On some days it was really difficult for Robin to keep thinking of himself as "Robin," since names like those used by Humans were not customary among his own people. However, he had lived among the Humans for too long, had thought of himself as a Human for too long, and so he was now unable to break that habit. When he reflected on it, it struck him that he did not even want to do that. At the same time, though, he was aware that there was very likely a Human here - somewhere under the Hill - who had a greater claim to calling himself Robin of Loxley. Yet this did not bother the former outlaw, for he tended to think of himself as Robin of Sherwood. That is, until it occurred to him that there was now another "Robin of Sherwood" in the world of the Humans, a man who had replaced him after he had died. He had even seriously contemplated that perhaps he should call himself Robin of the Sidhe, but then he could not bring himself to do so. He just did not consider himself one of them, no matter how hard he tried and no matter how often he reminded himself that he was not Human.
Early in his time under the Hill, the rest of his folk had left him alone so that he could get used to the fact that he was now living in this place. But they had told him also that he had to learn to distance himself from the Humans. After all, he was no longer one of them. In addition, they had pointed out to him emphatically that he should avoid any contact with the Human world, so that the transition would be easier for him. However, he had not been called stubborn in his life as a Human for nothing and therefore he had not adhered to this advice, needless to say. All the more so since he suspected that he had been advised to do so primarily on account of the fact that his people regarded those with contempt who did not live under the Hill. And he believed that they wanted to avoid at all costs coming into contact with that culture.
At this point, though, he was really thankful that a life as an outlaw in Sherwood had taught him how to conceal his intentions and actions from the eyes of anyone else. He was certain that it was only for this reason that he had managed to keep an eye on his friends without attracting attention. However, he had not wanted to forgo being able to still watch those he had been forced to leave behind when he had died. Nor did he cease to do so when he realized how much it pained him to know how they were faring. During these occasions, though, he had also noticed that he was able to control his visions far better than he had previously done. Indeed, when he was focused, he was able to pick and choose what he wished to view. Needless to say, that were the rest of the outlaws.
Then, though, there came the day his people did pay attention to him, and he was forced to stop disregarding them in favor of dealing with his visions. He had assumed, no, he had hoped, no one would be taking any interest in him, and now he had to realize, that he had been mistaken. For him, this meant to change his way of proceeding, as he was now no longer able to ignore the rest of his kind.
One morning - and yes, there were mornings and noons under the Hill, even if Humans were under the impression that here it was always night and a full moon in the sky the entire time - a member of his folk showed up at the entrance to the hut Robin was living in. His people might consider themselves better than Humans, but this did not imply that they were living in palaces. Since they had a strong affinity with nature, with plants and with animals, a hut - grown out of the ground as if by magic - was a place worthy of their standards. For that reason, Robin now lived not all that differently from the way he had done back in Sherwood. Though now he had a roof over his head and walls to protect him from the prying eyes of the nosy. Except that in this case these were no longer the Sheriff's men, but other members of his people.
Having made his presence known - Robin was not able not describe how this was done, even though he could do it himself - the other one informed him that he had plenty of opportunities to get used to the life under the Hill by now, and that it was time for him to be of use to his own people. This, however, would not be possible until after they had figured out what abilities he possessed. For the first time it occurred to Robin on that morning that he might be able to do more than experience visions and open portals to the Human world, even if he did not dare to enter it.
This was also the first time Robin wondered if more of his people possessed the ability to call up visions. It also made him question how widespread the ability to open a portal truly was. Did he stand out among the rest of his people, or would he not attract attention here? He was very interested in the answers to these questions, yet he did not dare to ask. By doing so, he would have shown the other person that he had not yet acquainted himself with his kind at all. And that would then probably bring up directly the question of what he had been occupied with instead. But in no case did he want to provide them with any information about his activities.
