The sun was just beginning to shine straight overhead when they spotted the town of Northampton. They stopped their horses to catch their breath before continuing.
"There it is." Robin squinted in the strong sunlight, watching strangers stroll around the town, only specks at their distance.
"I can't believe we're just going to walk straight into that trap." Archer shook his head.
Robin twisted around to look at him. "It's not like we're going to try to get caught. Besides," he turned forward again. "We'll be riding in, not walking."
"And that will make all the difference?" Marian asked with raised eyebrows.
"A faster mode of transportation is often useful to a hunted down outlaw, yes." Robin said, then clucked his horse forward.
Archer and Marian followed Robin through the gate as they cautiously entered the town. They dismounted, leading the horses into an empty and shielded location, tying them loosely to a post.
With their hoods in place, they walked through the town, searching for any sign of where the rest of the gang might be, as well as keeping a ready eye out for anything appearing suspicious.
They searched down several streets, finding nothing. About halfway through the town, however, Archer pointed out a certain building--one of the biggest structures there.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Archer's voice came from around the side of the building.
"Did you find them?" Marian and Robin turned around the corner to where Archer knelt, peering through a barred window.
"I think we might have found our dungeon."
Robin looked through the low window. Inside the room were four wooden doors, each with a tiny window carved out. Three stood open, revealing nothing but a bucket and an a few iron rings in the wall. Prison cells. The fourth door was firmly shut. The most likely place too keep a couple of outlaws.
"Right, I need to get in there." Robin looked up at the sky, as though seeking some direction for the next step.
"You mean we need to get in there." Marian said firmly.
"No. Marian, Archer, stay with the horses."
"What? Robin, we came with you so we could help you, not to play the part of stable hand!" Marian declared heatedly.
"Do you want to help me?" Robin's voice said that he was only humoring her.
"Yes!"
"Try to find some more horses. We may need to make a fast departure." He started to turn, but Marian reached out, grabbing his arm to make him face her.
"Robin, what is going on? Why will you not let me help?"
"I can't!"
"Why? Why, Robin!" Marian demanded, her anger bubbling to the surface.
A silence stole over the two, Marian glaring at him as he paused. She could see Robin struggle, but slowly his eyes began to soften, revealing what he was attempting to hide.
"Every night, I'm afraid to close my eyes, because I lose you again. Every night, I wake up and fear that I will find you..." Robin broke off, trying to talk around the lump that formed in his throat. He looked away, blinking to fight off the moisture in his eyes.
The anger Marian felt extinguished as she placed a comforting hand against his cheek, looking into his tortured eyes. "Robin, that is the past. I am here with you now. But what good is me being alive if you focus so much on keeping me that way, you put yourself in danger." He started to look away, but she stopped him, speaking more intensely. "Together we're stronger. Together."
"But what if something happens to you?"
"Then I will be glad of the second chance we had. But if you spend that time worrying about what might happen, then you will miss what is happening."
She dropped her hand as Archer cleared his throat uncomfortably.
Marian sighed before smiling slightly. "We will go get the horses." At Robin's slightly startled expression she added, "But just this once." Robin breathed a short laugh.
He couldn't help the smile that came as he watched Marian and Archer casually untie two horses that were waiting for their owners to return.
As Robin watched them lead the well-built horses away, an idea came to his mind. He strode boldly to the thick door of the prison and knocked loudly.
A bulky guard stood before him, his imposing figure and dark frown failing to intimidate Robin.
"Excuse me; was that your horse over there?" He pointed across the street to where the horses Archer and Marian had led away had been tied.
"My horse!" Instantly the guard was out the door, calling a few others after him to aid in the search.
"I saw him go around that corner!" He pointed in the opposite direction of where his two companions had gone. When they took off, Robin slipped through the door, shutting and bolting it behind him.
The room was dark, the few windows little more than slits in the wall. Robin stepped forward and down a dark hall, then paused when he saw another guard standing watch.
"How did you--" was all the soldier managed to say before Robin's fist crashed into his helmet.
After a moment of thought, Robin donned the man's uniform, gagging and tying him before dragging him to a dark corner.
He walked still farther down the hall, looking for the next guard and choosing to pass that direction; reasoning that where there were soldiers, there were prisoners.
After descending a few stairs, he came across a promising door. The man guarding it saw Robin and stopped him, a questioning look in his eye.
"No one is to see these prisoners. They've been wanted for a long time, Northampton's sheriff had a friend who caught them and brought them here. Apparently he was hoping for a bonus with Prince John."
Robin smiled. This guard had a loose tongue. "Prince John is here to see the sheriff's friend?"
"No, he was already here. Apparently sheriff's friend, the sheriff of Nottingham, had scored some bad points with the prince." The guard lowered his voice conspiratorially. "He lost Robin Hood."
"Ah." Robin nodded as though this explained everything. "I'm here to question the prisoners."
"I can't allow that. I have direct orders from Prince John."
