Faeries of Sherwood
by
Emony and Haddi Stein
Chapter One
The Faery Contract
Robin of Locksley, AKA Robin Hood, woke up to the sound of his friend and hunting partner "Little" John – the nickname was clearly a misnomer, the dark-haired, burly giant being at least six feet tall, if not seven. Robin opened his blue eyes and laid there for a while, staring up at the cloudy England sky, laced across with the oaken and ash boughs of the tall trees that made up Sherwood Forest.
Finally deciding to get up, Robin gave Little John a clearly annoyed glance before he got to his feet with a small groan. Wandering over to a small spring nearby, Robin splashed his face with the clear, cold water, drinking some as it doused his light brown hair and beard. Ahh, he thought to himself, that felt good.
Innocently moving on a bit further from the tiny campsite, Robin stopped suddenly as a small, star-like flash caught the corner of his eye.
Blossom smiled as she fluttered through the dew-laden grass. Her vibrantly bright pink hair danced softly across her bare shoulders. She was out on a mission to collect herbs for the large water drop that her best friend and fellow doctor, Silverberry, had given her.
She stopped in surprise as she caught sight of the Humans. What are they doing in Pixie Hollow? She wondered to herself as she wiped her hands on her filmy knee-high dress. Her neon green eyes widened in fear as she noticed that one of the giants was coming toward her. In an attempt to run she banged into a odd weed. She gasped as she realized that this was no ordinary weed. It was a Sprinting Thistle! She rushed in the opposite direction as it started running wildly about the earth, fulfilling its condemning name. She didn't notice until it was too late that she was running in the direction of the Humans' camp!
As the little spark of light fled away from him, and then in his direction, Robin reached out and caught it in mid-air with the reflexes of a superb archer. Looking at what he'd caught in his fist, his dark eyebrows rose upward to see that he was clutching a tiny Human being!
"Well, hello, there," he said, smiling cheerfully as he loosened his grip slightly so the fairy could get comfortable, "You must be a fairy. I didn't know they were in Sherwood!"
Blossom gasped. "Let me go!" She tried to push her way out of the Human's hand, but failed. "And this isn't Sherwood Forest."
She found that her efforts were useless. The only way to escape was if the Human lessened the strength on her waist. She sighed. I might as well look as innocent as I can. She forced herself to grin.
"Hi!" She plainly greeted him. Would you mind letting me go so that I can go and tend the leg of that Tinker fairy who got shot by a Sprinting Thistle? "What's your name?"
"I'm Robin Hood," the outlaw replied pleasantly, opening his hand and letting Blossom sit on it comfortably, "And what might your name be?"
Robin had to confess to himself that he was glad John was still asleep, snoring like a bull. Just think what that giant's face would do to this poor thing, who looked already jittery as it were!
Blossom groaned. "Head Doctor Blossom," She answered, "Come on... I'll take you to Queen Clarian."
She picked up her green bag that contained three half-leaves of mint. She picked up four strips of Lamb's Ear and pushed it carefully into the leaf bag. "This way."
She led him to the Sprinting Path. The grass made her look smaller than she really was. She quickly took flight, knowing that the path was a common place for Wind Fairies to attack innocent wayfliers. The Wind Fairies attack all the Garden Fairies that were out late and forced them to be their doctors and Blossom would rather not have that happen.
Robin followed her dubiously, then paused. He shouldn't run off and leave John alone, asleep.
"Wait a moment," he called to her, and quickly trotted back to the camp site, where he woke up John. "John! John, wake up."
The tall man awoke with a grunt. "What is it?"
"It's morning, and I've met someone who is very … interesting," Robin explained vaguely.
"Interesting?" John asked in disdain, "Oh, come on, Robin, not all girls are trustworthy as Marian and Djaq -"
"No, no," Robin rolled his eyes, "Not that kind of girl. She's too... small for my tastes. Anyway, she's not even … Never mind. She's taking me to meet someone, and I wanted you to know why I was gone."
"Robin," John asked suspiciously, getting to his feet, "What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing!" Robin insisted, "I'll be back in a few minutes, alright?"
John glowered for a moment, then replied, "You'd better be."
"Thanks, chap," Robin said with a grin and a pat on the giant's immensely muscled shoulder before hurrying back to the tiny path where Blossom was waiting.
"I'm back," he told her, "Let's go. By the way... Could you explain to me who Queen Clarian is?"
Blossom was still amazed at Robin's friend. He looks like a dwarf compared to him, she thought. "Okay," she smiled. Thank the child's first laugh that that monster isn't coming. I can't believe he gave him a name!
"Queen Clarian is the fairy queen, of course," she laughed, "Living this close to Pixie Hollow, I am surprised you don't know about her!"
As they entered the main town, all the fairies stopped their work and stared at Robin. "Who is that?" a voice came. "I don't know," replied another, "Maybe a over-grown dwarf!"
Blossom just ignored these statements from her fellow fairies and stepped up to a glowing fountain. She waved to a young fairy down below. "Tarin!" she grinned. "Come here!"
A young boy rushed up to the duo.
"Blossom!" he grinned as he pushed some dark blond hair out of his eyes and and placed his acorn-top hat back on his head, "Who is this?" he asked, "Do you need me to summon Queen Clarian?"
Blossom nodded. "Yup, and this is Robin Woodie or whatever your name is," she introduced the two young men.
Tarin nodded his greeting. "One moment."
Just then, two spheres of glowing pixie dust collided like a supernova, and merged together in order to form a beautiful, dainty woman who glowed with all the power of midnight magic.
"And who might this tall, tall creature be?" Queen Clarian asked of the young doctor.