Though he asked a different question, most likely one that he had been expected to pose. He inquired about the way of determining which abilities he possessed. As a result, he very quickly found out that it was much easier to in this manner obtain information than he had imagined. This was primarily due to the fact that the members of his people considered themselves to be generally superior to everyone else. Therefore, they liked to brag about what they were capable of. It was not difficult for Robin to work out which was the right approach to get the rest of them to start talking. He just had to offer them the opportunity to boast about what they were able to do.
From the subsequent lecture, he obtained the information that every single member of his kind was able to call up a vision. However, he also learned that there were differences, as some were only able to observe what was going on in the Human world at that very moment, and not all of them were capable of manipulating what they were seeing. On the other hand, some of them were better at controlling their visions and thus were able to specify what they were being shown. These individuals were capable of choosing whatever events they wanted to see from the Human's past. The next point he was informed about was that usually some kind of means was needed to be in a position to behold anything, such as a bowl of water or the still surface of a lake, even a puddle of water would do. Very few would actually be able to forgo anything like that. It was at this point that Robin pretended to be very surprised and when then asked, explained to the other person that he himself would consider something like that to be very handy. However, he kept to himself that he was capable of doing so as well.
Since the other person only felt sorry for Robin, the latter assumed that the man did not assume he might be deceiving him and keeping something from him. By the way, he pitied Robin for the reason that he had grown up among Humans and thus might not be able to apply all the skills that would otherwise be at his disposal.
Yet the other one shared something very interesting with him as well. He spoke about the fact that in the past there had been single persons who could observe events on other timelines. Robin did not even have to pretend in order to ask what he had to understand by that, for he had never heard of different timelines. He was then quite surprised to notice that the other one responded rather grudgingly to this question and had obviously to force himself to answer. However, when he then pointed out to him that some person's decisions might result in there being different possibilities for shaping the future, it did not really do Robin any good. Yet the other person refused to elaborate, and only at a later date Robin would understand that the man was simply not in a position to expand on this. He just hated to admit that he simply lacked the necessary knowledge.
But at this moment Robin did not know any of this and therefore he was taken by surprise when the other one suddenly took leave of him. Nevertheless, the latter did not fail to inform him that he would be back on the next day. Then he would begin to ascertain which abilities Robin possessed, only to add that he was leaving right now not wanting to strain him. The outlaw could not help suspecting that the other one did not consider him his equal.
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Robin had gone to one of his favorite spots, on a forested hill not far from his hut. Here was not only a secluded spot, there was also absolutely nothing in this location that he could have used for a vision - if he had been dependent on such a thing, but fortunately he was not. However, no one but himself was aware of this, and so he felt relatively secure in this place. He was therefore comfortable to rest his back against one of the trees, whose silvery leaves were rustling in the wind, thus reminding him of Sherwood. Then he closed his eyes and tried to catch a glimpse of his friends.
Within a few moments he was looking at mighty oaks, as well as tall ash and elm trees, and he knew at once that this was Sherwood. He also spotted a camp and a fire between the trees, and for just an instant he hoped that his friends had returned to the woods. But when he got closer, he realized that there was only a single person present, and when he approached even closer, he discovered it to be Tuck. Thus, he assumed nothing had changed about the situation he had already come to know. Apparently the rest of his friends were still scattered across the country.
But all of a sudden he was yanked away from the woods and flying straight over the land, and at such a great speed that he could no longer make out what was beneath him. He had never experienced anything like this in any of his previous visions, and had to pull himself together to not let a sense of vertigo overwhelm him. He was on the verge of escaping from the vision, for he perceived this swift movement as very disagreeable, but then he did not give in to this sensation after all, not knowing whether he would manage to return to this very vision. It suddenly became clear to him that the ability to control his visions was of no help at all at this moment, for the simple reason that he did not know where his friends might be. So far he had only learned to look for places and he had never before attempted to pinpoint people, and thus he did not know if this was even an option. Immediately, though, he took it upon himself to figure this out as soon as possible. But not right now.
