A/N: Thanks go out to Lady Marian. Keep the constructive criticism coming! And please, please do let me know if my characters become too Mary Sue-ish, so I can attempt to squash that tendency out of them (although they can be a bit pig-headed and stubborn at times!). Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter.

"What is your name?" asked Robin, as we made our way back to camp. "I can't keep calling you 'witch'. It's not proper…"

"I'll tell you when I've beaten you," I said, my voice sounding a hell of a lot more confident than I felt. I was shaking inside, but was damned if I was going to let it show.

"Suit yourself. I was only trying to be friendly. It would be pleasant if you could be, too," he added pointedly.

"Look, it's been a very weird day for me, okay?" I snapped. "I'm not from around here. This is all a little bit too…" I tailed off, trying to find the right words.

"Strange?" supplied Robin.

"You could say that. I was veering towards the 'completely fucking mental', personally." Robin laughed and clapped his hand on my shoulder.

"Well, there are a few ways of relieving tension…" He smirked suggestively and I snorted and shook my head. "No? Ah well, I find shooting works almost as well. Ah, John, my good man!" He went off with his friend and I cast around for the girls, spotting them sat a little away from the rest of the camp and conversing in whispers.

"So you've decided to stay then?" I asked as I sat down. Kit jumped and swore.

"You don't sneak up on people like that! You make noise when you move… you stomp, or yodel!" she admonished.

"Buffy freak," snorted Kels.

"Hell yeah."

"Anyway, yes, we've decided to stay," replied Kels. "For one thing, we kind of owe Robin for rescuing you, and for another… well, it'll do until we work out why the hell we're here, how we got here and how we can get back, and I think we'd do better if we were left alone here than if we were hounded in town."

"Any ideas?" I asked hopefully.

"Magic," suggested Kit immediately. "Don't tell me you can't feel it." Kit and I both had Celtic blood and had dabbled in Wicca, which could account for the strange mental connection that we seemed to have at times. And now that she'd mentioned it, there was… something in this forest, a general feeling that I couldn't put my finger on. I closed my eyes and concentrated, breathing deeply and evenly and wrapping the sounds of the forest around me as I sought the trance state I used to go into meditation. I felt nothing at first and then suddenly a jolt, almost as if an electric shock had surged up my arms, and I felt the raw power pulse with the heartbeat of the forest. I'd felt it before back home in certain places, most notably in a small village in the New Forest, but never this strongly.

"Odin," I breathed, and opened my eyes; for some reason I had always been hopelessly drawn to the Norse gods above any other. "Why?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? Mankind hasn't raped the earth yet. We've not covered over the fields with cities of stone and buried the power beneath them. There's no pollutants fucking up the air and screwing with nature. And more importantly, enough people still believe," put in Kels.

"Believe in what?" Kit and I asked together, and glared at each other.

"Faeries. Elves. Magic. Iron. Old wives' tales. I don't know!" Kels groaned and pressed her palms to her eyes. "I… I know it but I can't explain it, you know?"

"Well if it was faeries then they've got some explaining to do," growled Kit.

"Never mind that now, is there any way we can harness the power so I can cheat at an archery contest? I've got myself into a bit of a pickle," I added in response to their confused looks. "Robin's said we can only join him if I beat him in an archery tourney and before you say anything, yes I am familiar with the Law of Three," I added as Kit opened her mouth to say something.

"Just making sure you knew, and get out of my head," she replied with a grin.

"I don't think we should be trying anything just now," said Kels reasonably. "We need to work out why we're here first. And we've got to be careful. Anything we do here can have serious repercussions on the future."

"Unless we're meant to be here," Kit pointed out. "What if all of this has already happened?"

"It doesn't matter. Until we can work out why we're here we have got to be careful. We can't just wander off and do things willy-nilly."

"Yeah, but remember all those times we said before that we felt like we were born in the wrong time? Surely that's got to count for something. Elli, back me up here."

"I'm sure this is a fascinating conversation and I hate to interrupt, but we do have a score to settle first." We all jumped as Robin spoke; I hadn't even heard him approach.

