Enjoy!
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-Chapter Four-So, How Do You Like Outlawship?-
Kace yawned and opened his eyes, startled to be faced with so much green. Then he remembered he was an outlaw. In England.
Yesterday, he had almost hung. Now, he was in a forest….what forest was it again? Oh well, it didn't really matter anyway.
Across from him, on the other side of the fire, was the only girl in the group, Artemis A'Dale. She was beautiful, with jet black hair, bright blue eyes, and very pale skin. Beside her was his small, dark-haired cell mate.
The other person in their group, Collin of Clunn, was gone. Kace had no idea where the noble was; he must have gotten up extremely early.
Kace sighed and sat up, watching the trees around him. He felt so confined. Back home, it was all open. And warm. It was cold in this country.
A large bag flew through the air and landed in front of his cell mate (Now Kace remembered his name was Michael), who woke up with a start.
Kace rolled his eyes as Collin came bounded into their makeshift camp, a huge grin on his face.
The Lord Collin of Clunn was of average height, and thin, but not too skinny. He had blue eyes hidden by his long, brown hair, and, all the times Kace had seen him, a huge grin on his face.
"Wake up, Artemis!" he shouted. Artemis opened her eyes, grumbled something about 'stupid, early rising nobles', and promptly fell asleep again. "I caught a bird! Three birds!"
At the mention of food, Artemis's eyes shot open again. "Alright, as long as I don't 'ave to cook."
Collin nodded, that ridiculous grin still plastered on his face. "Okay! I'll cook!"
Michael, who had picked up the bag, looked at Collin skeptically. "This weighs a lot more than three birds…" he said.
"Well, I grabbed some stuff from Clunn." Collin admitted. "They haven't touched any of my stuff yet, so I grabbed a few things."
Artemis grabbed the bag. She reached in and pulled out a sword. A Saracen sword. His sword.
"That's my sword." He said quietly. The other three outlaws looked at him, startled.
"What?" Michael asked bluntly.
"I said, that's my sword. The Sheriff-person took it from me."
"Hm. Sheriff…." Collin paused, then looked at Artemis for help.
"Sheriff Thomas of Nottingham." Artemis said quietly.
"Oh, okay. Sheriff Thomas of Nottingham gave it to me as a 'welcome home' gift." Collin took the sword from Artemis and tossed it to Kace, who had to dodge it so he wouldn't be impaled on the sharp blade. "Sorry!"
Kace rolled his eyes again and took his sword in his hand and began to inspect it.
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Collin of Clunn had an idea for their first robbery. Well, Artemis would be doing all the work while Michael, the Saracen-or Kace, as he liked to be called, and himself began to work on the camp. The place they had now was a pretty good place….Collin decided to work on the design when they were actually working on the camp.
"Okay, gang, gather here!" Collin said. Michael, who had discarded the rest of his breakfast ages ago, was the first to sit before him. Kace wandered over with some of his breakfast still in his hand, and Artemis finished the last few bites before coming to sit with the rest of the gang. "I have a plan." Collin began. "Artemis, you should probably pay attention, you're a big part of this plan."
Artemis stopped playing with the grass. "Sorry." She muttered.
The grin flashed across Collin's face again. "It's okay." He said. "Anyway, this is the plan. Michael, Kace, and myself are going to work on building a camp. Artemis, you are going to be the main part of this mission."
"Not bein' funny, but it's not a mission if I'm the only one doing something."
Collin thought for a bit. "True." He said. "Anyway, you're going to go to Locksley and steal as much money as you can. It's tax day."
"That means there'll be guards everywhere."
"Look, this is just a little mission. It's not that important."
Artemis rolled her eyes. "Not only will there be guards everywhere, but Locksley's where Tho-the Sheriff lives."
"Were you going to say Thomas?" Collin asked curiously. Artemis turned a deep red. "Do you like him?"
"Shut up. I'm going to go now." Artemis muttered, standing up and stomping off towards Locksley.
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Artemis walked towards Locksley, mentally killing herself. She had to remember that even though the Sheriff shared her brother's name and was quite attractive, he was her enemy.
When she got to the edge of Locksley, right behind the manor, she put up her hood and kept a hand on her sword. She glanced at the guards.
Artemis knew she could eventually find a way to slip inside the manor….if only those guards were gone, it would be so much-
Artemis let out a cry of surprise as she was pulled back into the trees. She twisted around and found herself staring into the sparkling blue eyes of the outlaw she didn't know; one of Allan's gang.
"What are you doing?" he asked. Artemis rolled her eyes.
"Obviously, I'm lookin' for a way inside w'out alerting the guards." Artemis hissed.
"Why would you want a way inside-hang on, you're the girl who yelled at Allan yesterday."
"I'm his sister."
"So, then, how did the hanging go?"
Artemis sighed. God lord, this man was annoying. She'd rather spend a day with the Sheriff than be interrogated one more minute by this man. Even if he was extraordinarily handsome. "Me'n'Collin saved Kace and Michael, an' now we're outlaws."
"Ah, so that's why you want to get in. Copying the famous Robin Hood, are we?"
"It may be true that Collin wants to be like Robin 'ood, but-"
"You want a way in? I'll help you." The man said, cutting her off abruptly. He held out his hand. "The name's Archer."
Artemis looked at him curiously, then shook his hand. "Artemis A'Dale."
"Come on then, let's go." Archer said, grinning at her and sprinting out of the trees.
Artemis gaped after him for a minute, then followed. "Stupid, attractive outlaw." She muttered. As she got nearer, Archer winked at her and began talking to the guards.
"Hello!" Archer said loudly. The guards looked at each other, then at Archer.
"Who are you?" the bigger one said gruffly. Artemis suddenly remembered a time when Allan had talked guards out of leaving their posts to pursue carpentry. She jumped in front of Archer.
"The real question is, who are you?" she asked. The guards stared at her. She glared back at them.
"Uh, I'm Carter." The bigger one said.
"James…" a surprisingly young-sounding voice came from behind the other helmet.
"Well, today is your lucky day, Carter and James!" Artemis exclaimed.
"Why?" James asked suspiciously.
"Because I'm going to tell you all the evils of being a guard and all the joys of…." Artemis paused for effect. "Carpentry!"
She felt a tap on her shoulder. "What, Archer?"
"Archer? Who's Archer?" a smooth voice asked. Artemis's breath caught, and she turned slowly to stare into the beautiful face of Sheriff Thomas of Nottingham.
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Well, that didn't end the way I expected it too…when I was writing it, I was originally going to have it be Archer, but Thomas decided he was going to find Artemis.
ANYWAY, I would be really pleased if you would review, if you're reading this. Four chapters and only one review is not making me very happy.