Disclaimer: I've sent all my wombats from my wombat pit in search of the
rights to Robin Hood, but they aren't doing very well. Alas! I still don't
own RH.
A/N: The Fluff club went great, didn't it! Well, here's the second chapter, enjoy!
~*~
I wake to the annoying voice of Sheriff Geoffrey playing on the intercom. I moan and get out of bed, searching for my bag with all my clothes. The Sheriff is still positively shouting, "Rise an' shine, campers. Time for y'all to take your swimmin' test!" I dig in my bag, looking for my black and white swimsuit. Robin is still sleeping like a rock. I grin; he seems cute when he's asleep. I hate to wake him up, but...
"Uhhhhhhh..." Robin moans as I lightly shake him, "g'way"
"Wake up..."
"Leemeelone"
"Robin!" I say, annoyed. He really ought to be waking up.
He pulls the pillow over his head.
Desperate times call for desperate measures...
I get the CD player that Dave got me for Christmas out of my bag and find one of my CDs with the hardest rock on it. I quietly put the CD in the player, and then put the headphones over Robin's ears, turning the player to full volume.
Robin sits up straight as a poker and forces the headphones, which are now blaring electric guitars as loud as any normal rock concert would, off his ears. He looks quite frightened.
"What was that?!"
I grin, "My secret weapon."
Robin rubs the sleep from his eyes, "It certainly works." He gets out of bed and walks into the bathroom, carrying a heap of clothes.
I sit on his bed, laughing, and notice that I'm sitting on something rather uncomfortable As I reach out to remove the something, Robin exits the bathroom, wearing a pair of green swimming trunks and a tee shirt over his torso.
"You ready?" he asks.
I dig in my bag and remove a sarong and a pair of cheap plastic flip flops. Slipping the sandals on my feet, I leave the room, tying the sarong around me as we go.
When we emerge from the hospital-like main building, I realize I had forgotten how warm North Carolina can be in the summer. I'm sweating in minutes.
Joan and Will run up from behind, both sporting bathing suits showcasing their opposite personalities. Will's is a pure white, highlighting his dark skin in a contrast that makes him look quite attractive. Joan, on the other hand wears a black bikini top with a scraggly black skirt like thing as the bottom. Seeing her so scantily clad, I realize why she's here.
Joan has light scars adorning her arms and legs, and she has a stained bandage wrapped around her left forearm. The word 'cutter' forms in my mind. It comes to me that if I can tell so easily why she is at a camp for damaged merchandise; it might be just as easy for her to see why I'm here. I squirm uncomfortably.
"C'mon, I'll race you to the dock!" Joan shouts and runs past us. Happy to abandon my thoughts, I race after her.
She wins, having a head start, but I come close behind. Will is comes a close third, grumbling about how Joan cheated, but Robin is far behind us. When he catches up, he is sweating hard and clutching his chest, visibly exhausted.
I look at him with concern; seriously, it was only about a hundred yards that he had to run.
"I'm...fine...just a little... out of breath..." he pants, and sits down on the wet grass near the dock. I sit down next to him, wondering...
"Hello y'all!" the Sheriff says in his annoyingly perky voice. "Do any of you know how ta swim?!"
The ten year olds and younger reply to his question enthusiastically. All the teens look down upon this display with disgust.
"Well, ta find out your po-tential we're gonna have a little swimmin' test!" the sheriff removes his "support President John Plantagenet" tee- shirt and reveals his less than attractive chest. Will pretends to gag. Robin, on the other hand, looks stressed.
"What's wrong?" I whisper in his ear.
"Nothing," he whispers back, "I just can't hold my breath very well."
"'Kay!" the sheriff exclaims, whipping out a clipboard. "Here we go!" he begins to read off the names on the list, mispronouncing most.
"Allan Adale,"
A preteen boy jumps off the dock, diving sloppily into the brown water. I notice Robin stifling a yawn. Why is he so tired?
"Dickon Edler,"
A tiny kid runs off the dock.