In no time he found himself in the bailey of a massive castle, albeit with no idea as to which this could be. He had arrived just as a group of horsemen passed through the gates. Glancing at them, Robin was astonished to recognize both the Sheriff of Nottingham and his brother, with the former's steward. Robin suddenly noticed that his fingers had curled at this sight, as if he were holding a bow. At the same time, he had held his breath as if he was about to lose an arrow. As soon as he became aware of this, he forced himself to continue breathing steadily, for he did not want to sever the link to this vision.
He witnessed the brothers de Rainault and Gisburne getting off their horses, then entering the castle proper and being heralded to a large hall, where there were already quite a few men and women dressed in expensive clothing. It seems that the three of them had been invited to a feast at the home of one of those wealthy Norman nobles who ruled over the English, oppressing and exploiting them. Robin had never before been provided with the opportunity to behold people like this at such an occasion, and he was both fascinated and repulsed at the same time. Then, he asked himself as to why his vision had led him here, of all places.
But then his gaze fell - quite unexpectedly - on Marion and his heart skipped a beat, for he could instantly recognize how miserable and troubled she appeared. A longing for her manifested itself within him on the spot and - without even having to think about it intentionally - he ended up right next to her. But this also allowed him to clearly notice how miserable she was and how unwell she seemed to feel between all those people who were staring at her as if she had grown a second head. Oh, he would have loved to take her in his arms and comfort her.
Alas, he had no other option but to witness her being insulted by Gisburne while dancing. Then things got even worse, as a man who went by the name of Owen of Clun - and who was obviously the guest of honor, though Robin could not figure out for what reason - molested her. Again, there was nothing Robin could do, and he almost went mad with worry and chagrin. Wistfully, he longed to be able to help her in some fashion.
However, to his utter amazement, someone finally confronted the uncouth Owen, and it was a person from whom Robin had not expected to see this. Suddenly the son of the host confronted the Lord from the Welsh border marshes and then humiliated him in front of the other guests. Owen of Clun was seething with anger and, aware that the Lord over this Castle - the Earl of Huntingdon - had to keep him in good humor, he demanded that the young man be punished on the spot. The latter, however, thought nothing of obeying his father and apologizing, and for this Robin could only admire him, despite the fact that he really disliked him for being the spoiled noble that he clearly was. Once again, he was wishing he was not limited solely to observing. But even that proved too much for him at that very moment, and he fled from the vision downright.
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In the following time, he was no longer able to devote himself for a longer time to his visions, for now he had to learn on many days. At the beginning one of his folks came every morning to Robin to get to know which abilities he possessed. Once this was ascertained, he had no choice but to go out of his hut, for now he needed a teacher. It took some time for him to realize that his teacher was a woman and it was only then that he really became aware that among his people the differences between men and women were not as striking as among Humans. This was rather unsettling for him, as he had grown up with a completely different perception. No longer being able to determine straight away whether he was looking at a man or a woman actually caused him to feel challenged in his manliness. It took him some time to overcome this, but once he understood there were indeed differences that could not be seen but were nonetheless present, he was able to ease up in this regard.
In the meantime, he had to learn that his ability to open a portal to the Human world was nothing special, for apparently every one of his people was capable of doing so. It was the same with the visions, since everyone had this ability at least in a small degree, which meant that some could accomplish more than other ones. Once again, he realized that opening a portal required much more strength than calling up a vision. Moreover, he had to be more focused when doing so. But he soon noticed that it became much easier for him once he had practiced it more often. At the same time, he always took care not to be watched doing this. To find a location where he could secretly open a portal was far more difficult than to find one where he could call up a vision without being noticed, something he realized very quickly. This was not surprising, however, since it was not possible to hide the opening of a portal. Still, he kept up this practice of concealment, for he did not want to be questioned by anyone as to why he performed it so thoroughly. This could also be due to the fact that he did not yet know the answer himself.
