This background info is important to the understandability feature of this ... uhm... creation.
Right, so, the wee bit of background. There was an episode called Turk Flu and after i watched it in my head i created a bizarre fascination with the idea that there may have been a real Turk Flu. As i was, like, 11 at the time, my first version was abysmal. But i recently found it on a floppy disk and decided to re-write it. It's completely off-base with the rest of the *cough* 300+ page novel i'd started, so i thought i would share it here.
Marian has just arrived, warning the gang that Guy is on his way with the treacherous Allan to rat out the location of the camp. In this version, Allan's a double agent (mwahah) and so he is still helping Robin by leaking information. He's a wee devil. Also in this version, Will has recently built the fabulous new camp (featured in season 2) but refers back to a previously made on in my head.
Oh, and it's winter.
Oh, and the most important fact. In my head i had said that Will had been shot by an arrow in a previous battle and was recovering slowly from it.
Unfortunately i do not own these characters. If only, eh?
Burdened with the momentous task to conceal the camp from prying eyes, Will's body was unbelievably tense as he hurled snow onto the roof of the closed camp in an eager attempt to hide it from Guy. His ears were alert to the smallest of sounds, and even a squirrel scampering on the cliff edge way above him made him freeze and grab his axe. He knew that the survival of the gang rested on the camp's secrecy- if it were exposed and destroyed now, they would have to tough out the winter without cover, and the chances of surviving that was, literally, nothing. The cold was already heavily affecting him; he wore only a canvas tunic, canvas trousers, a pair of riding boots and a few belts holding his axe to his hip and so the chill seeped into him, curling around his bones, freezing him horridly. However, his task was too important to simply shrug off due to some minor chills. Instead Will worked faster, harder.
Soon he became aware of his grogginess. He paused for a moment, realising that he couldn't feel his fingertips, but it wasn't the fault of the cold, it was something other, something inside of him. This unnerved him. His breath became ragged from anxiety as he wriggled his fingers and felt nothing, and soon he started to cough uncontrollably. He grabbed his throat in a bid to shut up for sake of being heard, but all that resulted in were tears streaming down his face from lack of oxygen. He needed to stop his coughing; he needed to stop attracting attention to himself before…
"There! I see one sir!" a voice bellowed. Snapping his neck round, Will's eyes came upon a group of twenty or so guards upon horses galloping around the bend thirty feet away from the foot of the hill. The men were being led by Guy and unusually Vaisey who in turn were being followed by a grimacing Allan. It took Will a moment to realise he was the target of the guard's bellowing, but when it dawned upon him, he jerked into action, leaping away from the oncoming slaughtering.
However, his reckless movement cost him dearly, for his foot landed on some ice and he lost his balance, falling and tumbling down the slope towards the guards with a yell of pain and annoyance. His fall caused his healing wound to split and, naturally, start spilling blood on himself and the ground he rolled down. Ignoring the pain and thinking quickly, Will dug his nails into the snow and came to an abrupt stop near the base of the hill. Shaking his head from the pain and the disorientation, he stood up slower than he hoped and saw the men nearing and nearing. He had only one hope. Praying Allan figured what he was going to do, Will started running towards Guy and the guards, his eyebrows furrowed, his fists clenched. Guy frowned in confusion but urged his horse faster. Will was not let down, and his heart gave a breath of relief when Allan's horse began to over-take Guy's.
Allan and Will had practiced this manoeuvre numerous times in the gang's paddock, hidden deep within the forest's trees. Granted it was with different horses, and normally Will wouldn't have had an agonising side but they had to try, for Will's sake. They were within throwing distance and, with a roar, Will, once more, bounded off the ground. Allan gave a cry of pretend shock as Will jumped over his horse's head, grabbed his shirt and pushed them both off the steed.
"Break my fall." Will whispered urgently as they fell backwards. Allan did not need to reply- nor would he have had the time- but from seeing the blood on his friend's shirt he knew he was in a bad way. All he did instead was force his muscles to relax so the impact wouldn't be so painful on his shoulders. They tucked and rolled as the guards forced their horses away from the rolling bodies. "Let me away." Will asked as the last of the guards swerved them.