Two more names, then...
"Marian Fitzwalter,"
I run across the sun bleached boards of the dock and dive perfectly into the water. The murky liquid is cool, and the feeling of being weightless so intoxicating I wish I could stay underwater forever. To compensate I try to stay under for as long as I can hold my breath, arms pulling me through the lake. I surface and fill my lungs with humid air, keeping my eyes closed.
"Robert Fitzooth,"
I open my eyes in time to see Robin carefully jump in the water. He looks positively frightened, and I see him surface, gasping for air. I swim towards him, and as I draw nearer I see how out of his element he is. He splutters, and instead of keeping himself up out of the water, I see him claw at the air, as if a magic rope is somehow going to appear and drag him out of the lake. I swim towards him faster, wondering why the Sheriff isn't helping.
"Guy Guisborne,"
That fool. He keeps his eyes on the list of names and ignores the campers.
"Help!" I shout.
"Anna Godfrey,"
The Sheriff ignores my cry and goes on with his precious little list.
"Robin!" I call over the water.
Robin can't hear me. He's fainted and sunk beneath the surface of the lake.
"Shit," I murmur, and turn myself upside down in the water, searching with my hands for my roommate. I open my eyes, but I can't see very far at all due to the cloudiness of the lake water. My lungs feel like they're going to explode, so I come up for a breath.
"Joan Little,"
I see Joan jump in the water, heading straight for me and Robin. She's seen what's going on.
I dive down once more, searching...
Searching...
My hand brushes against something... hair. I mentally shudder but pull the hair with all my might. I manage to push my head up into the air for a breath. Joan has just reached me. I pull the hair, but I'm not strong enough to get Robin's head up from under the water, so Joan dives under and pushes him. Together we manage to bring Robin's unconscious form up onto the surface of the lake. He coughs about half the lake onto my bathing suit.
"HELP!!!!" Joan screams over the water, shaking the water out of her pink locks. The Sheriff looks up and utters an exclamation of horror, then jumps into the water. He swims faster than I would think possible for a man of his bulk, and soon has Robin on his back and is swimming for shore.
By the time I reach the dock, Robin is already inside the doors of the hospital like camp.
~Mara sat in the car, swinging her legs to the beat of the music playing on the radio. She looked out the window and watched the fields and houses gradually dissolve into swampland. Mara had been to the seashore before, when her parents had been together, but this was the first time since her mother had married Steve.
She stepped out onto the hot tarmac, her flip-flops filling with sand almost instantly. Her mother took her hand, and together they walked along the boardwalk.
"Can I go?" Mara asked.
Her mother nodded, and Mara was off. She kicked off her flip-flops and ran into the water. It was cool, and Mara loved the way it felt on her burnt toes. She jumped in the waves, slipped underneath and played mermaids, and chased fish.
Her mother looked on Mara's merriment happily. "Steve, honey, I'm going to the bathroom, 'kay?"
Steve didn't look up from his novel, "mmm hmmm..." he murmured.
Mara ran up to the beach towel and grabbed a floatie. She ran back into the water happily, and sat on the noodle, her toes lightly touching the sandy bottom of the sea.
Suddenly the waves picked up, and Mara lost sight of Steve and his beach towel. She found herself drifting further and further out to sea. Terror overcame her.
"HELP!!!!" she screamed at the top of her small lungs. "MAMA, HELP ME!" In her terror, she lost her grip on the floatie. She thought she was doomed. A wave swept her up, and she caught sight of her mother returning to the beach towels. She swam as hard as she could towards her. Her arms pumped and her legs kicked against the salty water. She learned to synchronize her swimming with the waves, and only was swept under twice. As she felt her feet collide with the bottom, she felt a surge of relief hit her harder than any of the waves.
"Mama!" she shouted and rushed into her arms.
"Mara, where were you?!" her mother exclaimed.
"Nowhere." She said after a pause. "I was nowhere, mom."
"Well, don't scare me like that!"
