Gah! Sorry I took so long to put this up! I had to copy this all out from my NEO, (sort of a computer meant specifically for typing only), and while I've gotten to Chapter Four on NEO, I've still got to copy Chapters 3-4 onto my computer. Whew!

This has quite a bit of character descriptions, so expect quite a bit of that XD

Thanks so much to The Mayor Of Ninjago City, lovesgod12, and Guest for commenting, favoriting, and following!

Hope you likey!

Chapter the Second: Our First Encounter

"Good grief, Jay, where do you come up with this stuff?" Kai Scarlet wiped his streaming eyes in an effort to stop laughing.

Robin Jay, in a fit of laughter himself, said, with a broad grin, "Nothing to it, Scarlet! All I have to do is think of His Most Royal Whininess, Prince Chen, and presto!" Jay stuck his thumb in his mouth, screwing his face up into a pout. "The jokes will just fly to you like arrows!"

Cole was already clutching his sides and hooting with laughter, but seeing his best friend make a sulky face and complain in a high-pitched voice, "I've only got 999,999,999,999,999 pieces of gold in my treasure houses! Quadruple the taxes so this poor old prince can just scrape by paying the mortgage on this ridiculously expensive castle that's already been paid off! Oh, shut up, Sir Pythor, you're tickling my ear!", was just too much. He collapsed against a tree, howling with mirth.

Jay made a great show of hopping about on one foot with one finger in his ear, as if trying to get a snake tongue out of it.

Zane-A-Dale, who was normally quiet and composed, could hardly keep from joining Kai rolling around on the forest floor in a fit of hiccuping giggles. "Oh my word, that's Prince Chen to a T!" he choked, swiping his streaming eyes on his sleeve.

"Perhaps to a TI?" Jay suggested slyly.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Cole asked, grinning.

"It means 'Total Idiot', of course!"

That insult to the crown sent the others into fresh peals of laughter. These four merry men had not a care in the world to keep them from laughing at the prince, no matter how much money or power he had.

The aforementioned Robin Jay was a tall, handsome lad of twenty-one, with ever-tousled auburn ginger hair, a teasing grin playing on his youthful face, and clever blue eyes that always glinted with a mischievous sparkle. His right eyebrow had been nicked by an arrow, and while the wound healed nicely, that part of his face could be called by some, "marred." But I personally think it added to his character of roguish daring. You'd rather expect a youth like this in a fine hall, flirting with pretty ladies and entertaining lords. But Jay abandoned the prospect of royal life and was quite happy to live in Birchwood Forest with his trusted band of friends. He was by far the best archer in that region, possibly in all England. He never missed a mark, his aim was always swift and true. Any enemy under Robin Jay's hawk-eye would most surely be dead with an arrow through his heart mere seconds later.

The closest of his three companions was twenty-two-year-old Cole. His full name was Cole Little, but when he became part of Jay's band, his friends playfully nicknamed him "Little Cole." He was anything but little. Tall and muscular, with a broad chest and a strongly-set face, Cole was completely loyal to Jay, and the pair often fought back-to-back in combat, defending the other from harm even at the cost of their own lives. His face was often dressed in a serious expression, and his dark hair swept across his brow, piercing obsidian eyes, and set jaw gave the onlooker the impression of gazing upon a seasoned warrior.

The second to join the band was Kai Scarlet. Once part of a noble family, the twenty-one-year-old ran away after accidentally dealing one of his father's servants a blow too hard. He had been afraid that if he had killed the servant, he'd be killed as well. But now, living in the woods, he was carefree and often quite lighthearted. He wouldn't trade his present for his past for anything. He had spiky bark-brown hair that was practically impossible to keep tidy, a scar across one eye from a particularly nasty sword-fight, and irises the color of a sunset-lit fire. Unlike his brethren, Kai preferred fighting with a sword in hand rather than with the typical bow and arrows.

