Blast to the Past

By AllanandCaro

A/N: So here is the alternate beginning that I keep ranting about! It's how Caro, my OC joins the gang. My other one was kinda lame so it's official! When this story is finished it will be discontinued and deleted. Sorry, but I like this one better! By the way, *Aidan is a spoof on someone in my life, just to answer any questions about the star in advance.

Caro closed her newest book, "Knights of Sherwood" and when she blinked her eyes, her life changed forever. Everything went black, Caro felt a spinning sensation, and began to cough violently. To Caro's surprise she landed in what felt like rotting hay. "Eww! Gross!" Caro hissed. She heard a voice call out. "Hello?"

Caro opened her eyes.

She knew almost immediately where she was, remembering a scene from her Robin Hood book. She was in the castle's dungeons. The voice called out again, this time fearful. She heard the sound of a sword being drawn, and she looked around frantically for a place to hide. There was a small wooden bench to the side of her, but otherwise she was in plain sight. She heard an iron barred door opening, and she attempted to get up, but almost as soon as she made her attempt, strong arms gently pushed Caro down again.

Caro shrieked.

"Shhhhh!" A hand clamped over Caro's hand and she quickly bit it. The man released his grip on her, and he laughed. Then he whispered, "It's gonna be alright! I'm not gonna hurt you!"

As soon as Caro struggled free from the man's grasp, the young man, still surprised that she had managed to free herself, asked, "Now, tell me who you are and what you're doing here."

"Who…who are you?" she asked.

"You tell me first." He demanded.

"My name's Caroline. That's all you need to know." She replied, looking at the man, who was now close enough for her to see. His eyes were blue, perhaps the bluest blue she'd ever seen and his hair was light brown, almost a dirty blond. He was really quite handsome.

"Well…Hello. My name's Allan A Dale." He said, extending his hand.

Caro took Allan's hand and shook it. As she got a better look at his face she noticed something. "I think I know who you are now."

"Oh?" he inquired with a noticeably amused look on his face. "You've seen me before then?"

"No. It's a long story." She answered. He continued to look at her with the same amused face, as he opened the door to the cell and pointed to the exit.

"Let's go." He said as they climbed the staircase that led out into a corridor. Caro couldn't help but wonder what Allan A Dale was doing in the castle.

"Whatever." She thought. "I'll find that out later.

Caro continued to follow Allan after they left the dungeons. After about five minutes he opened the door and instructed her to go through it. When she did, the first thing she saw was a desk. The man at the desk was an older man with very little hair. Next to the old man was a younger man, with long black hair. These two men were dressed in all black leather. "What's the meaning of this, *Aidan?" said the old man.

"It's Allan, my lord sheriff. And I found this young woman in the dungeon. She wasn't there yesterday, so I was wondering what her crime was?" Allan said, stepping back. Caro stepped back too so the sheriff could get out of his seat.

"What's her name?" said the man with the long black hair.

"Caroline, Sir Guy."

"We haven't got no woman prisoners right now." interrupted a guard near the door.

The sheriff clasped his hands together and sighed. "Ah, well then, looks like we've got ourselves a new serving maid. Thank you Adrian…umm, Allan."

Caro glanced at Allan, as if asking for help. Allan shrugged his shoulders, and left the room, taking the little protection Caro had away with him. "Well then, take her to the servants' quarters, Gisborne." The sheriff commanded.

With a simple, "Yes sir," the man known as Guy of Gisborne whisked Caro away to a large room with beds separated only by privacy screens, and no dressers. "To be honest," Caro thought," How different is this from the jail cells?" Caro was awoken from her trance by an old, annoying bossy cook, who began at once to order Caro around.

There we go. Please review and tell me what you think so far. It gets better, I promise.