Mara never knew why she didn't tell her mother what had happened. All she knew was she could never depend on her again.~
A/N: The Fluff club went great, didn't it! Well, here's the second chapter, enjoy!
~*~
I wake to the annoying voice of Sheriff Geoffrey playing on the intercom. I moan and get out of bed, searching for my bag with all my clothes. The Sheriff is still positively shouting, "Rise an' shine, campers. Time for y'all to take your swimmin' test!" I dig in my bag, looking for my black and white swimsuit. Robin is still sleeping like a rock. I grin; he seems cute when he's asleep. I hate to wake him up, but...
"Uhhhhhhh..." Robin moans as I lightly shake him, "g'way"
"Wake up..."
"Leemeelone"
"Robin!" I say, annoyed. He really ought to be waking up.
He pulls the pillow over his head.
Desperate times call for desperate measures...
I get the CD player that Dave got me for Christmas out of my bag and find one of my CDs with the hardest rock on it. I quietly put the CD in the player, and then put the headphones over Robin's ears, turning the player to full volume.
Robin sits up straight as a poker and forces the headphones, which are now blaring electric guitars as loud as any normal rock concert would, off his ears. He looks quite frightened.
"What was that?!"
I grin, "My secret weapon."
Robin rubs the sleep from his eyes, "It certainly works." He gets out of bed and walks into the bathroom, carrying a heap of clothes.
I sit on his bed, laughing, and notice that I'm sitting on something rather uncomfortable As I reach out to remove the something, Robin exits the bathroom, wearing a pair of green swimming trunks and a tee shirt over his torso.
"You ready?" he asks.
I dig in my bag and remove a sarong and a pair of cheap plastic flip flops. Slipping the sandals on my feet, I leave the room, tying the sarong around me as we go.
When we emerge from the hospital-like main building, I realize I had forgotten how warm North Carolina can be in the summer. I'm sweating in minutes.
Joan and Will run up from behind, both sporting bathing suits showcasing their opposite personalities. Will's is a pure white, highlighting his dark skin in a contrast that makes him look quite attractive. Joan, on the other hand wears a black bikini top with a scraggly black skirt like thing as the bottom. Seeing her so scantily clad, I realize why she's here.
Joan has light scars adorning her arms and legs, and she has a stained bandage wrapped around her left forearm. The word 'cutter' forms in my mind. It comes to me that if I can tell so easily why she is at a camp for damaged merchandise; it might be just as easy for her to see why I'm here. I squirm uncomfortably.
"C'mon, I'll race you to the dock!" Joan shouts and runs past us. Happy to abandon my thoughts, I race after her.
She wins, having a head start, but I come close behind. Will is comes a close third, grumbling about how Joan cheated, but Robin is far behind us. When he catches up, he is sweating hard and clutching his chest, visibly exhausted.
I look at him with concern; seriously, it was only about a hundred yards that he had to run.
"I'm...fine...just a little... out of breath..." he pants, and sits down on the wet grass near the dock. I sit down next to him, wondering...
"Hello y'all!" the Sheriff says in his annoyingly perky voice. "Do any of you know how ta swim?!"
The ten year olds and younger reply to his question enthusiastically. All the teens look down upon this display with disgust.
"Well, ta find out your po-tential we're gonna have a little swimmin' test!" the sheriff removes his "support President John Plantagenet" tee- shirt and reveals his less than attractive chest. Will pretends to gag. Robin, on the other hand, looks stressed.
"What's wrong?" I whisper in his ear.
"Nothing," he whispers back, "I just can't hold my breath very well."
"'Kay!" the sheriff exclaims, whipping out a clipboard. "Here we go!" he begins to read off the names on the list, mispronouncing most.
"Allan Adale,"
A preteen boy jumps off the dock, diving sloppily into the brown water. I notice Robin stifling a yawn. Why is he so tired?
"Dickon Edler,"
A tiny kid runs off the dock.
Two more names, then...