The third to join the company was Zane-A-Dale. He was a young minstrel who had a . . . to put it mildly, an interesting love life. His first encounter with Robin Jay was when he asked him for help in stopping his lady love from marrying a wealthy baron from the Normandy region, whom she had to wed on her father's orders. But after the marriage had been stopped, the twenty-one-year-old minstrel was going to propose marriage to the lady in question, when she suddenly rejected his affections for those of another man. Heartbroken, Zane joined up with Jay to get his mind off his former love and find a more exciting life. Though, to be honest, why any woman would exchange this gentle youth's love for another's is beyond my imaginings. Zane had immaculate blond hair that could never be mussed, eyes the color of a beautiful winter sky, and a kind smile could usually be found playing on his lips. He was the most unwarlike of the four in Robin Jay's company, which meant most enemies underestimated him. Here's a warning: if you happen to make enemies with Zane, don't think his looks and musical ability are all he's got in the weapons apartment. He had an eye with a bow-and-arrow second only to Jay's.

The all wore suits of Lincoln green, to blend in with the forest around them, but they added their own personal flair to their what might have been dull uniforms. Cole's suit was a slightly darker green, and his leather boots, instead of being brown, were midnight black, like his hatband. Kai had a bright red band around his hat, and wore blood-red stockings, from which he took his nickname, Kai Scarlet. Zane's uniform was a lighter green, and he had a white hatband and leather boots. Jay never changed out of his Lincoln green suit, which had no particularly special touches apart from the robin's feather stuck in his hat, unless he was safely within their camp, hidden deep in Birchwood Forest. Then he would don clothes from his previous life, stuffs you'd see on royalty, "because," he would say with a laugh, "where else could you find my favorite color? Blue doesn't grow on trees, y'know."

The Birchwood Forest Fighters was one name used to describe this clan of unlikely friends, but they officially called themselves, "Robin Jay and His Merry Men." A bit less intimidating, I suppose.

Jay had been recognized as the leader from the start, as he possessed at least one trait from each of his three comrades: Cole's loyalty and strength of mind, Kai's ferocity in battle, and Zane's gentleness and sympathy for the less fortunate. Jay would never kill for the sake of killing, nor attack just anybody who happened to be passing through their part of the woods. He had a moral code he followed closely, and if he caught any of his teammates stepping outside that code boundary, he would make sure, even though it hurt him to do it, that they wouldn't try to overstep that line again.

There. Now that I've got all the descriptions of these four characters, and who they were, and all that out of the way, I can continue on with the story.

The company had now reached a peaceful river, which, despite its tranquility, was too deep and too wide to cross on foot. Fortunately, there was a thick tree trunk that would serve a purpose as a bridge for the time being. "Who should cross first?" Cole asked, frowning. "We can't all go across at once."

They all immediately turned to Jay. Their leader smiled calmly. "If it's a matter of respect we're fearing here," he said, "then I suggest that, being the two oldest, Cole, we let these fine gentlemen cross first." He gestured to Kai and Zane.

"Sounds fair enough to me," Cole said with a shrug. "After you, boys," he said, making a bow to Kai and Zane.

Unfortunately, Jay forgot to mention which one of those two should be the first to make their way across the log bridge. Within seconds, neither youth had gotten across, because they had both tried to cross at the same time, and ended up colliding into each other and falling headlong into the river. Treading water, they spluttered water and insults at their leader, who was slapping his knees and laughing at how easily they had fallen for his trick, which had been played on them many times before. "Gets 'em every time, eh, Cole boy?" he laughed.

"You got that right, Jay!" Cole chuckled. "Now, shall we cross?"

"Yes, indeed!"

The two made sweeping bows to the other, and walked onto the tree trunk at the same time. The result was as comical and the last, and soon both Jay and Cole had fallen off and into the water to join Kai and Zane, who were taking their turns to laugh at the misfortunes of their comrades. "The joke's on you this time, Jay!" Kai grinned, as Jay shook water out of his hair like a dog attempting to dry off after a good swim.

"Well, there's our bath for the week!" he replied, clapping Zane hard on the back, causing the minstrel to choke on river water.

Once he recovered from his coughing fit, Zane muttered, "I highly resent that, and you know it."

"It's not like we have a choice in the matter," Jay shrugged. "All the good rivers are too far away from camp."

Then the subject was dropped, and the four boys splashed about in the water for a while, squirting the fresh river water into each other's mouths and playfully tossing water at each other, until their suits of Lincoln green were completely soaked.

Unfortunately, their loud catcalls and hoots of laughter from earlier that day had caught the attention of a certain enemy of Robin Jay's. The sheriff of Nottingham, a man called Zugu, was determined to catch the elusive Jay and end his career once and for all, and possibly his life while he was on the subject. Jay had humiliated Sheriff Zugu "Bushel Britches" more than the sheriff liked to recall, and to see the youth relaxing in the river, that annoyingly taunting grin playing on his face, made Zugu want to get rid of him even more.

