Lady Robin Hood

By Kuroi Koneko

As always, special thanx go out to: Kiwi, starfury3000 (no, I don't plan on killing of the others' parents, I have a different idea in mind to get the others "out", but thanx for voicing your opinion it means a lot! =) ), carlto, The Firefaery (thanx for the compliment!), JLSCORPIO78, Tammi, Samantha, curli, and Cosmic Sailor Sun for reviewing!! I absolutely LOVE reading your reviews. Not to mention some of you have really great stories!

Would you believe, I have not yet read even one review that said anything bad about my story?! I swear I'm in shock or something, I would have thought one person wouldn't have liked it (but I'm not complaining!!! ;) ).

I truly can't believe I'm doing this, but consider this as your holiday/winter/Christmas/whatever present. Now all of you know what I want, right? No? Well, I would like to have some reviews for my other two stories, as well as this one of course. Pretty please?? It's not hard, just click the little button that says 'Click to Submit Review' on the bottom of the screen and type in a few little words. Now do that for the other two stories I have (From Forgotten Legends and Chasing the Moon - which is another SM story I think you will all like). See? Not hard.

For everyone who reads my author notes, I give a big extra special thank you to all of you. I'd give you actually gifts, but I can't seem to get them through this dratted box if front of me. Oh well. Sorry. (That was a joke people. silence Oy, no one gets my humor, I blame it on my mother.)

Well, here it is, my holiday gift to all of my wonderful readers!!

Happy Holidays everyone, and Happy New Year!!!


Chapter Five

After the nine women had gathered everything that Mina and Serena could use from the house they all set out towards the woods. As children they had all played frequently in Sherwood Forest, the woods surrounding the town of Nottingham (duh! Stupid me.) They were all grateful for this past experience now since they knew all of the forest's nooks, crannies, quirks, and perks. They probably knew the forest even better than the men who were constantly hunting there!

The nine of them walked a path not marked on the ground in any way, though the path seemed etched in the feet of all of them. They twisted and turned, seemed to circle back to the beginning only to wonder in yet another direction. They traveled deeper and deeper into the maze made up of leafless trees. The wind whistled and howled through the bare branches, the air turning colder with every passing blow, but still they wandered deeper. Just when it seemed as though they were going to reach the other side of the forest and forever leave Nottingham they stopped at a very large and ancient looking tree. It was apparent that they must truly be in the heart of Sherwood Forest, a place that no one had ever reportedly been to before. So how did the girls seem to know this place better than their own faces? The answer came soon enough.

"Wow," Lita whispered, "it's been ages since I was last here. It looks just as I remember it, if a bit more bare."

"Yeah, but in some way, it feels like we're coming home. Strange isn't it?" Serena asked softly, her voice tinted with slight confusion.

All the girls silently nodded their heads, sound seeming improper in this place. Each girl contemplated the old tree in front of them, unconsciously forming a circle around it as they remembered how they all first met - here, in this very spot.


"Sheriff!! Sheriff Diamond!" a redheaded man cried. His clothes were splattered with dried mud and covered in dark red stains. His blood red eyes held a darkness to them that made a person shiver when delving too deeply. He turned those eyes to the man he was addressing now, their dark depths filled with a combination of gleeful malice and fear. "Sheriff, sir, your scouts have returned and - "

"They've returned? Excellent! I look forward to finding the whereabouts of my dear little Serena," the other man replied. His eyes darkened to a deeper blue at the thought of Serena, his mind clouded with thoughts of lust. His white hair sparkled in the moonlight, it's bright gleam and his darkened eyes creating a startling - and somewhat frightening - contrast. He flicked a few falling strands away from his face impatiently as he waited for the redhead to continue his report. He absently noted that Rubeus, the redhead, seemed afraid. Good, Diamond thought maliciously. The more scared they are, the easier it is to get them to do my dirty work for me.

"Well, sir, you see . . ." Rubeus stuttered. "Um . . you see . . the scouts . . . they . . . um . . they . . . 't . . . .fi . . .ls . . . " Rubeus mumbled the last few words making them indistinguishable as he dropped his head and his voice.

"Excuse me? Would you mind repeating that?" Diamond asked in a sickly sweet and far too patient voice.

"Um . . the scouts . . . can't . . . find her," Rubeus let out in a final rush. He glanced up at Diamond's face before quickly dropping it again after seeing the look of disbelief followed by anger to outrage pass over it.

Diamond was far beyond angry, even outrage. He was so mad he was irrationally furious, which made him very unstable, unpredictable, and very, very dangerous. And Rubeus was the closest fury outlet. Before he even knew what hit him - literally - Rubeus found himself falling to the ground with the world spinning, the breath knocked out of him. Then his brain kicked in. His body senses were overloaded with pain as Diamond repeatedly, incessantly, and unremorsefully beat upon Rubeus.

Even after Rubeus had fallen unconscious after a few too many blows to the head (no he's not dead) Diamond still didn't let up his assault. He continued to pound the hapless Rubeus until the dawning sun began to announce it's coming arrival with hints of gray along the horizon. Diamond had either finally grown tired of his occupation or he had just not wanted to be found beating up his own right hand man. Whatever his reason, at the sign of dawn Diamond stopped and left to return to the tavern that served as his current place of residence, leaving Rubeus's bloody, beaten, and unconscious form in the middle of the walkway to be found by anyone.

As Diamond stalked towards the nearest tavern his insidious mind began to form plans on how to obtain Serena. Soon, he thought, soon you will be mine, Serena. You cannot hide or run forever, and you will slip up sooner or later. After all, you're only female. As plans formulated in his mind a smirk crept along his lips, pulling the corners up into a twisted and nightmare-inducing smile. Had anyone been around to see his expression, they would have sworn on anything that he looked possessed by the Devil himself - and loved every minute of it.