Eventually, he would learn that there were also abilities that not every individual of his kind possessed, and he had to realize that in this regard he was no exception. For instance, he was unable to influence the weather to cause rain or fog to appear. Nor could he command the plants to grow, so he was not able to let new huts spring up, but neither was he able to stop plants from not taking root in certain places. He had somewhat more success in directing animals, but not to the extent that he would want to rely on it in a pinch. It was then a considerable surprise to him, however, that he showed very great potential in the area of healing. This realization, though, meant that he had to leave his hut on a regular basis and mingle with his folk, for he was now in need of someone to teach him. But in this case, it also suited his own desire to learn more about what he was capable of, even if he soon had to realized that he would not have been able to avoid doing this in the end. Very early on he had been told that such an ability as his had to be used for the benefit of his own people.
He could not avoid to get to know more about his kind during this time, even though he had not been interested in it at all in the very beginning. And once again he had to realize now that although he was certainly grateful for his rescue, he would still prefer to stay with his old friends than just to be able to observe them. To his chagrin, he had now to realize that he did not get to spend much time watching them, since he was obliged now to put his abilities to the service of his people.
While learning how to use his skills for healing, he also gained more knowledge about his kind – that not being surprisingly. But he did not like it when he understood that the rest of his folk considered themselves to be superior to Humans. It was very aggravating - but also very deplorable - to realize with how much contempt they regarded the denizens of the Human world. And when he found out that their opinion of those who lived beside them under the Hill - the ones they had brought here in the past - was not any different, Robin started to ask himself the question as to why they were even bothering to make this exchange. That said, this was also one of the topics where he shied away from directly questioning, though in this case it had something to do with the awareness that even changelings like him were viewed with suspicion and even rejection. Needless to say, this did not please him at all.
When this occurred to him at first, he still believed this had something to do with him on a personal level, but gradually he came to understand that the members of his people truly believed that only those who had not been tainted by a stay in the Human world could be considered fully trustworthy, and that these then were superior to all of the rest. After he had become aware that those who had as infants been taken to the Human world to be exchanged for a Human - and who later might return to their own people - were not considered to be equal to the rest of the folk, he thought that his intention to hide what he was capable of from the rest was justified. Moreover, now he also understood why so few of these changelings were allowed to return at all. But that raised the question as to why he had been permitted to return. Needless to say, he tried to get an answer to this question, but in that respect he had no great success. He overheard two of his people talking only by chance. At first he did not realize that they were speaking about him when they told of someone who possessed great potential. Alas, he had no way to address them about this, as he had been eavesdropping on them in secret.
None of this, of course, made him feel at home and at ease under the Hill. Nor did it result in his heeding the advice to stay away from his old friends. Without the possibility of returning to Sherwood, at least in his visions, he would have gotten very lonely. And he certainly did not want to spend his life in loneliness.
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After he had fled out of the vision of Huntingdon Castle, he needed a few days before he believed he had regained sufficient strength to go once again in search of his friends. However, when he eventually got around to do this, he once again found himself - to his amazement - at a castle. And as before, he could not immediately figure out why he had come to this place at all.
Then his attention was drawn to a horseman. This rider was watching a group of soldiers who were approaching the castle. Robin experienced great joy upon realizing that the man on the horse was Nasir, but this did not last long. Looking more closely at the men his friend was keeping an eye on, he quickly realized that he was no stranger to the two men leading the group of soldiers. One of them was Gisburne, but the other one was the reason for renewed concern, for he was Marion's father, Sir Richard of Leaford. After all, he had last seen him attending the feast at Huntingdon Castle at the side of his daughter, and therefore he wondered immediately if anything could have happened to her. Why else would Sir Richard join forces with de Rainault's steward? Robin just wished there would be somebody who could answer that question on his behalf.
Quite abruptly, he was in a room with Sir Richard facing the Sheriff of Nottingham, his brother Abbot Hugo, and Gisburne. What did this now mean at all? The answer came to him as he listened to the conversation of these men. When he grasped what had happened, he cursed his inability to intervene all over again. Not until a while later did he understand that if he had been able to do more than just observe, it would not have ended well for him. In fact, he would have lunged at Gisburne and the Sheriff without thinking twice, without giving a thought to the fact that there were very likely soldiers just outside the door of that chamber. Would he then have been able to escape? In reflection, he also understood that he could not rely on people being shocked and unable to act simply because there was a dead man standing in front of them. If anything, did he not have to assume that he would not have been recognized in the heat of battle? And was he even known to the soldiers face to face?