"Excuse me, madam," Robin spoke up, taking a courtly bow in Clarian's direction, "My name is Robin Hood," he sent a stabbing look in Blossom's direction before continuing, "Formerly Robin of Locksley, now leader of the band of humans who live in this forest, milady."
Blossom blushed. Whoopsy! She thought, I messed up again. She could hear Tarin chuckling in the background. She sent him a piercing glare which made him shut up.
Queen Clarian nodded. "Ahhhh..." She replied, "I see. Well, welcome to Pixie Hollow." She slowly moved forward to get a better look at Robin. She could see her loosely bound hair, encircled with a golden crown, in the tips of his arrows, which sat inside a leather quiver that was peeking over Robin's left shoulder. "What do you bring those for?" she asked.
"To defend myself with, milady," Robin explained politely, "I and my band are not the only intruders into this forest. There is also another, greater evil that often invades the lives of the innocent, which drove many to join me as outlaws in Sherwood Forest. We fight this evil by stopping tax collectors on the road through the forest, and robbing the rich to feed the poor."
After he had said that, Robin paused and allowed the fairy queen to speak. He thought he had summed up his band's mission quite nicely, and hopefully in terms that a fairy could understand.
Queen Clarian nodded. "I see." She rose to eye level. "I am assuming that Sherwood Forest is was you call Pixies' Wood?" she guessed. "But, what does this part of 'robbing the rich to feed the poor' mean?" she asked, "Is it to rob food to feed the poor whom have none?"
Blossom didn't understand a thing Robin said. She just guessed that he was a great hero. But ... that part about robbing the robbed to feed the robbed she had no clue what it meant. "Tarin," she whispered in her best friend's ear, "What did he say?"
Tarin just shrugged. "How am I to know?" he asked, "It was too wordy." He turned back to Blossom and added, "I only understood one line or two. I make the three hundred or so sentences," He grinned as Blossom rolled her eyes, "I win!"
"That's the theory, yes," Robin told the tiny queen, "And, if I might say so, you and your people would be wonderful allies to our cause."
Always the slick one, always seeing opportunities and taking them, right? Well, Robin, that's why they gave you the fancy title and the village of Locksley.
Queen Clarian nodded her head and once again she answered, "I see." She thought for a moment then shook her head. "We are all ready fighting a war of our own," she sighed, "I am sorry."
Blossom sighed. "Respectfully, Queen Clarian," she interrupted, "But, wouldn't an ally like these guys be good?"
Queen Clarian took this into account. "Interesting," she nodded, "What war are you fighting and how do you think we could help?"
"Well," Robin replied, "For starters, you could be able to give us information that people would not speak of freely unless they didn't suspect someone was listening in. Your people, of course, are so small, no one would ever see you unless they were looking for you. Secondly, you could warn us when the Sheriff's men are traipsing through the forest in our direction. Third, you would make excellent spies.
"In return, my band could protect you from the other Humans' knowledge, and assist you in whatever way we can."
Queen Clarian nodded."I agree," she smiled, "But, with us being so small and you being so large, how can we sign an agreement?"
Blossom smiled. "I know! I know!" she rushed forward, "Shake hands!" she grinned, "You've got witnesses!" She thought once again. "But it would be a shake for a fairy, granted...." she trailed off, "Or Robin could write down a thing on a piece of paper and we could sign it!"
Queen Clarian didn't roll her eyes, but just laughed at the young fairy's ideas. "I think that we should just carve it on to the Pixie Hollow," she offered, "I shall write it, I guess."
"That sounds reasonable," Robin consented politely. After all, fairies were powerful people, and all of the tales he had heard had always warned not to mess with fairies, as their tempers were something of legend. Beautiful and dainty they may be, but once roused, they were a thing to be reckoned with.
Queen Clarian grinned. "Good."
She flew over to a large tree and formed a ball of Pixie Dust in her hand. She tossed it onto the tree forming the words to the agreement. "There." She tossed another sphere of light and her name appeared in small letters. "Would you rather carve your name?"
Blossom grinned. She loved to watch agreements being formed. "Coooool....." she muttered under her breath. This was an interesting agreement indeed.
Robin knelt by the tree, pulled out his hunting knife, and neatly carved his name next to Queen Clarian's – Robin Hood. Once that was done, he stood back up, sheathing his knife, and smiled at Queen Clarian.
"Begging your pardon, but I must be getting back now, your highness," he told the tiny winged monarch, "Duty calls."
The Fairy Queen smiled back. "I understand." she answered, "Blossom, show him the way out of Pixie Hollow," she ordered the field doctor, "Take that Tinker Fairy friend of yours with you, please." she turned back to Robin, "It has been a pleasure making friends, but now I must go tell the others of the agreement." She turned back into the spheres of pixie dust and flew off.
Blossom rolled her eyes. "Not fair..." she mumbled under her breath. She dashed over the fields and collected her friend. She soon was on the trail to the Human's encampment, Robin trailing behind.
Blossom's friend, Buster, grinned. "Finally, adventure!" he sighed. Turning to Robin he asked, "So, are you gonna tell your friends about the agreement thingy?"
"Of course I am," Robin replied as they drew nearer, "Granted, they might not believe me at first, but thats why I'll need you fairies to visit our camp sometime." Once they had reached the little camp he had set up with Little John, he called, "John!"
No answer. Taking another look at the camp, Robin noticed that the fireplace had been kicked through, and the animals they had killed stolen.
"Oh, no..." he muttered to himself before frantically yelling, "John!" Surely the sheriff's men hadn't been able to over-power him!