The sun was high in the sky when Marian dropped from the gallows.
The sun was high in the sky when the Sheriff of Nottingham threw his head back and laughed.
The sun was high in the sky when the thieves started their attack.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as the thieves of Sherwood Forest pushed through the cheering crowd towards the gallows towards Marian. John was the first to reach the limp body of the young girl, and he unsheathed his sword and sliced through the rope that hung her in one fluid motion. He caught her clumsily in his arms, peering doubtfully into her red face. He was doubting if she was still alive.
Christine rushed to them ignoring the jostling, panicked crowd. She saw Marian's lifeless body in John's arms and let out a choked cry. When she reached them, John shook his head sadly, "I fear tha' we're too late."
"No," she said, firmly, looking up into his boyish face, "Marian's strong...she will survive."
"What's going on down there, dost thou suppose, Sheriff Loxley?" Prince John asked with an air of superiority, leaning forward in his royal throne. He peered over the edge of the box at the people in the square, squinting against the glare of the sun. Sheriff Loxley leaned forward also, then stood up sharply, knocking the heavy chair to the stone floor. His blue eyes narrowed on the figure dressed in green, standing tall atop the gallows, cutting away the bonds of the condemned, and fighting off the guards. Other thieves of his kind swarmed around, attacking them, peasants running everywhere. Chaos.
Prince John's sickly pale face turned to him, questioningly, "What is it?"
The Sheriff turned to the guards standing on either side of the covered box and ordered tersely, "Order all of your men to shoot at them."
"But sir, our archers are not that skillful, they could hit -" one protested before he cut him off.
"I don't CARE if they KILL a peasant, just GET the traitors...KILL THE OUTLAWS!" the Sheriff yelled, and both guards ran to deliver the order to the archers. He turned to once again view the man in green down below, gripping the stone edge until his knuckles became white.
"Who are they?" Prince John asked, a frightened look on his face.
"The notorious outlaws of Sherwood...and my son."
Robin swung his sword in a circle, trying to fend off the attacking guards. He looked behind his shoulder, checking to see how the other outlaws were doing. He saw Scarlet laughing as he swung from the strong gallow ropes, his arms and legs flailing, falling onto a group of guards, whose swords had not even been drawn yet. Much was having just as much fun dodging a giant of a man who was wielding a dangerous looking spear, and the smaller man was running circles around him. To the right of Robert, Friar Tuck was growling as he exchanged punches with another guard, and aiding him was Mother Marie, who had hit someone who had come up behind the fat friar with a discarded metal helmet.
"Hey Scarlet," he called to his friend, seeing that he had come out of the group of guards unharmed, and still laughing, "Where's Marian?"
"I don't know," he said, sending a swift kick into the stomach of a charging guard. Robert dodged around the fighting men, and bounded up the wooden steps of the gallows, to get a better view of the situation. Turmoil surrounded the square, and Robert had the distinct feeling that a lot of women would be without their husbands by sunset. Arrows began to shower down from the high castle walls and fell a few outlaws, and a few of the royal guards. Time was running out. He had to find her before everyone in this square would be dead. His eyes narrowed as he searched for Marian...
He hoped it wasn't too late.
"ROB!" He heard his name, and turned towards the sound. He saw John, on the outskirts of the fighting. In his massive arms lay a limp figure, her face turned upwards towards the heavens, a slack hand laying across her breast, and her long brown hair falling in dirty strands over his arm. Christine stood next to him, a worried look on her face, wringing her hands with anxiousness.
"MARIAN!" Robert yelled, and jumped off of the gallows, pushing his way through the men to get to John. The arrows still showered down, but Robert got out of the line of fire quickly, for he knew that if he lingered, soon, his own blood would be shed.
"Marian!" he said again, when he reached her immobile form. John looked up from her blank face, and told Robert, "She's breathin', though not as strong as un' should."
"We have to get her out of here," Christine said with utmost urgency. Robert nodded with agreement, caressing her face gently with his hand, his brow furrowing with anger at her injustice.
"Rob, what should we do?" John asked.
"Take her, and run to the woods, I'll meet thee there," he advised, taking one last long look at Marian, before he turned and attacked the nearest guard with such force that he knocked over two men with him.
"Robert!" Christine called, and he withdrew his sword from the torso of a guard before he turned to her.
"Go!" Robert barked, frowning at her, "I'll meet thee in the woods."