However, he knew at last that Sir Richard had come here fearing for his daughter. This Owen of Clun had obviously not held back and kidnapped Marion after the feast at Huntingdon. And the Earl of Huntingdon, whom her father had first appealed to for help, was forced to admit that he could not aid him since the King had tied his hands. When he learned about this Robin got pretty angry. But when de Rainault actually agreed to provide Sir Richard with soldiers, he started to get suspicious, for the Sheriff was certainly not someone who would take a risk by rescuing Marion. Probably he was only in it for the money, since he demanded a horrendous price and in addition Leaford Grange as a security. Robin wondered if he was only helping Sir Richard as a way to get his hands on his property? And what was in it for his brother, who was also eager to participate?
How right Robin was in his distrust was revealed to him after Sir Richard had left the castle. It was then that the Sheriff ordered Gisburne to abandon Marion's father outside Clun Castle. At this point, no one could fail to notice that the de Rainault brothers were already gloating over having gotten their hands on Leaford Grange. Or at least that was what they were convinced of.
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Robin still perceived it as being very odd to be shown by the healer how he could use his abilities. He had only seen himself previously as someone who could help someone else with a weapon in his hand. Yet he could quickly learn that it brought him great delight to be able to make a difference in this new and unfamiliar manner, even if he was only allowed to treat animals at first. However, he accepted this restriction without any issues, as he did not want to be responsible for anyone to die just because he had made a mistake. It was not condescending to him to be only permitted to save sheep or goats in the beginning.
After he had proven to his teacher that he had memorized what she was supposed to teach him and that he did not use his skills carelessly, he was allowed to heal sick and injured Humans - in addition to the animals. Of these there were more than he had expected previously, for he had so far met almost none. Not knowing how many Humans actually lived under the Hill, he was surprised by the large number of those who were brought to him for treatment.
He learned also that the majority of these Humans lived in villages apart from his own people. At the same time, he found out that their main task was to cultivate the fields and herd the animals. Primarily not for themselves, but for his folk. In his opinion, there was no difference between this and the life that serfs were forced to live in the human world. Needless to say, he was unable to restrain himself, and so he soon started asking his teacher about the Humans. Her aim was probably to reassure him by pointing out that life under the Hill was far better than life in the Human world. When he refused to put aside his doubts, she countered by asking him if he had noticed any signs of discontent among the Humans. After giving it some careful consideration, he had to answer in the negative.
Naturally, he expressed a desire to visit one of these villages, only to learn, to his great astonishment, that it was the Humans who were living there who objected to this. In no way could he have foreseen such a thing. He tried to figure out the reasons, of course, which only led to him being even more bewildered, for he was told that this had simply to do with the fact that he would still appear more like a Human and not like a member of his folk. The residents of the villages were obviously not used to that, but he wondered what difference that could make. Still je accepted this decision, even if he could not really follow this reasoning, after hearing it from the lips of the Humans themselves. And it was expressed quite convincingly.
The healer once again sought to explain to him at a later date why the Humans did not want to see him in their villages. She elaborated that those who lived under the Hill were very keen not to put their good life here in jeopardy. So, they disliked events not going according to the familiar pattern, for actually they considered such an occurrence as a threat. He should just be patient for a little bit longer, until he had settled in better. At that point, no one would be able to tell right away that he had once lived among Humans. Once he was that far along, there would no longer be any reason to restrict his freedom of movement. After all, he would then no longer stir anything up around here.
Robin thought this was all very confusing, mainly due to the fact that he was far from being sure whether he really wanted to become like the rest of his own people. That could be the reason why so much seemed so odd to him here, but on the other hand he would probably not be in a position to change that in a hurry. In any case, if he was going to find himself in the same situation for a while longer, then he would have time to pay more attention to the fate of his old friends. There was no denying that he was worried about them, so he pushed aside any thoughts about the Humans living under the Hill for the time being.
