N/A: In this chapter we will get to know more about John Little and his gang, and more will be revealed of the plot, since that didn't really happen last time. I'm really sorry I left you guys hanging for so long. But my exams have turned out great and I needed my Christmas break to recuperate from the eventful first semester of fourth year the load of work they give us has very much increased. Thank you so much to the people who have reviewed thus far, and no, Robin's no kin to Will Scarlet.


Chapter five: Outlaws

'It's a bloody lass!'

It was yet again the annoying singer who spoke. It seemed that he usually voiced what the others thought, since they were all staring at her the exact same way. Now the man had stated the obvious, no one really knew what to say. Robin was trying to cover up her uneasiness by tugging her sopping clothes from her body, meaning that they were now stretched and mangled beyond recognition. Still the men kept silent. Then she couldn't take it anymore, feeling colder by the second.

'Well,' she started, hesitating, 'I guess I don't have to give you my medallion anymore, do I? I mean, you did yield to me…'

She looked at them, still fingering her clothes nervously. Apparently, some of the group found this scene very funny, because sounds of laughter were erupting everywhere. Obviously, Robin's remark about beating their leader had broken the ice. Of course it was a funny sight: A very tall, broad man beaten by a much smaller girl, both soaking wet and freezing cold at the moment.

When the laughter subsided, John and Robin had an identical pair of grins plastered on their faces. John then motioned for her to follow him and said:

'We'll be discussin' that at our camp. Don't worry about yer horse, she'll be taken care of. And I think we need the same thing.' Robin nodded in reply, and moved to follow him.

Robin made sure she kept up her pace, wanting to avoid walking in the midst of the men. Yet, she had a lot of questions, and sped up to walk next to John, who was walking several feet in front of the group. The seven-foot-tall man took gigantic strides, and Robin, with her meager 5'7", almost had to jog to keep up with him.

'Your camp?' Robin blurted out, 'you mean you live here? Or are you just traveling through the Forest?'

John shook his head, but kept looking straight forward.

'We live here.'

'Why?' Robin asked again, her eyes quickly shifting between the man's face and the path she was supposed to walk. She noticed John's face harden, and almost gave up when he answered.

'Look, we still have a bit o' travelin' to do, and yer gonna need yer breath. Don't go wastin' it on a conversation we can have at the camp. We're not gonna slow down just for you.'

He glanced at her sideways, and took away the seriousness from his words with a smirk. He then gave her a pat on the shoulder, and almost sent her tumbling into the surrounding trees.


The blue sky was turning purple when the group finally arrived at the camp. They had been traveling for almost three hours, going on and off the path until Robin wasn't quite sure anymore where they were heading, where they were or even where they came from. They had even stumbled on the main road through the Forest once, but it would have been foolish to stay there so the group left it again soon. John hadn't said too much with his remark about needing her breath, because even though she had walked this long before, she wasn't used to this speed nor to the uneven forest ground with its plants and roots to look out for. Naturally, Robin was glad to have finally reached their destination.

The camp was actually nothing more than a clearing in the Forest, where the surrounding trees were not as closely planted as in other areas. In the middle of the clearing was a fireplace, currently not more than a circle of rocks and a pile of ash. Scattered around it lay a couple of bags and cloaks, while the man supposed to be guarding them was sound asleep under one of the makeshift shelters made at the base of the nearest trees.

While everyone was making themselves comfortable, John spotted the sleeping guard and crept over to him. This actually wasn't necessary, since he didn't even wake up from the racket Pilgrim created stepping onto dry twigs and leaves. John gently shook him awake.

'Notch…' The man didn't react.

'Notch…'

'…'

'NOTCH!'

'OH SWEET MOTHER O- hey John! You back already? I was just takin' a small break, nothin' big. I-'

'Nothin' big! You were asleep as a bear in winter! What were ya gonna do if they'd come to steal our stuff? Snore at 'em!'

The startled man tried to look offended.

'I'll have you know I watched those bloody packs for over three days! Can I help it that I need a lot o' sleep?' Notch scrambled to his feet, shaking the dirt from his clothes.

'I really hope you brought home somethin'. I'm starvin'.' He looked around eagerly, scanning the group for any sign of food.

John, already forgetting he was supposed to be angry with Notch, slapped him on the shoulder.

'We brought somethin' alright. Not really what ye were hopin' for, but it's somethin'. We're all beat, so the sooner you get a fire goin', the sooner you'll know what we did the past three days.'

Knowing he couldn't get John to say more, Notch made his way to the fireplace, careful not to step on his tired friends lying everywhere. Despite the trees surrounding the campsite, there was quite a firm wind blowing. As Notch wasn't exceptionally skilled in fire-making, he needed all his concentration to get a proper one started. Thus, he didn't notice the unknown girl rubbing her sore feet a little further away.

