Guy hit the flanks of the horse with his spurs to make him go faster. Normally he wouldn't, but now he couldn't afford to lose even one second, or the sheriff's men would capture the Nightwatchman.
Robin rode a few meters apart from him, and they were both in trouble.
What started as an ordinary mission for Robin's gang and the Nightwatchman, soon revealed itself as a trap, prepared by Archer to catch the enemies of the sheriff.
Guy and Robin had managed to attract the attention of the guards on them, to allow the other members of the gang to run away, but now they were the ones who had to escape from the soldiers.
Gisborne noticed at the last second the ropes stretched between the trees, and he managed to make his horse jump them, but Robin wasn't so lucky, and his horse stumbled and fell, making Robin to crash to the ground.
Guy turned his horse, held out a hand to Robin to lift him up in the saddle behind him and he began to gallop, with Archer's men hunting them closely.
"I bet that you now miss the times when I was the one who chased you," Guy said, urging the horse to go faster.
"I have to admit that you never put so much effort into capturing me."
"Duck!" Guy shouted, seeing other ropes stretched between the trees, and they both lowered their heads to avoid being unhorsed.
"How could he place traps all over the forest without us noticing?"
"Maybe you let your guard down, Hood, or maybe our brother has more resources than we could imagine."
Robin turned to look back: the soldiers were close and if he wasn't wrong about the noises he heard coming from the trees, other guards were hiding there, ready to attack from the sides of the path they were following. Soon they would be able to surround them, and then they wouldn't have a chance: Robin had to find a way to escape now, or it would be the end for both of them.
He touched Guy's shoulder to get his attention.
"I have an idea, take the path on the right when we come to the crossroads."
"What do you want to do? There are only marshes there..."
"Trust me. If you don't have any other ideas."
Guy took the path on the right.
Robin waited for a bend in the path that could hid them from the sight of the pursuers, then he grabbed Guy firmly by his waist, and pulled him out of the saddle, falling with him in the pond that was near the path.
The horse kept running, too scared and excited to realize he didn't have anyone on the saddle anymore.
Guy gasped, surprised by Robin's gesture.
"Are you crazy, Hood?!"
Robin dragged him between the vegetation of the pond.
"Save your breath, Gisborne. Indeed, take a deep breath."
Robin pushed him under the water, then he also took a breath of air and he dove too, stretching over Guy to block him with his body, and to prevent him from reaching the surface.
Gisborne tried to resist him for a moment, then he seemed to realize that this was their only chance to escape Archer's men, and he stopped struggling.
He stood still and he clutched at the tufts of aquatic plants that grew on the muddy bottom of the pond, to keep himself from resurfacing, even if he felt like his lungs were about to burst.
Robin stood still in the water, hoping that the night was dark enough to prevent their pursuers to see the shapes of their motionless bodies hiding a few centimeters below the surface of the pond.
Under him, he felt Guy's body, tense and trembling with suppressed panic.
Stay calm Guy, this is our only chance to survive. Do not give in to fear, or we will both die.
Robin put a hand on his back, trying to convey that message in some way, even if he could not express it with words. Fortunately, Gisborne seemed to have understood somehow, because he then stood motionless, and stopped fidgeting.
He understood, or he had fainted, Robin thought, worried.
Robin waited until he felt his chest burning and his head throbbing from lack of air, and even then he waited for another while.
Only when he couldn't wait any longer, he decided to raise his head above the water surface. He took a breath, trying not to gasp loudly, and he quickly looked around.
No one was there and the sounds of horse hooves were long gone down the path.
Wasting no time, Robin reached down to grab Gisborne and pull him out of the water, hoping that he didn't drown in the meantime.
Much to the relief of Robin, Guy took a big breath and he began to cough, and the outlaw took off the mask and the scarf that covered his face to help him to breathe better.
"Are you alright?"
Guy nodded, too out of breath to speak.
Robin helped him up.
"We need to move, before they know they have pursued only our horse."

Much walked back and forth in the camp, distressed.
"We shouldn't have let him to distract the guards to make us escape! We had to stay with Robin and help him!"
"If we had done it, we'd all be dead right now, or in the dungeons of the castle. There were too many of them, we had no hope of winning a fight," Will said.
"But we shouldn't have left him alone!"
"Robin knows how to handle himself," Djaq said, trying to calm him down. "And he's not alone, Gisborne's with him."
Little John gave a contemptuous snort.
"If we can trust him. I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to go back with the sheriff, handing Robin to him."
