The cover for this fic is one of the manips that inspired it, created by the wonderful hopefulfeathers! This chapter contains the prompts dark forest, full moon, victim for Spooky OQ 2019.
Regina woke in an unfamiliar tent, with no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. The material beneath her was softer than her surroundings would suggest. While she could feel that the floor of the tent around her was littered with dirt and twigs, she seemed to be lying on a thin mattress which was made even softer by a warm fleece blanket. How she had gotten there, she didn't know.
Then all at once she remembered the events that had led her here- slipping and falling, losing consciousness… and most of all, the blue-eyed stranger who had likely brought her here.
Inwardly, she chastised herself. How had she been foolish and naive enough to automatically trust the stranger with the voice like velvet who had picked her up after her fall? That instantaneous trust that she had felt when she first saw him was long gone, replaced by practicality (partly due to her mother's voice in her head, she hated to admit) and a desire to know where she was and when she would be returning to the castle.
At the last thought, she stopped short. Did she really want to return to the castle? Returning to the castle meant returning to life under her mother's shadow. And as apprehensive as she was about her current situation, she was relieved to be away from her mother for once in her life.
"Milady?" the same dreamy voice that had assuaged her fears after her fall addressed her.
She turned her head and found the man addressing her. At first glance, he appeared to be older than she, but now that she had the opportunity to reassess his appearance, it seemed that he was her age, no more than a handful of years older. His blue eyes, while sincerely caring, also had a twinkle in them that spoke of childlike mischief, and while she knew that many men were still boys at their core, she found it hard to believe that anyone could have that much mirth in their expression and be older than thirty. "Who are you, where am I, and what are we doing here?" she asked.
He laughed. "You're certainly full of questions now that you're awake. Let me introduce myself. I'm Robin, and we're currently at my camp with my Merry Men. I brought you here to recover from your fall- it seemed that you hit your head quite badly earlier."
"How much earlier?" she asked tentatively. Shoot. Her mother was bound to be worried sick about her. And while Regina knew that her mother was overbearing to the point of being too intrusive, she could almost understand the perspective of her mother in this particular case. The fact that she hadn't been at the castle for hours had to be a constant worry for Cora, who had lost not only a daughter, but one of her biggest stars.
And with that realization came the remainder of her memories from earlier that night. Hearing something in the walls before the start of the show. The crowd's reaction to each of her movements across the stage. And, almost as important as the memories of events that had brought her here, seeing the face of her beloved Daniel in the crowd during the show.
But had it really been Daniel's face? Her glimpse of it had been fleeting, a millisecond amongst thousands of others when she had been worrying about how many steps to take and which move she needed to perform next. She could have easily mistaken someone else for him, especially given the fact that he had been on her mind just before the show started. Maybe it was wishful thinking, hoping that she would see the love of her life on a night that her mother insisted would be one of the most important nights of her life, a night she would never forget.
Regina's attention returned to the masked man before her as he answered, "Not long, milady. Don't worry, if you wish, now that you're better, I can return you to the castle immediately."
Regina hesitated. Did she really want to return to the castle, to life under her mother's tyranny? To buy herself time to answer that question, she asked, "Why do you and- what did you call them, the Merry Men? Why do you live out here?"
"Various reasons," he answered. "Some, like me, are victims of society's cruelties. Others are loyal to our cause."
"And what's that?" she asked.
For the first time since they met, he seemed hesitant to reveal information to her. "I would tell you, milady, but revealing that information would jeopardize our safety. Surely, you can understand that?"
"I do…" she said slowly, fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. "But you can trust me, I promise. If for no other reason, I'm leaving in a few days, so any information you give me will be far out of earshot of any authorities sooner than if I was native to this land."
He shook his head. You'll have to do better than that. If word of our group got to the press, they would be on us within days, and that would affect far more people than you can possibly imagine."
"You can, I won't tell anyone," she laughed, contemplating the brevity of her stay. "If I return to the castle, I'll be gone within days anyway." Despite the fact that they were strangers, she wanted him to confide in her. She knew what it was like to not be able to trust anyone. Even at school, her mother had connections everywhere. She had only had a few friends that she knew she could trust.