"Marian Fitzwalter,"
I run across the sun bleached boards of the dock and dive perfectly into the water. The murky liquid is cool, and the feeling of being weightless so intoxicating I wish I could stay underwater forever. To compensate I try to stay under for as long as I can hold my breath, arms pulling me through the lake. I surface and fill my lungs with humid air, keeping my eyes closed.
"Robert Fitzooth,"
I open my eyes in time to see Robin carefully jump in the water. He looks positively frightened, and I see him surface, gasping for air. I swim towards him, and as I draw nearer I see how out of his element he is. He splutters, and instead of keeping himself up out of the water, I see him claw at the air, as if a magic rope is somehow going to appear and drag him out of the lake. I swim towards him faster, wondering why the Sheriff isn't helping.
"Guy Guisborne,"
That fool. He keeps his eyes on the list of names and ignores the campers.
"Help!" I shout.
"Anna Godfrey,"
The Sheriff ignores my cry and goes on with his precious little list.
"Robin!" I call over the water.
Robin can't hear me. He's fainted and sunk beneath the surface of the lake.
"Shit," I murmur, and turn myself upside down in the water, searching with my hands for my roommate. I open my eyes, but I can't see very far at all due to the cloudiness of the lake water. My lungs feel like they're going to explode, so I come up for a breath.
"Joan Little,"
I see Joan jump in the water, heading straight for me and Robin. She's seen what's going on.
I dive down once more, searching...
Searching...
My hand brushes against something... hair. I mentally shudder but pull the hair with all my might. I manage to push my head up into the air for a breath. Joan has just reached me. I pull the hair, but I'm not strong enough to get Robin's head up from under the water, so Joan dives under and pushes him. Together we manage to bring Robin's unconscious form up onto the surface of the lake. He coughs about half the lake onto my bathing suit.
"HELP!!!!" Joan screams over the water, shaking the water out of her pink locks. The Sheriff looks up and utters an exclamation of horror, then jumps into the water. He swims faster than I would think possible for a man of his bulk, and soon has Robin on his back and is swimming for shore.
By the time I reach the dock, Robin is already inside the doors of the hospital like camp.
~Mara sat in the car, swinging her legs to the beat of the music playing on the radio. She looked out the window and watched the fields and houses gradually dissolve into swampland. Mara had been to the seashore before, when her parents had been together, but this was the first time since her mother had married Steve.
She stepped out onto the hot tarmac, her flip-flops filling with sand almost instantly. Her mother took her hand, and together they walked along the boardwalk.
"Can I go?" Mara asked.
Her mother nodded, and Mara was off. She kicked off her flip-flops and ran into the water. It was cool, and Mara loved the way it felt on her burnt toes. She jumped in the waves, slipped underneath and played mermaids, and chased fish.
Her mother looked on Mara's merriment happily. "Steve, honey, I'm going to the bathroom, 'kay?"
Steve didn't look up from his novel, "mmm hmmm..." he murmured.
Mara ran up to the beach towel and grabbed a floatie. She ran back into the water happily, and sat on the noodle, her toes lightly touching the sandy bottom of the sea.
Suddenly the waves picked up, and Mara lost sight of Steve and his beach towel. She found herself drifting further and further out to sea. Terror overcame her.
"HELP!!!!" she screamed at the top of her small lungs. "MAMA, HELP ME!" In her terror, she lost her grip on the floatie. She thought she was doomed. A wave swept her up, and she caught sight of her mother returning to the beach towels. She swam as hard as she could towards her. Her arms pumped and her legs kicked against the salty water. She learned to synchronize her swimming with the waves, and only was swept under twice. As she felt her feet collide with the bottom, she felt a surge of relief hit her harder than any of the waves.
"Mama!" she shouted and rushed into her arms.
"Mara, where were you?!" her mother exclaimed.
"Nowhere." She said after a pause. "I was nowhere, mom."
"Well, don't scare me like that!"
Mara never knew why she didn't tell her mother what had happened. All she knew was she could never depend on her again.~