"What is it with you people and sneaking around?" demanded Kit, massaging her chest.

"All right, I'm coming. We'll pick this up later, guys. Wish me luck," I said as I got to my feet.

"Good luck!" they chorused. Robin smiled at me and executed a wonderfully extravagant bow.

"My lady, if you would care to follow me?"

He led the way to an area that was obviously used as a training ground; the ground was churned in places, the trees surrounding the small clearing were pockmarked with scars that could have been from arrows, and a pile of swords were heaped haphazardly against a pine tree. Little John was standing in front of two archery targets and the rest of the outlaws were gathered in a semicircle among the trees, chatting amongst themselves. Little John clapped his hands for attention and all conversation slowly stopped.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Sherwood Forest," he began, the volume of his voice startling some birds in a nearby tree. "I know some of you have been complaining about the lack of entertainment this afternoon, but worry no longer! We have in our midst three charming young ladies who would like to join us. However, they can only stay if they can beat our fearless leader with a bow." A ripple of laughter flowed through the ranks. "Here on my left we have a young lady who refuses to tell us her name just yet. She was accused of witchcraft this morning and was all set to burn at the stake until Robin sprang her from jail. We have, ladies and gentlemen, a witch!" He beckoned for me to come forward and I swallowed heavily. It felt like a butterfly farm had taken up residence in my stomach and my legs were shaking as I moved towards him. I took a longbow and a quiver of arrows from him and tried to remember how to hold the thing. Kit and Kels cheered loudly but the majority of the crowd hissed and booed at me.

"And here on my right we have a legend in the making. Unbeatable with a bow, his courage, determination and sheer bloody-mindedness are feared by all rich men in Nottingham. Brave, fearless, reckless and devilishly handsome, Lord of the Bow and Lord of the Forest, show your appreciation for Robin of Locksley!"

"Oh, shut up," muttered Robin as the crowd cheered and he took his bow from the giant.

"We begin with the targets at ten paces. Ladies first. In your own time."

John moved out of the way and I took a deep, calming breath as I stepped forward. I went to notch an arrow to my bow but my hands were shaking so much that I dropped it, to the accompaniment of laughter from the crowd. After a few false starts I managed to get the arrow notched and pulled the string back to kiss my cheek. "Come on, girl, concentrate," I muttered as the point of my arrow jiggled about. I took another deep breath to calm myself, aimed and let fly, sighing in relief when the arrow punched through into the centre of the target. Robin stepped up, notched his arrow and let fly in one smooth movement; needless to say, his shot was perfect.

The targets were moved back another ten paces and again I got gold - just, and so did Robin. The targets were moved back another ten paces and I was nervous as hell now. The last shot had been lucky. My stomach twisted itself in knots as the outlaws shouted and jeered and tried to put me off. I took aim and focused on the centre, and just as I let go something hit me in the back, knocking me forwards slightly and causing my shot to go hopelessly off, the arrow punching into the tree behind my target.

"Hey!" I yelled, whirling around to find out who had thrown what, my back throbbing painfully. Robin stepped up and took his shot; another perfect centre for the marksman. My eyes fell on a stone just in front of me and I picked it up, rubbing my back. "Who threw this? That bloody hurt!"

"Commiserations, witch," said Robin, utterly failing to hide a grin as he shook my hand. "I'm afraid you and your friends have to leave."

"No fair! That was a foul shot! Someone hit me with this!" I protested, holding up the stone.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his face creasing into a frown.

"As the soon to be purple bruise on my back indicates, yes!"

"Come now, you fellows! I will not have cheating in my camp!" called Robin. The group standing just behind me all contrived to look wonderfully innocent and Robin snorted and dropped the stone. "Fine. You may take your shot again, miss." I stepped up and notched another arrow to the bow, trying to ignore the pain and focussing on the target. My arms were feeling heavy and shook slightly as I took the shot, and the arrow punched into the red, a hair's breadth away from the gold. I swore and rounded on Robin, fury running like fire in my veins.