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But before Robin wanted to go in search of his friends once again, he returned to the day when he had died. His goal in that was to try one more time to learn more about the man who had saved the rest of the outlaws, but about whom he knew only that he too was a Son of Herne. For this reason, he focused on Wickham and on that particular day when his friends had been forced to suffer greatly, despite the fact that they had been lucky enough to have been rescued.
What Robin got to see first, however, was Gisburne standing in the middle of the village with pain contorting his face. Right afterwards, he detected the arrow lodged in the knight's upper right arm. The dead outlaw whirled around - at least that was what it felt to him, when in fact he was not actually in the village - and stared at a man whose face remained hidden under a hood he had pulled far forward and who was threatening the Sheriff and his steward with an arrow he had notched. At that instant, no one moved and it was as if time had been frozen by someone. Suddenly Robin realized that probably just about everyone would have thought that he himself had come back from the dead. As no one wanted to believe just what they were beholding, no one was in a position to do anything about it either. So, the Sheriff and his men had been – momentarily – overcome, yet what a price had to be paid for this victory!
Abruptly Robin was moving away from Wickham at breakneck speed, flying over the woods, only to stop again in another spot - one well-hidden between trees and undergrowth. Slowly sinking to the ground, he discovered all of his friends gathering around Marion right there. At that very moment she presented Albion to them, making them understand that he was indeed dead. Judging by the intense anguish on their faces, they had probably not expected this, possibly due to the fact that they had believed he had been the one who had freed them. Had they not been able to tell the difference? Seeing his friends was more than Robin could bear, and so he fled from that vision as well. Returning to his favorite spot in the small grove, he was overcome with grief as he once again came to realize just how much his friends had suffered on that day. No longer could he hold back his tears, and it was a long time before he was able to get back to his hut.
The following days were once again busy with his work at the side of the healer. There had apparently been a large-scale calamity in one of the Human villages, but Robin had no time to make further inquiries about it. He had to focus on healing the injured, who were obviously also too exhausted - or too shocked - to answer his questions. They were brought to him, often suffering silently, and after being healed, they were even too tired to show their gratitude with words. However, Robin did not demand anything like that from them, for he was glad to be able to help them at all. He would have liked to know what had occurred - since he was irremediably curious - but he definitely grasped that there were more important issues to deal with now.
After several days of almost constantly treating Humans, he had to recover before he could check on his friends once again. It had been a number of days since he had last seen them, and he noticed that he missed them. However, his thoughts turned also to the man who had taken his place and about whom he still did not know who it was.
This time Robin managed to control his vision in such a way that he finally got an answer to this question. In fact, he witnessed the fair-haired man encounter Tuck in the woods – thereby taking an involuntary bath - fighting John, and then, together with Much, Tuck and John, trying to "free" Will from a tavern, with the former soldier putting up considerable resistance. It was then that Robin could not but admire his successor for his perseverance. Moreover, he was not sure whether he would not have given up by now, no longer convinced that he would be able to succeed.
Unexpectedly, he got another brief glimpse of Gisburne, who had apparently followed his friends to Lichfield. For a brief moment, Robin was afraid for the outlaws, but then he caught sight of the knight plunging through an open trapdoor in the tavern's floor, and afterwards Robin was yanked to another location before he could find out what had happened to Gisburne. Was it possible that he had been killed in the fall? Yet he refused to believe that!
