THE CAMP
"Robin!"
The loud booming voice through the forest had Robin out of his seat, where he had been laying on his and Marian's bunk in camp staring at her ring.
Will and Djac were in Locksley, the rest sat around not knowing what to do.
They had gone to check on how safe it was for the men to return home.
His mind shattered of the thoughts of his wife, of Isabella…
Of the damage…
He bolted out of camp as he heard the gang move.
He stood stock still and stared at the scene before him.
Tuck stood staring at him with a wide smile.
It was only then he saw who Tuck was surrounded by.
Villagers, men and farmers, young and men, stood around him in at least a group of a hundred.
He cast eyes on them, and they grinned at him.
They knew who he was.
Robin, like his gang, couldn't say he knew why they were here…
Or why Tuck had brought them.
His mind was clearing of the foggy and guilt ridden grief.
"What…" He couldn't quite get the question out as he took in the large group of men.
They were mixing with the group of men he and the gang had rescued from Isabella's trap and capture plan in the villagers earlier that day.
There must have been hundreds.
"But…"
"We have gathered them, as we made our up from Loughborough, where the king's troops are waiting for him." A young man stepped forward.
He had short dark hair, trimmed beard, shining blue eyes, and was clad in white linen and tan leather and breeches.
"The king?" Much cried.
Tuck nodded, "He is on his way home, he sent word to loyal supporters in Loughborough who have been gathering, and news has spread through the country like fire, all of these men have come to join you."
Tuck through his arms out to gesture to the men.
All of the men stared up at him.
Robin couldn't speak.
"His troops are gathering to wait for him to lead them north and through London." The man beside Tuck said.
Tuck nodded and looked at Robin, "They expect him to return in a few months, before the winter and end of the year, Loughborough… That is where I picked up archer, and when I announced that I would come to Nottingham to tell you of the news ad Richards return, he would not let me leave him behind."
"What can I say, I crave danger?" Archer shrugged and grinned.
He extended his had to Robin who shook it firmly.
"ROBIN!"
They pulled apart at the sound of Will and Djac's joined voices.
The pair skidded at the top of the hill looking down at them.
"Robin!"
The new voice came from Marian, who arrived at the top of another hill beside him.
The urgency in hers made him sprint towards her, and the gang, including Tuck and Archer, surrounded by most of the men, took off after him.
They ran towards the tree line.
Robin's want for conversation with Marian vanished as he skidded to a stop beside her with the rest of them, and stared at the scene before him.
"You can see it from the villagers, from Locksley…" Djac was gasping for breath from their run.
"And from Knighton." Marian too was out of breath.
Robin could not move his head to look at his wife as she spoke.
They stared down at the hill between the forest and the castle.
The gang stood sheltered in the edge of the trees.
They gasped, staring at the gathering black mass on the hill.
"The sheriff!" Much cried.
"So that's where he has been…" Robin sneered angrily, staring at Vaisey and Guisborne, sat stop their horses, surrounded by tents and men, as well as flags.
A battle camp.
All aiming at the forest.
Marian took off to run to the end of the gang, looking at the mass of men on the hill, like ants over food.
"How many?" Robin called down back at her.
"Hundreds!" She cried back in shock.
Much was hyperventilating.
"There are more around this side, they cover the entire length!" She shouted to Robin, "They have blocked the entire space between the castle!"
"Hundreds more up this end!" Will shouted.
"What are they doing?" Alan demanded.
"What does it look like, there are going to kill us… slaughter us…"
"Much." Robin snapped.
His heart was hammering in his chest as he looked at the army.
So what was what Vaisey had been doing?
In the field, Vaisey sat atop his horse beside Guisborne on his.
He chuckled as Blamire road to stop his horse beside theirs, facing the forest.
"My lord."
"Blamire." Vaisey grinned, "How are you?"
"Ready."
Vaisey grinned and looked back at the forest. "Good."
"Oh this is going to be so much fun."
He lifted one hand and the gang watched as guards scurried closer to the towering trebuchets.
"Let's show them what I am talking about." Vaisey swung his arm down, and the machine was fired.
A large hulking block of stone soared through the air and into the forest, landing not a few hundred metres behind the line of men.
It crashed into trees and made the ground seemed to shake.
Everyone fell to the floor.
John, Alan and John fell in a heap on top of one another, missing the tree they all moved to hold to keep them upright.
The shaking of the ground made Much and everyone else cry out in shock.
"Again!" Vaisey shouted, bouncing in his seat at how great it was.
"Again!"
Robin looked up at the scene blearily, having knocked the wind out of him when he fell.
They all watched as another rock was let loose from the other trebuchet.
This one slammed through the tree tops.
There was the deafening crash of a tree falling into another.
Leaves and debris fell over all of them, who were sprawled on the floor.
The men were starting to panic, clinging to one another.
A large branch fell an inch passed Marian and she rolled over to avoid being crushed by it.
Robin crawled frantically over and grabbed her, dragging her to her feet with him.
She fought to ignore the feeling that shot through her when he touched her arm.
Her other hand instinctively touched his chest for a moment as they looked around at the scene.
The ground still felt as though it was quivering, and the trees around them were shaking.
His hand was on her back, palm burning at the touch of her skin.
But they still had much to talk about.
Will pulled Djac up with him.
The gang were trying to steer the frantic and frightened villagers in one direction.
"Everyone back to camp!" Robin bellowed and everyone took off running.
"NOW!"
AUTHORS NOTE!
OOOH! Episode 13 has its first chapter up now! SO you MUST read and review if you want me to update tomorrow… mwhahahah! :) :D