Little Sisters Have No Fun
Chapter 1: Alone in the Forest
By: AquaDreamingz

Author's Note: As you've probably noticed, this chapter has been revised. I suggest you reread it as it develops the characters more than the original draft. Thank you and remember to read and review. Your input is highly appreciated. Especially if something is historically inaccurate.

Disclaimer: I stake no claim on Robin Hood or any of the characters associated with him. My original characters have no existence outside of the author's imagination and this story. They have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention. This disclaimer stands for all the chapters in this story.

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A young girl named Lily carefully pushed her way through the deep foliage of Sherwood Forest. She looked around herself every once in awhile but with the dense trees and shrubs it was hard. Silently she cursed her sister of whom she was looking for. Marion, for that was her sister's name, had gone missing or rather she'd run off again. The latter was the one Lily would bet her money on. Finally, the trees thinned to their normal density and she could easily walk like an ordinary person again. Against her normal attitude, Lily was worried about Marion and that made her determined to discover where Marion had been disappearing to. And what she was doing. Mischief and mayhem were Lily's jobs not the jobs of her upstart of a sister.

But a girl did have a right to be worried about her sister what with that thief, Robin Hood, running around. Sure she had heard all the wonderful stories about him stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but stealing was still stealing and good intentions didn't erase the deed.

Lily moved stealthily. Her leather slip-ons were perfect for trekking through the forest. She had borrowed them from a lord's son who didn't deserve them anyways. He had been quite rude to her and in an argument, determined to get his way, he said, "At least, I have two parents." Lily, still in mourning after her mother's death a couple of years before the event, had punched him and taken his shoes so she could run away into the forest to hide. She had every intention of returning them. Needless to say, that betrothal hadn't lasted very long. It was a low blow anyways.

Time passed slowly as she wandered through the woods, her thoughts still focused on her sister. Marion and Lily used to be close. When they were children, they used to play together in the fields with their dolls and reenact tales of princes and princesses. Those were the good old days. It was easier then. That time before Marion had discovered boys and they discovered her.

A noise startled her out of her thoughts and daydreams. Her head shot up hoping to catch sight of Marion or as the villagers called her: Maid Marion, for her thoughtful deeds and caring nature. For her ability to not judge people and being considerate to everyone while still maintaining the proper etiquette of someone of her station.

Lady Lily on the other hand was called so jokingly. She never acted of her station. She still played with the children of the village her manor lorded over. While she too was well liked by the villagers, she was never held in that high of respect. She was considered one of their own but the elders liked to reminded people that she was still in fact a lady. Lily frowned. All she ever wanted was to fit in and she did. At least, when the fact that she was a lady was forgotten in a game but she could never just sit and talk with the others or gossip about boys because then it would all too painfully, and quickly, become obvious that she was not like them.

Oh right, that noise. She returned to her search, moving closer to the source of that sound. Just what would be waiting for her? She hoped it wasn't a bear!

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Written: September 9, 2002

Revised: April 28, 2004 (Took me long enough!)