"Well then, it won't surprise you to hear that he wants these outlaws interrogated."
"He told you to question them? Why wasn't I notified?"
"It was only ordered a short time ago. I'm here both to notify you and to question them... unless you'd like to go ask Prince John for his personal word on the matter."
The guard sighed and pulled a key from his pocket, unlocking the door. "They're in the last cell... use your keys to get in."
Robin nodded, but as he went through the door, his brow furrowed skeptically. Each guard had their own set of keys? Wasn't that a bit risky?
Tucking this curious question away, he sighed. He couldn't expect everything to go well... though it was only a minor complication.
"I may need a quick escape, so leave this door unlocked. These outlaws are quite dangerous." Robin ordered, his voice commanding.
The door closed behind him and Robin walked quickly down the empty hall, his footsteps echoing against the stone floor. He came to the last door and peered in through the small window.
Right across from the door sat six gagged outlaws. They were chained to three iron rings on the wall, two to each ring.
"Well, that certainly looks cozy, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to get you all out of here." The band all looked up at the sound of Robin's voice. Immediately their smothered shouts sounded.
"You don't happen to know where I can find a key, do you?" They frantically shook their heads, still trying to shout.
Robin tried the latch without any hope. Locked tight. He turned his back to the door and sighed.
"Think, Robin, think!" He told himself. The clanging chains from inside the locked door were his motivation as he glanced around the other cells for anything useful. A bench, buckets of water, and a few bits of straw were the only things to be seen.
Bending down to glance under a bench, Robin suddenly felt something slide from his pocket and thud to the floor. He picked it up, brushing the glass lens with his finger.
"Thank you, Djaq." Robin said quietly as he went back in front of the locked door. He turned his back to the cell, facing the barred window he had looked through from outside the dungeon. The sunlight streamed inside.
Robin stepped out of the way of the light as he held the lens up to the window, aiming the dot of light that came through at the lock on the door, hoping that fire would be enough to weaken it.
After a few moments, smoke began to fly up from the focused point of light. Within seconds, a flame appeared, blackening the timber. The fire surrounded the lock and began traveling farther along the door.
When gray ashes began to flake off and drift to the floor, Robin went into an open cell and grabbed one of the buckets. He splashed the water over the flames before grabbing a second bucket and pouring it over the remaining flickers. The fire extinguished with a sigh.
Robin waved the curling smoke away and then slammed the bottom of his foot into the door. The weakened wood groaned loudly and more ash flew off. He kicked once more and it broke away from the lock, swinging open.
The gang were all struggling against their bonds as Robin hurriedly entered the cell, kneeling down to untie them. He reached over to Will, who was nearest him, and pulled off his gag.
The second the cloth was out of his mouth, Will shouted. "Robin, look out!"
Robin heard movement from the other side of the cell and looked over. The space was longer than it appeared on the outside, and on the far side stood the sheriff of Nottingham with five armed guards at his side, standing out of view from the door's window.
Robin barely had time to duck out of the way as the first guard charged forward, wielding a broad sword.
The guard turned back to Robin, swinging his sword. Robin leaped backwards, raising his hands out of the way of the sharp blade. Djaq stuck her leg and the soldier tripped, giving Robin a chance to grab the guard's wrist, twisting the weapon out of his hand.
Before he could firmly grab the sword for himself, Robin felt something hit him from behind, knocking him to the ground. The blade was propelled from his hand, clattering on the stone a ways away.
He reached for it, but glimpsed another advancing soldier from the corner of his eye. Robin quickly rolled onto his back, only just avoiding the guard. Before he could move again, a booted foot kicked him in the ribs, pushing him onto his side.
Robin scrambled to his hands and knees to stand, but another kick landed in his stomach, knocking the air out of him. He winced, curling his arm around his middle.
Two pairs of hands grabbed his arms and dragged him to his knees while he fought to get his breath. A fist crashed against his cheek once, and then a second time, until he heard the sheriff's voice telling them to stop.
Robin tasted the blood on his lip as he panted heavily. Looking at the soldiers holding him, he managed a slight smirk. "You give up yet?"
Another hand slammed against his cheek. Robin turned his head, spitting the blood on the floor.
"So," he said conversationally as Alfred looked down at him. "You upgraded, sheriff, from using starving villagers as bait to capturing my own gang." He looked from his chained up band back to the sheriff, nodding. "Clever."
"Well, everyone who loves something has a weakness. I just used yours." Alfred gestured towards the bonded gang.
Robin just laughed. "Oh, come on, sheriff! You know you're going to fail again, so why not just save yourself the trouble and let us go, eh?"
The sheriff bent down, his face hovering only inches away from Robin's. The outlaw stared right back.
"Not this time, Hood." The sheriff stepped back and a soldier moved forward with his sword. The silver blade shimmered as the soldier brought it down, cracking the hilt against the side of Robin's head.
The room shifted sideways and faded to black.