Silently, he beckoned to his men, a good ten or fifteen total, all armed with sturdy bows and arrows, then pointed to the river where Jay and his comrades were frolicking in the water. In a matter of minutes, the spot on the river was surrounded by Zugu's men, all with bows aimed at the four youths.

Jay had known the sheriff had been watching them, and, as if surprised to see his men, abruptly put his hands up. The others followed suit, hoping that Jay was coming up with a plan. On Zugu's signal, the archers on the river bank fired a slew of arrows. Just in time, the four youths ducked, an arrow barely missing Jay's head as the shaft went through his hat.

Underwater, Cole, Kai, and Zane saw Jay frantically waving his arms, beckoning them to follow him. They swam under the log they had attempted to cross not fifteen minutes earlier, resurfaced on the other side, and quietly clambered onto the river bank. Unfortunately, the squeak of their wet and waterlogged boots against the dusty dirt path gave them away instantly. Sheriff Zugu roared, "Get them!"

The sheriff's archers ran after the four youths, who easily dodged arrow after arrow fired at them. While Jay's company were weighted down with their soaked clothing and water-filled boots, the sheriff's men were slowed by their cumbersome bows and arrow-heavy quivers, so all in all, they were evenly matched.

At the last second, Jay, Cole, Kai, and Zane scrambled up into a tree, and hid atop a high branch sturdy enough to easily support all four of them. They watched the confused archers down below them without making a sound, but still trying hard not to laugh at their baffled expressions. Finally, the sheriff's men gave up, running back in the direction they had come.

Cole leaned against a tree trunk directly at the thick branch's tip, removing an arrow that had skewered into his tunic. Frowning at it, he said "We almost had it that time, Jay. You're taking too many chances."

Jay yawned, stretching himself out in the sun like a cat and leaning against the tree trunk from where the branch sprouted. "Chances? You must be joking!" he said, shrugging dismissively. "What's the point in being an outlaw without the danger of being caught? That was a bit of a lark, Cole."

"Well, it wouldn't have been if that archer had shot a little lower," Kai said, thumbing at Jay's hat. "That's no candle on a cake."

His companion hadn't even noticed the arrow sticking out from his hat. "Oh, hello, this one almost had my name, didn't it?" He stuck his finger through the hole in his hat. "They are getting better, you know," he said, fixing his hat back on his head. "You have to admit, they are getting better."

"I'll bet next time they'll have a hangman's rope around our necks," Cole said, frowning as he broke the arrow in his hands in two. "Pretty hard to laugh hanging there, Jay."

Jay balanced on the branch while at the same time balancing an arrow on his fingertip. "It'll take more than better aim to get the better of us, Cole," he said with a grin. "En garde!"

He threw the arrow, and it went right through Cole's hat, pinning it to the tree trunk as Cole barely ducked. "Hey, watch it, Jay, that's the only hat I've got!" he complained, tugging his hat out of the tree.

Zane had gone extremely quiet during this conversation. "What's bugging you, Zane?" Jay asked, slightly concerned.

His blond teammate shrugged. "I was merely pondering something," he said. When his friends gave him questioning looks, Zane said, slightly annoyed, "If you must know, I was wondering which side we're on."

"What do you mean, 'which side we're on'?" Jay repeated, mildly puzzled. "Isn't it obvious?"

"No, no, Zane's got a point," Kai said, turning to his leader with a look. "Are we good guys or bad guys? I mean, with our robbing the rich to feed the poor stuff, you'd think-"

"Rob?" Jay cut in. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly as he shook his head. "That's a naughty word, we never rob." He leaned back against the tree, his hat covering his eyes. "We-well, we sort of borrow a bit from those who can afford it."

"Borrow?" Cole grinned. "Boy, are we in debt."

Suddenly there was a loud blowing of trumpets echoing through the wood. And not just any trumpets. The young outlaws knew that meant something new to do. They peeked through the leaves of the tree, and spotted what looked like a grand procession passing through the forest. And judging by the heavily guarded and padlocked chest in front of the ornate coach crowning the parade, it was a jackpot procession. Jay grinned merrily at his comrades. "Another collection day for the poor, eh, boys?"

"Sweet charity," Kai agreed, grinning back.