marian, see if she can shed any light on the matter.
The gang gathered together their belongings quickly and they set off through the forest.
"How would anyone find out where the camp is anyway? It's really well hidden." Will asked.
"I don't know. We're the only one's, besides Marian, who know where it is." Robin frowned with the questions buzzing round his head, "But I'm going to find out."
Knighton Hall
Soon they arrived at Marian's home, Knighton hall. The manor house loomed above them but far from being imposing it was welcoming and it made the outlaws long for a bath and a warm bed, a thing they hadn't had in a long time.
"Will, stay here, keep a look out for trouble. John and Alan go round the house, keep an eye out, you know the drill. Much and Djaq, I want you to go into Nottingham, here's some money, spread the happiness, you know the kind of thing. Don't draw any attention to your selves. I won't be long." With that he jumped up and caught hold of the beam , flipping himself on top of it he could then reach Marian's window and, taking a quick look inside, he clambered through.
Marian wasn't in there. Her bed was neatly made, the curtains around it pulled back. He wandered casually over to the wardrobe and opened it up. It was full of her dresses as expected. He reached inside and touched the silk of one of the dresses; it was soft to his touch. It smelt like Marian too, that sweet scent that sent his mind wirling. But he couldn't help but think that one of these dresses would feed a family in Loxley for a month.
"Spying on me were you?" Robin span round to face Marian who was leaning casually against the bed post
"Creeping up on me were you?" he grinned back at her.
"What are you here for?" she asked him.
"Do I need a reason?" he took several steps towards her
"Yes, remember, you never have time for a quick chat, you're always off trying to save the King." She replied, a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"I'm sorry." He said and looked down at the wooden floorboards, "I suppose I do have something to ask." He admitted then paused.
"Well, what is it, then? I haven't got all day; Gisbourne said he was going to come round to visit me today."
"Gisbourne." Robin spat out his name, he sighed "I need to ask you if you've told anyone where the camp is."
"No." she replied bluntly, "I promised you didn't I? I haven't even mentioned it to anyone. Why?"
"Someone's come into our camp and stolen something." He said seriously.
"What did they steal?" Marian asked concerned.
"My weapon." He replied quietly.
"Oh. I had wondered the lack of your bow."
"It's not just that, if they know where our camp is they could murder us in our sleep, they could…" he trailed off, lost in his thoughts of what could happen.
"You're worried for the safety of your men. And that it could be the sheriff." Marian noted. Robin nodded his head in confirmation, "Well, I don't think it is the Sheriff." She stated.
"You don't?" Robin said, surprised.
"No. If it had been him, don't you think he would have done more than just stolen you're bow?" she didn't leave him any time to comment, "No, he wouldn't have risked you getting away."
"Then who is it?" Robin replied, his voice tight with anxiety.
Marian pursed her lips, "I don't know, I'll try to find out what I can but I can't promise anything."
She looked at Robin whose face was white with worry. "Oh, Robin." She said quietly and reached up and laid a hand on his shoulder, "Don't you ever get tired of playing the hero?" he smiled at her and took her hand in his,
"So long as there's a Gisbourne and a Sheriff in this world, I have to be." He moved her hand to his lips but she pulled it back before he could kiss it.
"Robin." Will's voice called up to them from the ground below.
"I have to go." Robin told Marian, "Try not to miss me too much." He smirked and turned to go to the window.
"Robin!" Will's voice came again, more stressed this time. Robin made it to the window in time to see Gisbourne accompanied by five of his men come galloping towards Knighton hall. He jumped down from the window and landed expertly on the ground.
"Let's go Will." He called to his comrade. They dashed around to the back of the manor to see Alan and John standing there, weapons drawn. Robin called to them too and the four of them ran for the cover of the surrounding trees.
Back in Knighton hall Marian rushed down the stairs to greet Gisbourne who had just knocked on the door. She smoothed down the front of her dress before opening the door.
"Marian." Gisbourne greeted her.
"Sir Guy." She nodded her head slightly, "Please, come in."
"Thank you. I'm afraid I can't stay long, I'm on business."
"Oh, is it important?" Marian questioned
"Yes, something very valuable to the sheriff has been stolen. Three guesses who stole it."
"You don't think, Robin Hood? Surely not!" Robin wouldn't have, would he, she thought, he hadn't mentioned anything of it to her anyway.
"Yes Marian, that's what he is, a good for nothing thief. But don't worry; I won't let him touch you. You're safe with me." He took a step towards her. She took a step back.
"Can I get you anything to drink? Some food perhaps?"