By the time Notch had made a decent fire, John and a couple of others had gathered and prepared all the food that was left and everybody joined around the fire. The sky was turning ever more purple it was getting colder. When everyone was sitting comfortably, John looked at Notch and began to speak.

'Notch, I told ye we'd brought somethin' with us, well, rather someone. I'd like ye to meet Lady Robin of Locksley.' He gestured at Robin.

Notch looked back and forth between John and Robin, absolutely flabbergasted. At his lack of reply, Robin felt uneasiness take over her.

'Well,' she started, 'nice to meet you, Notch, and please just call me Robin.' She looked around at the others. 'All of you.'

Again she was met by silence. In a last attempt to start a conversation, she hopefully looked at John.

'So, you said you'd tell me why you lived here. This can't possibly me more comfortable than your homes.'

John sighed. 'Ye'r right. I'll tell ye. Ever since King Richard left on that damned crusade of his, Prince John's been starvin' us. Slowly, but starvin' nonetheless. He's too much of a coward to face the consequences o' what he does, so he lets his pet, the Sheriff of Nottingham, do it for him. For three years he's been suckin' us dry, and a few months ago we couldn't take it anymore. So we started poachin'. But because o' that nasty son of a- sorry, evil man, poachin' is rewarded the death penalty. We didn't feel like dyin', so we hid here. Now we've all got prizes on our heads.'

Anger began to stir inside Robin when John concluded his story. Anger and guilt. Why hadn't she known George was doing this? Had she been so absorbed in her own petty issues? But she didn't voice her guilt. Instead, she pointed out something else.

'But what about your families? Now that their husbands, fathers and brothers are gone, who will care for them? Have you thought of that?'

This enraged John. 'Don't you think we've thought about tha'! What would ya have us do? We're not a great help to them either when we get hanged on Nottingham square!'

He had started pacing around angrily while the others looked at her resentfully.

'You could always fight back…' Robin murmured, tossing the pebble she'd been playing with in the fire. There was a brief silence, and John's anger subsided just as fast as it had erupted. He sat down again and looked at her in earnest.

'Of course we've considered that, but it'd be suicide. We're all good lads, but we're farmers. We're no match for Nottingham's well-trained soldiers. No, we're better of in hiding. We give what we find and can spare to our families. There's nothin' else we can do. Here we're safe. Look around you. This is all we common folk can wish for. Here, we are kings.' With these as his final words he moved his arm as if to reveal to her the trees, the stars and the moon.

Again there was a silence, and Robin was lost in thought for a while. The men had started talking amongst themselves, passing leather beer bags around. Their mood was growing a little more cheerful and relaxed. Suddenly Robin said to John in a clear voice:

'I would really appreciate it if I could stay here with you for a while. My situation is the same as yours and unfortunately I have nowhere else to go. I am an outlaw, just like you.'

Before John could even reply, a young man stood up. Robin recognized him as the one who had sung the song when she had tripped over the rope.

'You are nothin like us!' He spat at her, pushing angrily past everyone and heading towards the shelter farthest away from the fire.

Astonished, Robin looked at his angry, retreating back. The nice, calm atmosphere had disappeared. She looked at John questioningly. He merely shrugged.

'That there's Will Scarlet.' He said, jerking his head in the direction the man had left. 'Don't mind 'im, he's got an issue with the nobles. It's nothin' personal. Of course you can stay with us. You can sleep by the fire tonight and we'll make ya a shelter in the mornin'. Don't worry about anythin', I'll watch out for ya.' John smiled reassuringly and stood up.

'I don't know about you people, but I'm goin' to bed. See y'all tomorrow.' He nodded at everyone and went to his shelter. Not long afterwards the rest had gone as well, leaving Robin alone next to the dying fire. Some of them had wished her goodnight. Robin made herself comfortable, making sure every inch of her body was covered with the cloak John had given her. She was very thankful for the dry clothes she had received, quite a number of the men had contributed. She was happy she had met these men, because now she wasn't alone anymore. But the sleep wouldn't come. She thought about everything she had heard tonight, and found there had to be a way to make things better for these men and their families. Because even though she knew she shouldn't, she felt guilty. Guilty that she had not once considered the difficulties commoners had to endure, and that these difficulties made her own troubles seem trivial. She vowed she would do everything in her power to help them.

As she had now found a way to ease her guilt, she soon fell asleep. Entirely unaware of a pair of eyes glaring at her from the dark.


N/A: Sooo, what do you think? People who have seen the film will have noticed that I follow the basic lines of the story, sometimes even directly quoting a sentence here and there. But I assure you that the deeper thoughts of the people will be different, and entirely from my imagination.

Well, what do you think of the interaction between the group and Robin? Realistic or not? And what about Will? Believable? Please let me know with a review!