Part Two of my Robin Hood fanfic. I know it's been quite a while, since I last updated this, but here you go.
Part 2: Sherwood Forest
As Josephine made her way through the thick brush and trees of the forest, she soon discovered she had been traveling in circles, and was lost. She sighed deeply, with this discovery, as she leaned against a rather wide tree trunk. She sank to the ground, gathering her skirts to herself, as she looked around the treetops. The light of the sun was streaming through the canopy formed by the trees and plants growing into one another. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the heat of the sun on the fair skin of her face.
Suddenly, she heard a twig snap, somewhere close by. She gasped softly. Had the guard reported her? No. Her escape would mean he either helped her, or worse…. left his post. He'd be killed either way. So why did he help her? She may never know, she concluded. But now was the matter of who was there with her now? "Who's there?!" She finally called out. As she spoke, she then saw the figure of a man, garbed in a plain robe of earthy brown. 'A friar?' She thought to herself, while watching the man. She rose from her place against the tree, and spoke again. "Hello?" She wondered if he could hear her.
The friar turned to her, just now noticing her. "Oh hello, what brings you here, lass?" He inquired, approaching her cautiously. It was clear he meant her no harm, but she was still untrusting. "You seem lost, child." He observed.
Her expression fell. "I am." She replied, grimacing. "I've been traveling in circles for hours, it seems." She admitted. "But what about you? You don't seem to belong here either, Friar." She continued, judging by the robe he was dressed in.
"Tuck. Friar Tuck." He introduced himself, smiling as he bowed to her.
"Josephine." She replied, approaching him, returning his smile.
"Might I ask what brought you to the forest, Josephine?" the Friar asked, seeing she was dressed as if she were from Nottingham.
She sighed softly, her grey eyes reflecting fatigue. "It's a long story…"
"Shall we walk and talk?" He offered, motioning to the forest around them.
She looked into his eyes, full of kindness and wisdom. "Alright." She agreed, nodding as she began to walk beside him. "Where should I begin?"
"From the beginning, I presume." He chuckled.
"Well, first off I work in Nottingham as a healer. A doctor. I'm usually busy with patients, who I treat from a small clinic of sorts." She explained, as they continued deeper into the Sherwood Forest. "But yesterday, around dusk, the sheriff came to my door, in the company of about a dozen of the king's soldiers, accusing me of witchcraft!"
"Oh my, that is a strong accusation." He replied, listening to her tale.
"I asked him if he had any proof, and he told me the way I treat my patients doesn't seem right, and so he ordered one of the soldiers to burn down my clinic, with people still inside!" She paused for a moment.
"By God, he's lost it!" Exclaimed Friar Tuck, an expression of great concern covering his face.
She nodded, before continuing with the story. "I immediately knocked the torch out of his hands, only to be accused of keeping a soldier from following orders, and so I was arrested, and brought before Prince John, who had me, locked in the stocks, supposedly for three days, to be hanged afterward. But last night, as I sat in the stocks, a soldier came to relieve the one who was left to be sure I didn't escape, and after making sure we were indeed alone, he unlocked the stocks, and released me, saying that what Prince Henry is doing is wrong 'if not blasphemous', and told me to flee into these woods, in order to evade the sheriff." She paused, finished with her story. "And here I am." She concluded.
The Friar listened to the woman, deeply worried about her and the rest of the town of Nottingham. If Prince John kept this up, there would be no Nottingham to speak of! "We need the return of King Richard." He declared. "Things were never this bad, when he was on the throne."
Josephine nodded in agreement, as they approached a small clearing. A campsite, bearing a still-smoking, although extinguished fire pit. She looked around. There seemed to be no one around, beside the two of them. "A gypsy settlement?" She asked, turning to the Friar.
"No madam. This is my home." He replied, before calling out in a shout. "Oi! It be me, Friar Tuck, and a run-away maiden." He announced. Soon the trees were alive with rustling, as a few men emerged from the limbs, sheathing their weapons.
"Tuck, that's a good way to get a arrow in yer chest!" Said a rather large, bear of a man. "Name's Little John." He introduced himself to Josephine, holding out his hand for hers.
"Josephine." She replied, smiling as she took his hand.
"That's a pretty name, Josephine." He remarked, shaking her hand, and most of her slender, seemingly fragile body. "What's a pretty woman like you, doin' in the forest?"
"- -A story for a later time, friend." Friar Tuck interjected, before Josephine had to re-tell her tale.
John shrugged his masculine shoulders, before walking toward the extinguished fire, attempting to re-kindle the flames. "Robin should be back soon." He continued. "Said he was goin' huntin.'"
The Friar chuckled. "Indeed, but is he hunting a meal, or a certain maiden of Nottingham?" He grinned.
Josephine quirked an eyebrow, in slight confusion, but decided to ignore the inside joke on their friend, Robin. Wait, could that Robin be Robin Hood, the Prince of thieves? Perhaps she should stay around these men for a while, and find out, she thought to herself.