Christine just stood there stupidly, her hands at her sides. Robert approached her and grabbed up her hands, squeezing them tightly, "It'll be alright...I promise."
Nodding, Christine turned on a heel and ran after John, leaving Robert to deal with the fighting in the square. Reeling around, he attacked the nearest guard he saw, bloodying his clothes with the crimson blood of his enemy. Fury pulsed in his temples as he killed, killed, killed.
He joined the outlaw archers and loosed double arrows, killing a royal archer. As he watched him fall, he felt the anger welling up inside him, and could not contain it. Letting out a feral roar, his hand quickly nocked arrows again and again, felling archer upon archer. There was a dark fire burning in his azure eyes.
"Over there, Robert!" Scarlet shouted over the heads of the outlaws, and he pointed towards Nottingham's strong iron gates. Robert followed the path of his finger, and saw what he guessed was a hundred more fighting men coming to the aid of King John and the Sheriff. His heart wrenched painfully in his chest as he felt the first inkling of defeat.
They might not escape with their life this time.
Those outlaws nearest to him, looked to him for support and reassurance. He had none to give. Though not a word was spoken, they all knew their fate. They would all die. There was no way out.
They were trapped.
Nonetheless, Robert stood tall, his shoulders back, and raised his sword high. He opened his mouth, and emitted a howl that was loud enough for everyone in the square to hear, passionate enough to make the Sheriff's knees go just a little weak, and powerful enough to make the birds in Sherwood quiver. In this sound, he encompassed all the courage, pride, and strength that he held inside his soul. Robert made a sound that had not been heard for years. This sound continued as he took off running towards the men coming through the gates, and as the outlaws joined in his cry and followed in the same fashion
Some would say that he sounded like a wolf.
Marian's eyes fluttered open, as she heard a familiar tune. At first, the person bending over her was blurry, and she was a little confused about where she was. As they began to adjust, she could make out the shape of the person binding her wounds with ripped cloth in the woods. The tune that she hummed struck something deep within her memory...something old...something secret...a promise...a dark night long ago...
"Mary, promise thou shalt never forget me,"
"How can I forget thee, momma, thou art here, with me."
"Yes, still, thee must promise me,"
"Aye, I will."
"May the moon shine on thy dreams, and the sun shine on thy path..."
It was now that she heard the same lullaby again. Marian struggled to make her eyes focus on the person humming the song, tried to ward of the blackness and see clear...
"Sarah?" she murmured, her voice hoarse, recognizing the older woman's tough leather mask.
"Marian," Sarah said, coming closer, and brushing away the hair from her face, "I'm here..."
"But how-" she frowned, wondering how Sarah had known the song, but Sarah shushed her and said, "I will explain all in good time, my girl..."
Marian tried to sit up, "Robert!" Sarah pushed her gently back to lay down again, "He will be along shortly..."
Marian tried to get up again, pushing Sarah's hand away, "I must get to him!"
"Marian," Sarah cried, having trouble keeping her still, "Thou art in no condition to-"
"I must get to him," Marian coughed, and stood on her feet, leaning weakly against a tree, her head still spinning from the exertion. Sarah tried to pull her back down again, but Marian was slowly regaining her strength. She looked around the forest wildly, nothing seemed familiar to her. She stumbled and fell against another tree.
"Where are the outlaws?" she asked.
"With Robert, in the square-" Sarah stopped suddenly, her eyes rolling back into her head, and dropped to her knees, clutching her head with shaky hands. She began convulsing wildly, eerie sounds emitting from her mouth.
"Sarah?" Marian gasped. Sarah rocked back and forth, clutching her head, and covered her ears, letting out deep moans as she did so.
"Sarah?" she cried, trying her best to find out what was the matter with her, reaching out her hands in an attempt to console her. Sarah grabbed at Marian's waist and pulled her close, bringing her down onto her knees, rocking her, moaning as if something pained her. Marian wrapped her slender arms around her friend in a tight hug, perplexed at her actions.
"Marian," Sarah said, letting go of her and looking into her face from behind the eyeholes of the leather mask, "We must get to him."
Sarah's eyes had turned completely grey.
"I had a vision," she said, gripping Marian by the shoulders, "That all of them...all of them..."
"All of them what?" Marian urged.
"Dead."
Sarah's visions were almost never wrong.