Wow, it took me a long time to put another one of these up...I wrote several...halves of several of them but didn't really finish any. I'll try to get doing that...I didn't really have time to edit, so if you see mistakes, please point them out! And, as always, review!
She drew the bow back, gracefully stretching the string taut, with her elbow at the same heighth as her shoulder. She released it carefully and the arrow propelled out through the air, striking the target on the big oak tree just slightly below his own.
She sighed and dropped the bow to the ground, letting it fall into the crisp leaves, sticking her tongue out at him slightly. "Well, you win."
He laughed a bit. She'd been bragging that she could beat him at archery all week, so today they'd finally held a contest. She was close, but not close enough. "I'm sorry, Marian. I really did think you had a chance."
"Sure you did."
"Well, come on, boys, pay up," Little John was saying, his hands outstretched.
Will and Alan were groaning, their hands groping in their pockets for some coins. They'd bet on Marian for winning, no doubt, more on hope than anything else. Who wouldn't want to see the Lady Marian put Robin Hood to shame with archery, of all things?
Marian sighed again and took a few steps closer to him, crossing her arms across her chest with mock anger. "I'll beat you next time, Robin, I will. You'd better watch out."
He nodded with a subdued grin, watching the teasing smile flit across her face as she tried and failed to hide it. "I hope you do, Marian, really I do. It wasn't a bad shot, anyway," he said, turning again to glance again at the target. His arrow was on the bullseye, hers just barely off. She really was good. "If it had been against anyone else..." he trailed off and shrugged, with just a hint of arrogance.
She rolled her eyes at him, making a wide circle above her head. "I would have beat them, like that," she snapped her fingers. "No competition to speak of."
He laughed then, for real, not trying at all to hide it. It was times like these he enjoyed, with Marian, and the rest of them, just enjoying themselves. No danger and no worries, just them. He could forget that Marian was a lady and far, far out of his league. They were friends; he could almost pretend that...but he wouldn't go that far.
"Robin?" Marian was asking, a small frown arching her brows. "Are you alright?"
He realized that he'd stopped laughing and had probably been simply staring at her, with a goofy smile on his face. He laughed at that, too. Why not, why worry on a day like today? "I'm fine, Marian. I was just thinking," he replied at last. "Let's go back to the lodge, boys," he called, glancing over his shoulder at Little John and Will and Alan, still having some sort of argument over their bet. He turned to start walking.
"Thinking about what?" Marian asked, merrily skipping into step beside him.
"Nothing you need to know about," he said, glancing sideways at her. Her hair looked pretty in the sunlight; it brought out the more reddish tints from the brown. Gosh, but she was beautiful.
"But what if I want to know about it?" she asked him playfully, her eyes practically sparkling, or at least, he thought so. But she was his Marian.
"Well, that would just be too bad, wouldn't it?"
Her mouth curled into a feint pout, though the corners kept rising up into more of a smile. She seemed to be unable to look unhappy for very long today. "But Robin..." she was saying, complaining to him. She was always trying to find ways to find out everything he was thinking about. He'd gladly tell her, if it was anything but this.
"I—" he started to say, but stopped, suddenly. There was a whooshing, whistling sound, coming from the trees on Marian's other side. An arrow flying, quickly, without warning. A multitude of images bombarded his brain immediately. Of Marian, on the ground, bleeding, an arrow in her chest. Of Marian, sick, dying of infection from the thing. Of Marian dead, being put in her dark grave. Of himself, of Sherwood, of Nottingham, without Marian. He'd be alone, and at the moment, he felt that the whole world would be alone, the whole world would be empty without Marian. He couldn't let that happen.
So he stepped in front of her, shoving her quickly behind him.
"Robin!" he heard her scream briefly, shrieking at the top of her lungs, likely, but it sounded distant and far away, like it was swept away by the wind.
He couldn't let her die. It was that simple. She was more important than he was, that was all that mattered. It almost surprised him, the simplicity of the matter. He'd always known, somehow, that he loved her. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the knowledge had been there. But it had always seemed more...complicated before, more difficult to comprehend. Now it was easy. He cared more about her being alive than about himself being alive.
Of course, then Little John came diving into both of them, knocking them all to the ground. "Are you mad?" he was shouting. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Robin just looked at him, feeling rather dazed. He looked at Marian across Little John's shoulder. She was looking at him as well, eyes wide, face gone white.
Little John looked from him to her and back again. "Well, I see I'm getting no answers out of you two," he said at last, getting to his feet and disentangling himself from them both. He attempted to brush some of the leaves and dirt from his clothing. It didn't seem to work very well.
Marian stood up as well and he did the same, without hardly even knowing he was doing it. "The arrow...?" he asked, keeping his eyes on Marian.
"Oh, that," John said, grumbling and rolling his eyes slightly. "Alan was being an idiot. He was never very good with a bow. I'm considering never letting him touch another one."
Marian smiled slightly at the comment, though it looked weak—dazed still. They both were.
"Robin! Marian! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—I—I," Alan came running out of the trees all of the sudden, from the direction of the arrow, panting hard and groping for an explanation. Will was following him, shaking his head and looking concerned.
Robin watched him for a moment, silent.
He eventually stopped trying to talk and stared determinedly at the ground, his face rather red, either from running or embarrassment.
"It's fine, Alan," he said at last. "At least...at least no one was hurt. Just—be more careful next time, please." He glanced at Marian, who gave another faint smile, swallowing rather hard. "Now let's go back to the lodge," he said again. "And don't mess with the bows, Alan."
"Yes, sir," Alan replied, saluting slightly, as though Robin were his commander, rather than his friend.
They turned and began walking again, all in a line now, none lagging farther behind. It was quiet, except for the sound of the leaves, crunching beneath their feet.
"Robin," Marian spoke quietly, at his side once again, though not so lighthearted as before.
He glanced down at her. "Yes, Marian?"
"You...you almost just...died for me. If Little John hadn't...the arrow would have..."
He nodded, turning again and looking ahead at the looming trees, their trunks huge and their leaves scattering to the forest floor. Marian was still watching him. "I had to," he said at last. "It was simple."
She watched him a moment more, her eyes resting on him. He could see her out of the corner of his eye, but he wouldn't look at her. After a moment she nodded and faced forward again. It didn't matter what was unspoken between them, it only mattered that it was there, simple and true.