All at once he found himself again near the castle where he had seen Nasir, and there he encountered his friends as well. Well, at least there were those of them which he had just witnessed in Lichfield. He observed them now moving stealthily toward the castle. Intrigued, Robin followed them, and this time he managed to stay in the vision, though there were a number of moments when he cringed and grew fearful for his friends. The sight of Marion, who had obviously been put under a spell, was especially close to his heart, for all at once she was adoring that dreadful Owen of Clun. He then had to witness the young man who had replaced him fighting Nasir in a pit, and in that moment he would have loved to whisper in his friend's ear that this was an ally. By the time the outlaws were finally all reunited and had escaped the castle, Robin felt almost as exhausted as if he had been fighting with the rest of them. He hardly even realized he had returned from the vision before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
As soon as he was able, he went back to Sherwood - at least in his visions - and he almost felt like a part of the old gang all over again, even if he was not actually involved in their ventures. He watched them "persuade" travelers to pay them to be allowed to pass through the woods. He also witnessed as they distributed this money afterwards to the villages again, avoiding the Sheriff's soldiers and Gisburne. He was happy, and therefore he was once again paying much more attention to the Human world than to his immediate environment. What the rest of his own people were doing was of far less interest to him than what was going on in Sherwood and in Nottingham, even though he was still helping to treat injured and sick Humans.
But he had also to endure watching his successor almost losing Albion and eventually being exposed by Gisburne, which in turn led to him being disowned and disinherited by his father, the Earl of Huntingdon. The young man was now no longer able to return to his comfortable life as a noble, but that did not seem to bother him that much. Robin was glad that he did not abandon the rest of the outlaws, but he did not like at all that the people in the villages started calling him Robin Hood and finally even his friends began to call him Robin and not Robert.
But there was something else that bothered Robin, more than anything else. He had seen how Marion had suffered over his death, how she had withered away and lost her will to live. He had seen her kidnapped by the hideous Owen of Clun, and then put under a spell by that vile sorcerer Gulnar, before Robert of Huntingdon, with the help of Robin's friends, managed to free her, killing the Marcher Lord in the process. Robin did not shed a single tear for him.
But then he was also forced to witness how Robert began to court Marion, and the first Son of Herne finally understood what had led the young man to aid her and for that to reunite the outlaws. Now it was obvious that he had fallen in love with Marion. Even though - to be exact - it was no different for him than it had been for Robin himself, the latter's sympathy did not go that far - at least at that point. After all, he still loved his wife, and he did not consider her his widow, for he was not in fact dead. He just did not know yet how to return to her. He therefore saw it as cheating when Marion began to respond to Robert's wooing, for surely she could not do such a thing to her husband. To be sure, he was relieved that she had recovered, even though she had been forced to leave Leaford Grange by the Sheriff and return to the woods. Nevertheless, Robin was torn apart and it pained him greatly to see Marion and Robert together. In spite of this, this was no reason for him to give up his visions. He would rather endure this pain than not see them at all.
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Once again Robin headed to Sherwood to watch his friends carry on with what he had once started. He remembered well how he had had to shake them up after they had lost so many of their fellow fighters and friends in the rescue of Marion from de Belleme's castle. And now he was very grateful that they had never let themselves be discouraged, even if at one point they had lost their way for a while. He only wished he could still be with them, but that wish was not as strong as it had been previously. Anyway, as he assumed that this could not be possible, he was instead glad to be able to at least peek over their shoulder from time to time.
One of those days, while he was watching them, they were once again on their way through Sherwood, though Robin had no idea what their destination might be. However, they gave him the impression of knowing exactly where they were headed, and they apparently had no intention of getting distracted along the way. There was one aspect, though, that Robin considered more than a little odd. Will and Much were following the rest at quite a distance and looked as if they had put some kind of clothing on that was made from sacks. Needless to say, Robin asked himself immediately what could have befallen them. But before he could bring himself to move closer to them to find out what they were talking about, the group was alarmed by the sounds of fighting. Without delay, they rushed to the scene and surprised a troop of mercenaries who had attacked a carriage. Sadly, the coachman and the servants were already dead, but the outlaws arrived in time to save the life of an elderly Lady. The mercenaries who were allowed to survive fled into the woods and the outlaws refrained from pursuing them. Instead, they preferred to take care of the victim. After a time, they were able to set off all together, for the Lady had the same destination as Robin's friends, an abbey. The outlaws intended to take some of the money they had acquired to there. The Lady, on the other hand, obviously wanted to get there because she was very ill, or at least that was what Robin gleaned from what she told his friends. But it seemed odd to him that she refused to tell the other ones who she was. This, however, had nothing to do with a lack of trust in her rescuers.
