The good news is that I'm done writing this story and I'm overall pleased with what I achived. I'm particularly looking forward to posting chapters 5 and 8 to hear what you all have to say about them. For now, though, enjoy chapter 3.

Also, I think I'll stick to posting once a week, unless I get an overwhelming demand to do differently. I'm not doing much editing before I post each chapter (which is something I'll regret later, I'm sure), but I still want to have a few days to ponder over things before I upload them. Anyway, review and let me know what you think.

Later!

THE GREATEST ADVENTURE

(IS STILL TO COME)

CHAPTER THREE.

"They said 'Djaq', didn't they?" Much asked for the third time in as many minutes. "We all heard it, someone was calling for Djaq, right?"

Nobody answered him -they just kept on moving towards the general direction the scream had come from.

"Why Djaq?" Much insisted after a few more moments. "Djaq is in Acre. Why would anyone call for Djaq in the middle of Sherwood Forest? W-"

"Will you please shut up?" Kate grunted from behind him.

"You want me to shut up? If you knew who Djaq was, or where she is, you wou-"

"Much!" John said, effectively silencing him. "She's right, you have got to shut up for a minute."

They had been walking for a few minutes, and except for Much, they hadn't said a word. Heartbroken as they were, and confused as they were -because,they had all heard a female voice calling for Djaq-, they hadn't felt much like talking. Except for the former manservant: he had to keep talking, because if he could just focus all his attention on this latest mystery, then he wouldn't have to think about Robin.

And he did not want to think about Robin.

He didn't say anything else, though. He wasn't getting much else from his friends, anyway.

They kept on walking for another short while -Allan leading the way, Archer and Gisborne lagging behind and the others close together in the middle. They had no idea where they were going, but they knew they were on the right track because the mysterious voice was becoming clearer each time that it called out for their friend. However, the voice had been quiet for a while now, so the outlaws decided to stop and consider their next step.

"Maybe it was a trick of the wind," Tuck offered without any real conviction.

"No, that voice was human," Archer admitted. "You said you know who they were calling out for? Someone named Jack?" he added to John.

"Djaq," the older man corrected. "She's a friend of us."

"A friend who is supposed to be back in the Holy Land," Much added unnecessarily. He was about to ask -again- why someone would be calling for Djaq, but Allan cut him off.

"Hang on!" he said suddenly, and all the outlaws turned to him. "Isn't this the way to Robin's oak tree?"

"Robin has his own tree?" Archer asked, while his half brother muttered:

"It all looks the same to me."

Tuck turned from Allan to John and then to Much. The latter suddenly looked very pale, but the former seemed to be pondering over his friend's words.

"It might be," he finally conceded.

"I'm almost positive it is," Allan decided. "We can't be too far, in fact. Just a few yards that way-"

He made to move, but Much quickly captured his wrist in his hand and kept him in place.

"Are you insane?" he demanded. "We can't go there!"

"Why not? If that's the way the voice was coming from-"

"Robin is probably there."

"Yeah, so?"

"So?" The manservant didn't explain why he thought it would be a problem to go to where his master was probably dying, but the heartbreak on his face spoke volumes.

"Much, we have to go. It's Djaq!" Allan reminded him.

He dislodged himself from Much's grip and turned to move, but he had scarcely taken one step when he crashed against someone who was running towards them and both fell to the floor.

Swords were quickly drawn and warnings immediately shouted until the identity of the newcomer was finally established.

"It's me, it's me!" Will said, his hands up.

"Will?" John asked. "Put your swords down!" he commanded.

"What are you doing here?" Much asked in disbelief.

"I was looking for you. I need your help." He got to his feet and helped Allan do the same. Then he allowed himself half a second to look at his friends but quickly froze when he realized who was among them. "What is he doing here?" he demanded, his voice dripping with hatred.

"It's a long story," Allan offered. "You see, Gisborne's mum and Robin's dad were having an affair-"

It appeared to be a good story, but the mention of his leader's name reminded Will that he was in a rush.

"Nevermind. Listen, Robin's been poisoned."

Their already dark expressions turned darker. Much, in fact, had to look away to try to prevent the tears from falling.

"We know," John told him.

"You know? Then why aren't you doing something?" Will demanded, surprised that his friends would just give up like that. Their leader was dying.

But, as it turned out, that seemed to be the whole point.

"What is there to do?"

"You could start by telling me how he got poisoned -or better yet, with what! Djaq might do something with that."

"And then what?" Allan cut in. "Say she does save him -then what?"

Will was slightly taken aback by Allan sudden fierceness. He really didn't understand what was happening.

"Look, you weren't here -you don't know how bad it was. We came here and we fought and Robin kept his promise to Marian. He didn't give up. He wasn't exactly happy, but he did it -because he had promised her he would." Allan paused, seemingly slightly overwhelmed by emotions. He recovered quickly. "But the deal was that he had to keep it together until Vaisey was defeated. He did that. He's earned his rest."

"He deserves to be with Marian," Much added in a small voice. Such admission seemed to tear him apart and Tuck patted him in the shoulder reassuringly.

Will wanted to know how they had defeated Vaisey. He also wanted to ask how Gisborne factored into that equation. But he sensed that both those answers would require a lot of time -time they presently did not have.

"That makes sense," he admitted slowly -carefully. He wanted his friends to fully understand what he was about to tell them. "Except for the fact that Marian is not dead."

Four pair of eyes turned to him and watched him in horror.

"What did you just say?" Guy demanded, taking a step towards the younger man, who in turn took a step back.

"Not that it's any of your concern, buy Marian is not dead," Will repeated, his eyes fixed on his former enemy.

"How?" Much all but shrieked. "How is that even possible?!"

"Long story," he said dismissively. "It doesn't really matter how, what matters is that she's alive and here and that her husband is dying in her arms!"

Kate gasped at such a revelation, but it went unnoticed by the others.

"He was nicked in the neck with a poisoned blade," Tuck finally explained, seeing that none of the others seemed the least bit capable of speech right now.

"What was the poison?"

"I'm afraid I do not know. Gisborne might, though. I understand it was his."

"You poisoned him?!" Will couldn't believe it -not so much that Guy would try to kill Robin, but definitely by the outlaws' apparent disregard for that fact.

"It was his poison but he wasn't the one doing the poisoning," Tuck clarified.

"That was his sister," Allan completed.

Will opened his mouth to say something else because, even if time was of the essence, he needed a few explanations. But Guy beat him to it.

"You walk in here after a year, with this outrageous tale, and you expect us to believe you?" he almost snorted dismissively. "Let the dead rest in peace -that includes Robin."

"It is not an outrageous tale!"

"Sounds like one to me!"

A storm seemed to be brewing between the two men. Fortunately, John broke in before it could begin.

"Tell him about the poison."

"What? You can't possibly-"

"We trust Will."

"More than we trust you," Allan added with something of a smile.

Defeated, Guy sighed.

"It's the same poison Joseph used on Pitt street," he admitted.

Momentary relief washed over Will, because they had been able to save those on Pitt street. But then he remembered how bad Robin had looked, and that relief disappeared.

"I need to tell Djaq," he announced unnecessarily, because Much was already moving and so was Kate. It took the rest of them half a second to follow suit.