"No. As I said I really don't have long." He reached inside his pocket and with drew a small, intricately carved, wooden box. "I came to give this to you."
"What is it?"
"It is a present. Open it and you will find out." He pressed it into her hand.
Carefully she unhooked the catch and opened the lid. Inside was a small gold chain, a bracelet, with a green jewel attached.
"What did I say about giving me gifts?" Marian replied sternly.
"I can't help it, I thought it was beautiful, like you." He stepped towards her again.
"You better be going." Marian said quickly. "As you said, you have important business to attend to. And take this. When I say no gifts I mean no gifts."
"You don't like it?" Gisbourne sounded offended.
"No, I do." Marian replied before she could stop herself, it was after all a very pretty piece of jewellery. "It's just that…"
Guy folded her hand over the trinket. "Keep it. Please." His eyes pleaded with her too, she couldn't say no now.
"Very well. But you really must be off."
"Yes." He agreed," I'll come again soon Marian. Good day." He turned and walked out of the door, leaving Marian stood with the bracelet hanging in her hand.
The Market – Nottingham
Robin, Will, John and Alan found Djaq and Much in the market having given the money to those who needed it. They were now standing in one of the side alleys, discussing what they should do next.
"Well, we can't stay here all night." Alan pointed out.
"I know, but do you really want to go back to somewhere that's not safe?" Robin argued.
"Did Marian have any clue as to who might have been there?" Djaq asked.
Robin shook his head, "No. She seemed certain of it too." He said grimly, "She also said that she didn't think that it was the Sheriff."
"What? Who else would it be?" Alan protested.
"She has a point."
"What! Of course it's the sheriff. I suppose he was bound to find it sometime or other."
"No, I think if it was the Sheriff he would have done more than just stolen a weapon, he wouldn't let Robin get away that easily."
"Women!" Will rolled his eyes earning him a hit from Djaq.
"That's exactly what Marian said." Robin said, "But if it's not him who is it?" The gang had blank looks on their faces; this was clearly a matter that wasn't going to be solved easily.
"What do you suggest we do then Master?" Much asked.
"I suggest that we go back to camp, be on our guard, if there's anything out of the ordinary we come straight back here." They nodded in agreement.
Robin raised his hood and, with a careful look down the market, he turned onto the main street. The others followed his lead. But before they had passed three stalls a voice shouted after them.
"There he is. Guards get him!" It was Gisbourne's voice. Robin turned round to see Guy mounted on his horse with five guards surrounding him who were dismounting to be able to go through the crowds, towards robin and the outlaws.
"Split up, now. Much with me, John with Djaq and Alan with Will. Meet back at camp." Robin ordered quickly whilst breaking into a run. This was bad news, Guy could now recognise them by face.
Djaq and John turned down an alley to the left followed by two of the guards. At the same time that Robin and Much darted down one on the right. Alan and Will continued forward, followed by the rest of the guards, none of them seemed to have noticed Robin and Much's disappearance.
"Not them, you oafs!" Guy's voice boomed, "They went that way."
Robin and Much didn't stop to look behind to see if the guards were following Gisbourne's orders, they could already hear the heavy footfall of the guards. They continued to running down the alley. Suddenly they took a sharp turn to the left, and then they twisted back on themselves. The alley was getting narrower. Now only it was only wide enough for one man.
Robin was leading the way with Much behind him. The footsteps of the guards had gone now, but they took no chances and continued running.
As they darted along the alleyway Robin thought he saw a glimpse of black material flapping above him but he shook his head and dismissed it as a figment of his imagination.
The footsteps returned again, the guards were back on their trail again.
A figure suddenly dropped down in front of him. It was wearing a black cloak that would probably have reached down to the ground if the figure had been standing, it had a hood that covered its face in shadow. Robin was unable to tell whether it was a man or a woman. But before he had time to ask the figure, it shoved a bow and quiver into his hands.
His bow and quiver.
Was this the person who had stolen them? Who was this person? Then, in the blink of an eye, the figure disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Robin stood, frozen like a statue, his bow and quiver hanging loose in his hands.
"He went this way!" a guard's cry quickly jolted him back into action again and he and Much sprinted away.
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A/N: Okay, this is my first RH fanfic so I'm kinda still getting used to the characters. This chapter is a whole lot longer than I usually write but then I suppose I kinda got carried away. I can't promise any consistency between chapter lengths or how often I update, but I promise that it's going to be good (or at least I think it's going to be).
So please review and tell me what you think.
Luthien x