He regarded her with a raised brow. "That doesn't really give me a reason to trust you. You'll have to do better than that."
"Says the man who took me from everything I knew," she reminded him dryly. "How can I prove it to you?"
"Well, milady, telling me your name would be a good start- and I think a fair exchange is in order. If you want me to trust you with my darkest secret, you should trust me with yours in return."
She nodded- he had a fair point, she did need to even the playing field. "I'm Regina," she told him, holding out her hand. "And-" Could she really reveal her darkest secret to this stranger? Despite the fact that he had helped her, she didn't know anything about him.
Despite the mask he wore on half of his face, she could see just enough of his mouth to be able to tell that he was smirking. "Not so easy, is it, trusting someone? Everyone has their secrets; perhaps you should allow me to keep mine. Again, revealing the knowledge would affect the lives of countless others, so we really can't afford the risk of exposure."
"That's what you say instead of your name?" she scoffed. "Maybe I shouldn't trust you with my secret after all."
"That's true," he acknowledged as he took her hand. The instant their palms touched, the connection that she had felt between them from the second she heard his voice made itself known as a rapid-fire jolt of electricity shot through her. From his expression, she could tell that he was as dumbfounded as she. He managed to snap himself out of whatever trance they were under first, which gave him a chance to finally introduce himself: "I'm Robin. It's a pleasure to meet you, milady. Now, about that secret..."
"I-" she started, but he held up his hand.
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. I know better than anyone that some secrets are best kept to yourself, and that there's a reason for everything you hide from others. Your secrets are your own until you wish to reveal them."
She nodded. In that moment, a thought occurred to her, so she had to ask: "Wait, when will I be back at the castle?"
He smirked again, making butterflies flutter in her chest. "That, Regina, is entirely up to you. I will warn you though, my men are even less trusting than I am. If you think it'll be hard to earn my trust, you'll have no chance with my men."
The insinuation that she couldn't handle it made her temper flare, and the promise of a challenge sparked a fire in her that she thought had been vanquished by too much time in her mother's company. "We'll see about that," she said. "Try me,"
"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly. "I know we don't know each other, but I feel oddly protective of you. And my men are likely upset that I brought you here, for safety reasons."
Safety reasons? She was just someone he met that he wanted to help, how could her presence be a danger to them? It was a mystery she intended to solve, but for now she would keep her suspicions to herself. "You have nothing to fear from me," she reminded him. "Here today, gone a couple days later, remember?"
He shook his head. "My men won't see it that way. There's too much at stake."
She reached out and covered the hand that was resting on the ground between them with her own. "Let me try."
"And if they do allow you to stay?" he asked. "What then?"
She paused, unsure of the answer. "I don't know. I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it."
Her gaze shifted to his face. He was still wearing the mask that he had worn when she first saw him. The need for trust went both ways- she wanted to know why he wore it, and maybe he would tell her in exchange for knowledge about herself. "Why- why do you wear that mask? Is it just because you didn't want me to see your face, or… something else?"
"A little bit of both," he admitted. She longed to ask more, to hear more of his story, but his tone was terse. He wasn't going to reveal any more of his story to her without some coaxing.
"Okay," she responded quietly. "Just know that if you ever do want to tell me, your secrets are safe with me."
He laughed bitterly. "If my secrets are truly safe with you, then you would have shared some of your own by now to earn my trust. So maybe later, after I know more about you- but not now. That's not knowledge I share with just anyone."
Her first thought at hearing his words was that it would be ideal if later was now- but she also understood being guarded. She had certainly had enough experience with people betraying her- what happened with Daniel had shown her that few people could be trusted.
The reminder of her first and only love took her away from the moment and reminded her of who she was. She had just sworn she had seen Daniel's face in the crowd; maybe Robin had seen it too? She was hesitant to ask though; to ask him would get her hopes up, only to bring them crashing down. Besides, what would he be doing here? How would he have gotten here from the States? These were all questions that she didn't want to contemplate without knowing for sure that he was alive and standing before her.