In the evening, after they had made camp, the Lady urged Tuck to hear her confession, although at first he did not want to. Robin, who was by now very curious about who she might be - no different from his friends - decided that, unlike the rest of them, he could afford to eavesdrop on the two of them. In doing so, he had no guilty conscience, since he was not really present and, moreover, he would not get the opportunity to tell anyone what he had learned.
Afterwards, he was not quite so sure whether he should actually consider this idea to be a good one, despite now knowing who the ailing Lady was. Never would he have guessed that she could be Gisburne's mother, for he would not have believed that a woman who appeared so sympathetic should have given birth to a son like Gisburne. On top of that, however, he could hardly believe what he also got to hear. The steward was to be a son of the Earl of Huntingdon, too? And thereby the brother of the new Robin Hood?
The moment Robin's thoughts turned to Gisburne, he found himself close to him as well, somewhere on a rocky promontory above a river he assumed was the Trent. Right before his eyes, the knight was fighting the new Robin Hood. The thought crossed Robin's mind that here was brother fighting brother, and it immediately made him wonder how he would feel if he had to fight Much. Then again, did the other Robin even know that Gisburne was his brother. Tuck would not have told him, for he was after all bound by the seal of confession. And the knight certainly did not know about this either, for he would certainly have tried to capitalize on it long ago. Maybe the Sheriff would have found out this secret from him and then figured out a way to profit from it.
In the meantime, the young, fair-haired Robin Hood had taken out the slightly older, but equally fair-haired knight and had already left with Will, who had obviously allowed himself to be captured by Gisburne, but Robin did not follow the two of them. Instead, he stayed with the unconscious man, looking down on him, though he did not understand why he was still here. And he could not figure out why this time it was not as important to him to get out of this vision quickly.
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Robin would have loved to visit his friends every day and got to witness what they were accomplishing in Sherwood, yet he had precious little time for them over the next few days and weeks. Again, more of his folk visited him to show him what it meant to no longer be Human. Once again they taught him how to live under the Hill. Knowing that they would not approve of the fact that he was still watching his old friends, he tried not to give them any reason to concern themselves with what he was doing in his free time. He wanted to give the impression to those among whom he was living now that he had not only adapted to his new life, but also that he liked to live here. Moreover, he wanted the rest of the people to be convinced that he shared their views, even though many aspects still seemed rather strange to him and he had the distinct feeling that some of his questions were answered in a very evasive manner. But since he could not be entirely sure about this, and since he did not know if the problem did not really lie with him, he handled the matter with caution. In his opinion, there were some matters here under the Hill that appeared to be odd to him and he was as yet unable to make sense of them - at present. However, he still had hopes that this will change in the future.
But then, the claims made on him by his fellow folk left him little time for his visions. Therefore, he began to focus on his brother and followed him through Sherwood. To his chagrin, he had to realize that Much was still having a hard time with some of the aspects concerning life in the woods. A lot of what went on was beyond his comprehension and stressed him, and Robin was unsure if that would ever change. The younger man would not be able to survive in these conditions without his friends, and it pained Robin to witness him having to fight his way out of difficult situations or be rescued by his friends, time and time again. There grew the urge in Robin to think of some way to spare his brother this life, yet obviously he was in no position to change anything. After all, Much believed he was dead, so now there was nothing left for him to do but keep an eye on him. Naturally, he was hoping that Much's friends would never abandon him.
Over and over again, Robin wondered if the advice not to visit his old friends was not such a bad idea after all. There were times when he could not even bring himself to return to Sherwood. However, he was never able to stay away from his friends for too long. And every time, the urge grew in him to be able to help his brother in some way, for he no longer wanted to live with the sense that he had abandoned him. If he had earlier been touched by the suffering of his friends, it was nothing compared to what he was going through on account of Much, and he was not sure how much longer he could stand that.