"Fine. You know what? I didn't want to stay anyway," I spat as the outlaw opened his mouth to speak. I threw my bow to the ground and ran in the opposite direction, ignoring Kit and Kels who were calling my name.

I was so angry I didn't look where I was going, and didn't much care anyway. I was angry at myself for losing the contest, angry at having agreed to the contest in the first place, and I was a little scared at being in the past which only fuelled my anger. I pushed blindly through a bush and tripped over a root, and I heard my ankle click as I fell to the ground. I roared as pain coursed through my ankle and curled up into a ball, sobbing and swearing and blaspheming all the gods that I could think of.

"Fucking Thursdays," I muttered as I pulled myself to my feet and swore again as pain flared in my left ankle. "Why did you bring me here, Sif?" I yelled towards the sky. "Why leave me stranded in the past? What the hell am I supposed to do here?" I thought of my family, eight hundred years in the future, and terror gripped me at the thought I might not see them again. I screamed and kicked out at the nearest tree, cried out in pain as my toes crunched and dropped to the floor, tears rolling down my face. "I'm lost, I want to go home, I'm a total fucking idiot and I've broken my foot," I whimpered, hugging my knees to my chest.

"I don't know about home but I can take you back to camp," offered a strange, new voice. I yelped in fear and spun around to face the newcomer, relaxing slightly as I recognised the man in russet from the camp. He was handsome, facially similar to Robin, with long, dark auburn curls and startlingly green eyes. Unlike most of the others in camp he was clean-shaven, although this late in the day stubble was showing on his chin. "Robin's decided that you can stay, which is what he was going to say right before you ran off."

"Yeah, about that. I was angry and I tend to want to be alone when I'm angry," I said, a little more harshly than I'd intended. I was still angry, although now I was purely angry at myself for being an idiot. I tended to react to confusion with violence, an attitude that had won me very few friends and got me into trouble on more than one occasion.

"That's what your friends said, but Robin insisted I follow you in case you got yourself into trouble. The name's Will. Will Scarlett." He held out his hand and helped me to my feet and I winced and hopped on my good foot.

"I'm Elli, and I'm fine, thank you!" I snapped, brushing away his arm as he reached out to help me. I walked a couple of paces and stopped as my foot protested. "Okay, I'm not fine," I amended, gripping hold of a bush for support.

"Stubborn little thing, aren't you?" Will asked, his eyes twinkling. "Let me help." He hooked my arm around his shoulders and slipped his other arm around my waist. I leaned on him and gingerly lowered my foot to the ground. "Better?"

"A little. Thank you."

We started off for the camp in silence, taking it slow. I winced as I saw the damage I'd done to the bush I'd fallen through and whispered an apology as we passed; it was a habit stemming back from childhood that I'd never broken. As we walked and I stared at my surroundings I found my rage dissipating, as if a cool wind was blowing through my mind. Birds were singing and the last rays of sunlight were giving the forest an eerie red glow. I felt calmer as I absorbed the feel of a forest winding down for the night.

"Who is Sif?" asked Will, breaking the silence, his voice jarring with the harmony of the forest.

"Goddess of destiny. Married to Thor, the god of thunder," I replied in a half-whisper.

"Ah, you are of Viking descent? That explains the temper," joked Will.

"You know, it wouldn't surprise me? There's just about everything else in my ancestry," I laughed. "Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish…"

"Celtic too? Oh dear! We'll definitely have to keep an eye on you!" he teased.

"Why did Robin decide to let me stay, anyway?" I asked, changing the subject with lightning speed. Will shrugged.

"He said something about you girls bringing entertainment to the camp. I can certainly see why; an unpredictable, Viking, Celtic harridan willdefinitely make life interesting. I think you intrigue him, and he wants some answers from you."

"He's not the only one who wants answers," I muttered darkly, shooting a last glance over my shoulder towards the heart of the darkening forest. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but there seemed to be something silvery flitting between the trees, too distant to make out. I shivered and hurriedly snapped my gaze forwards, suddenly filled with an unaccountable feeling of fear, and didn't look left or right until we got back to camp.