Chapter two:
Marian's POV:
Taking a deep breath, I looked towards the painted target on the tree in front of me. I kept pulling on by bow until my wrist touched my ear, and then, losing a breath I released.
The arrow had landed dead in the middle of the target with a soft thud. Smiling to myself, victoriously, I reached behind me to my quiver and pulled out another arrow.
Even though mother hated my love for archery, she'd reluctantly given me this set of arrows for my birthday two years ago. They were light weight and delicate, while also being durable and flexible. She had carefully painted the fletching (the feathers at the end of an arrow) a lovely light shade of blue, so I could tell my arrows apart from my father's.
Father shared my love for archery but he didn't think he was a very good shot. He did come out to the forest with me sometimes though, those were the best days. When we'd wake up early, with our lunches packed up and leave to hunt for a day. We never caught anything, neither of us liked the idea of killing something that didn't have a reason to die.
I knocked the arrow and turned to the target roughly six feet behind me. Closing one eye, I focused on steadying my breathing. Archery is all about being calm, if your breathing is steady and your aim is focused, you're bound to hit the target.
Two fingers pulled away form the bow and my middle finger was about to release when I heard a loud rustle coming from behind me. I was too late to stop the arrow from flying, it landed high up in a tree above me. Angry that the noise had messed up my shot, I began to turn in the direction of it, to see what it was.
Expecting to see a little rabbit or maybe a squirrel, I was shocked to find a hand suddenly clamped over my mouth. Shocked and confused, I dropped my bow and tried to scream but the hand muffled any noise I made. Their other hand had both of my hands behind my back, otherwise I would have tried to reach the dagger carefully hidden in the little pocket inside of my dress.
I tried to struggle out of their grip but they were too strong. Shushing me, they slowly turned me around, releasing my hands but keeping one hand over my mouth.
Not wasting a second, I grabbed my dagger and shoved them against a tree with the dagger pressed to their throat. I realised they were a boy as his hands came up beside him in surrender and then I properly looked at him.
A pair of gorgeous, green eyes looked back at me, slightly wide. The eyes were just above a perfect nose, with smile lines beside it. His lips looked like they spent a lot of time smirking, his hair was light brown, going on blonde. He was all held together by a tan completion, meaning he spent a lot of time outside. Although he was half a head taller than me, he looked a little powerless with a dagger held against him.
He was the most handsome boy I had ever seen.
Snapping out of my daze, I spoke.
"Why did you sneak up behind me like that?" I demanded.
"I-I'm so s-sorry. My intention w-wasn't to scare you." The green-eyed boy stuttered, "I was only hiding from my friend and your arrow might have given me away." He whispered.
Looking into his eyes, I couldn't see any hint of lying. Sighing, I decided he was telling the truth and drew my dagger away from his throat. A little blood was left from where the blade has grazed his skin slightly, oops.
His hand went to his throat when he noticed I was looking at it.
"Sorry about that," I muttered, insincerely, "I was only defending myself, for all I knew, you trying to kidnap me." Laughing, I put away my dagger.
The boy held out a hand, his other coming away from his throat.
"Robin by the way, Robin of Locksley." Robin.
"Marian," I took his hand and shook it, "Marian of Knighton."
ROBIN'S POV:
My day has started off as normal, so I decided to go and play hide-and-seek with Much. I was hiding, when I noticed a girl. She was about to shoot her arrow, and blow my cover.
Quietly, I snuck up behind her and hoped she wouldn't scream when I grabbed her. I covered her mouth with my hand, and holding her hands behind her back, so she couldn't hit me. Turning her around slowly, I was about to explain why she has been grabbed, she pressed a dagger to my throat!
I was going to protest but, I saw her eyes and felt lost in them, immediately forgetting the pain in my throat. They were blue on the outer edge, but they have a ring of stunning gold was coating her iris. Oh, and her hair, it was dark brown, but the way the light hit it was extraordinary, like it completely changed colour from brown to almost red. Her face was just as beautiful, freckles were delicately scattered along her nose and her cheeks. Realising that I was staring, I tried to recover my composure.
"Why did you sneak up on me like that?" This mystery girl asked, angrily.
I fumbled some lame excuse about hiding from Much. She figured I was telling the truth and took the dagger away from my throat. The girl looked at my throat, where the dagger had been and I raised my hand to it, which came back a little bloody.
Trying to ignore the blood on my fingers, I introduced myself and found out her name was Marian. It was only then that I remembered Much, he would find me soon, I'm sure there is no harm in one more player.
MARIAN'S POV:
Robin had informed me that his friend, Much, would be coming along soon. We were hiding behind two large oak trees, when we heard a sudden noise from behind the tree at Robin's back. He motioned to stay quiet and suddenly; I saw him jump out. After Robin jumped out, I heard an unusually high-pitched scream. It was a struggle to hold in my laugh when I saw who the scream belonged to.
Discreetly, I peered around my tree, to see a boy about 12, my age, standing with Robin. He was a tiny bit smaller than Robin, but still taller than me.
Much had brown eyes, the same shade as the bark of a tree. He has blonde hair and long, thin legs. His clothes were dirtier than Robin's and his hair was scruffier. Much wasn't as handsome as Robin, but he still had the potential to be quite attractive.
"Robin! I told you not to scare me, that is why I didn't want to play this game!" Much started to shout, his voice still high from surprise.
Robin just started to laugh. I wasn't sure whether I should introduce myself or quietly run away, to spare him the embarrassment of me hearing his shrill scream. Before I could make my mind up, Much saw a bit of my dress from the tree I was hiding behind.
In a desperate attempt to stay hidden, I pulled my dress closer to me so it wouldn't be visible. Much's eyebrows closed in confusion, and started to walk towards me. His eyes widened when he looked around the tree and saw me.
"Umm… hello." he stuttered, shocked. "Um…m-my name I-is Much."
"Hi Much, my name is Marian." I smiled at him and he smiled back at me.
"Would you like to play with us Marian?" Much asked, eagerly.
Robin walked over to the two of us, and joined in quickly. "Yes, would you?"
"Of course," I replied, "I would love to!"
Suddenly, I realised that when an adult, like Sir Gregory, said "play" it made me feel childish, but when my new friends offered to "play", it sounded fun and exciting.
The three of us played until the sky was dark, and I decided that my parents would worry me if I wasn't back soon.
"Thank you, both so much for such a great day!" I exclaimed, "But I'm going to have to go now, my parents don't like me being out here in the dark."
"Oh, do you really have to go?" Inquired Much.
"It is a shame for you to leave now, after all, we were having so much fun!" Asked a disappointed Robin.
"I'm sorry, I was having so much fun. How about I meet you both in this exact spot, tomorrow? I asked looking at both of them.
"Yes, that sounds great, meet you here at eleven o'clock?" Robin agreed.
"Yes, eleven is great," I said, not wanting to end the conversation.
"Goodbye Marian, it was lovely meeting you, and I am already looking forward to tomorrow." Robin said, before kissing my hand.
Feeling my cheeks blush, I turned in an attempt hide it. Much hugged me and said goodbye. Walking home after that, my cheeks hurt from grinning, if my parents see me grinning this much, they might ask about it.
But it's really hard to stop smiling about something that makes me so happy. I had a feeling that I would have a lot of fun with Robin and Much. Tomorrow seemed very bright.