"Always." Allan grunted, rolling over once more and then pushing Will away. Staggering slightly, Will found his footing and then tore off down the hill without a backwards glance. He was headed to the 'rocky patch' as his brilliant friend Much had dubbed it; a vast area of rocks and moss which was the perfect short term hide-out. There were many opportunities to hide in amongst all the rocks, but there was one place in particular where Will felt most safe. Rounding the bend he urged himself faster, ignoring the searing pain in his waist. He could see his destination when the hoof beats grew nearer. He chanced a glance round and saw Guy rounding the bend, drawing his sword and bellowing abuse at Will. He knew that both Vaisey and Guy wanted to put the noose around his neck for the foiling of their plans, but he was also aware they would settle for a less humiliating, bloodier death. The fact he wasn't running as fast as he could terrified Will; he didn't want to die, especially not by the hands of Guy. He wanted to die peacefully, in the arms of the woman he loved; Djaq. Not that she would know… they couldn't be together even if they wanted to; being in Robin's gang would put a stop to that for sure.
He did not dwell on his misery for too long as he could feel Guy's hot breath tickle his neck, could hear the beating of the horse's heart, could see the ground give way underneath him as he leapt once more into the unknown.
It was as if he were experiencing it in slow motion. He heard the air whistling as Guy's blade came down beside his ear. He could see his reflection in the blade. He could hear the horse whinnying as it reared at the edge of the basin of rock. He could imagine Guy's look of dismay as the outlaw got away again. Will's arms swayed in a futile attempt to stay airborne. Failing that, he bent his knees, ready for the impact. His feet collided with the earth and he adopted the old technique once more- tuck and roll. It was one of the first things Robin had taught his gang; 'if you are falling, fall in a way that will cause you minimal damage'. It wasn't the most comfortable of things to do, but it was a damn sight less painful then crashing on your face.
He finally came to a stop at the side of a rock where he panted for several long seconds. It was as if his body refused to get up. He wanted to move, wanted to run away, but for the second time his body refused to listen to his brain. He began coughing again, his lungs contracting painfully. His eyes blurred and dipped into darkness for a split second and he wondered if he was dying. Yet, as quickly as it came it had gone. Stunned, it took Will a further second to get up, and by this time, Guy was hesitantly leading the guards down the rocky slope. Swearing at his idiocy, he bounded over the rocks, swinging his legs over the stones and slipping through gaps. He gained the upper hand due to his nimble skills from slipping through crowds of peasants or the grasp of guards and he was a good twenty feet away from Guy when he found the place he preferred to shelter from. There was an inlet in which he could crouch in and pull a blanket of leaves and twigs across the opening as if it were moss. He carefully positioned it, trying not to disturb the snow and show his hiding place and then he held his breath. His heart was racing from having ran and also from his second strange experience. He couldn't understand what it was that was happening to him. He put it down to exhaustion. Doing double watches and being unable to sleep from anxiety stopped him resting. He couldn't ever properly relax- there was always the chance of an ambush when someone else was on watch. They could fall asleep, or be attacked from behind, or anything. He felt he always had to be on watch to keep them safe, for there is nothing on this earth that would stop Will protecting Robin, the gang and Djaq. This constant worry that someone needs his help prevents him from sleeping.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Guy taunted. Will jerked involuntarily; he was close. Really close. "I know you're in here somewhere. We can wait around here all day. You, cannot." Will ignored this tease and concentrated on staying conscious. His vision was dotted with black again, and his head thumped. His hands were shaking and his side was in agony. As soon as I can get away, I'm finding Djaq. He hated going to Djaq for medical aid- he didn't like the idea of seeming weak to her- but he realised that these… ordeals… weren't normal.
He did not know how long Guy hung about looking for him but he guessed by the loud whinny and the galloping of hooves that they had given up. Robin had always warned the gang of "the last man" and due to this, Will waited a further five minutes before. Unsurprisingly, soon after Guy left he heard another two horses leave. The last men had left, and so Will carefully crawled out of his hiding place. After checking he was alone he inspected his side. It looked positively gory, and the blood had gone black around the actual wound. Knowing this wasn't a good sigh, Will sacrificed what little heat his clothes gave him and ripped off both sleeves, tying them together and then wrapping them around his waist, covering his wound and pulling it tightly. He gave a gasp of involuntary pain and pulled the remaining tatters of his clothes down over his make-shift bandage. Then, making sure his axe was still on his hip, he started off at a run towards where Robin, Much and Marian had gone.