"Guy wouldn't do it!" Djaq shouted, and Will scowled. Even though he knew that Djaq's heart belonged only to him, he still didn't like the affection that his wife had for the black knight.
"I hope that we won't regret giving so much trust to someone like him," he muttered, making Much to worry even more.
Meg had remained in the camp along with Djaq while the others had gone on their mission, and she had quietly reflected on that situation. She still hadn't been able to get an idea of what kind of person Guy of Gisborne was, and she couldn't decide who was right between Djaq and the other outlaws.
It was true that he had saved her, taking her away from the dungeons of Nottingham, but it was also true that he continued to submit to the sheriff without having the courage to oppose him openly.
Maybe, if he did, she wouldn't have been forced to hide in the forest and to remain locked up in the outlaws' camp. He hadn't been courteous at all with her, and the few times she had been dealing with him, they had done nothing but quarrel, but Meg had to admit that in those cases it hadn't been only Gisborne's fault.
According to Allan and Djaq, Guy of Gisborne was a good man, although in the past he did questionable actions, while the other gang members, apart from Robin, didn't trust him at all.
Meg wondered why they let him to join them if they believed that he could betray them, but obviously the others respected the will of Robin Hood more than they feared Gisborne.
Meg wondered if Djaq was on his side only because she found him attractive.
She gave a half sigh, recalling the moment when Guy took his jacket off to let the Saracen girl to treat his back, and she chided herself for such thoughts.
But she had to admit that Guy of Gisborne had a certain effect on her.
"We have to go and find Robin!" Much said, dramatically, and he was about to launch into a speech to convince the others to follow him, when his words were interrupted when he saw the secret door of the camp opening.
"No need, Much, we are here," Robin said cheerfully, though his tone contrasted with his and Guy's appearance.
The two men were soaked with stagnant, muddy water, scratched from the vegetation of the hidden paths that they had to follow to return to the camp undetected, and they were downright exhausted.
Gisborne dragged himself near the fire, and he dropped himself on one of the logs arranged around it, lacking even the strength to take off his wet clothes.
He stood motionless with his eyes closed, and he didn't move even when Robin went to sit next to him.
Djaq looked at them, worried.
"Are you alright? What happened to you?"
Robin shrugged, casually.
"We'll have to be careful with Gisborne's replacement, he's more skilled than we thought. We had to hide underwater, in a pond, to be able to get away, and we lost our horses."
Djaq gave them a sympathetic smile.
"Get out of those wet clothes, while I prepare a hot infusion and something to cure those scratches."
Guy looked at her in alarm.
"We're fine, don't get tired for us."
The girl laughed.
"I'm going to have a baby, I'm not sick. I stay in the camp while you risk your lives, and that is more than enough to be safe. But if you are so worried for me, I'll let Meg to go and get some blankets for you."
The two girls walked away, and Robin looked at Guy.
"Thanks for saving me when my horse fell."
Gisborne shrugged.
"Delete a voice from the list. And add another for keeping me underwater. I wouldn't have been able to resist long enough without your help.
"This time it was too close," Robin said, grimly.
"If you say so, then it means that we are alive by a miracle."
"You have to get close to him, find out his plans," Robin whispered. "I know I'm asking a lot, but he's more dangerous than I thought."
Guy undid his cloak, and dropped it to the ground, then he also took off his jacket and brushed his hair from his forehead with a hand.
"If I had some doubts, after tonight I don't have them anymore. I will do it. I will understand who is Archer and I'll try to get him on our side, if that is possible."
"If it isn't possible, we'll have to stop him, no matter what," Robin said, deadly serious and Guy looked at him, worried.
"Even if he's our brother?" He whispered, and Robin nodded.
"Yes, Guy. Even if he's our brother. Otherwise he will destroy us and those we love."

Meg approached Robin and Guy, and the two men stopped talking, seeing her. The girl looked at them, allowing her eyes to dwell on Gisborne for a moment, then she handed them the dry blankets she had brought.
Robin took it without paying much attention to the girl, lost in his thoughts, but Guy thanked her with a smile, and Meg blushed, hurrying to get away from him before the others could notice her confusion.
When Gisborne had smiled at her, she had the impression that the knight's face transformed completely, and Meg caught a glimpse of his gentler side, hidden behind the dangerous and sarcastic facade that Guy had always shown to her.
She threw another look at Gisborne from far away and she smiled to herself. She couldn't understand why, but her heart was beating a little faster.