And thoughts of Daniel called into question Robin's place in her life. The connection she had automatically felt and the fact that a very small part of her wanted to explore it said that something was starting to build between them that it was crazy for her to feel, partly due to the brevity of their friendship and partly due to Daniel. She loved him, always had, and one conversation with a stranger wasn't going to make her love disintegrate.
The sound of raucous laughter outside the tent brought her back to the present and the challenge he had unknowingly given her. "I… think I'd like to meet your men, and make any decisions I'll have to make once I've determined their reactions to my presence," she finally told him. "After all, I can't stay with you if they don't allow it."
"All right. Just know that whatever they say, the choice to stay or leave is all yours. Allow me," he said, reaching behind him to open the tent flap and gesturing for her to exit.
She paused, staring at him incredulously. "You're not going to talk to them first?"
"They're reasonable men; no matter what they think, they won't harm you. And if they have a problem with you, they'll likely discuss it with me away from your presence. Now come on, they won't bite."
Regina exited the tent, and she heard the flap rustle as Robin followed her, just as he had promised. Although there was a fire burning brightly in the center of a ring of tents, the entire glade was lit by the light of the full moon above them. Looking at the thick trunks of the trees surrounding them and how close each tree was to its neighbors, she knew the forest would be pitch black if she dared to venture beyond the clearing.
She glanced at Robin, who was standing just behind her. "Aren't you ever afraid that someone will see the fire? You've been secretive enough with me that I'm sure you all don't want to be seen."
He shook his head, but before he could speak, one of the men surrounding the fire, a thin teen with short hair, answered her, "Not that it's any of your business, but no one ever comes camping or hiking in this forest. And even if they did, few venture this far into its depths, so we're safe. Or at least, we were until that chivalrous fool behind you decided to be the hero and bring a spoiled brat like you into our midst."
His frankness astounded her. Regardless of how she came into their lives, it was always best to be kind to people. She had learned early in life that knowing someone's history was the only way to truly know them. These men knew nothing about her, and therefore, had no right to speak to her that way. Yes, she hadn't ever lived in a forest, but her life had had its own difficulties, and for these men to assume that her life had no hardships was ignorant.
Apparently, Robin agreed, because he burst out angrily, "Will, stop. You don't know her-"
"Neither do you!" the teen- Will- retorted. "If we let her go, how do we know that she won't go straight to the police and give them our whereabouts? If the company she works for has enough connections to perform at the castle-"
"ENOUGH!" Robin shouted. He turned to her. "Do you mind waiting in the tent while we sort things out?"
"Of course not, take your time," she answered. As she passed by him, their hands touched, and feeling that inexplicable spark, she knew that no matter what happened, everything would be all right.
As soon as Regina closed the tent behind her, Robin turned to his men. "Gentlemen, I'm ashamed to call you friends. Can't you recognize a damsel in distress when you see one?"
"Damsel in distress?" Will scoffed. "Robin, you took her right from the stage. She wasn't in distress, she fell and you took her to, what? Nurse her back to health? She seems fine to me, we should blindfold her, take her back where she came from, and pray she doesn't reveal anything about us. Because from what I overheard, she knows far too much. It won't take her long to figure out the rest."
Robin groaned. Of course Will had heard everything. He was positioned closest to Robin's tent, which gave him a perfect vantage point from which to overhear his leader's conversation with Regina. "Will, you don't know her-"
"Neither do you!" Will pointed out.
"Enough!" the alto voice of one of the only female members of their group interrupted them. Emma came up to them, blonde ponytail swaying as she marched up to stand between them. "You're both right. Yes, she's a stranger, but she deserves a fair chance."
"Emma, are you sure?" the ever distrusting Lily, Emma's opposite in every way, asked her. "If she betrays us, it'll blow up in our faces. We won't be safe anywhere, it took long enough to find this hideout as it is."
Green eyes met blue, and Robin knew from Emma's expression that she would be on his side throughout this endeavor. She nodded firmly. "Of course. We'll just make sure to keep an eye on her, that's all."
"I'll agree to that as long as Robin's not one of the ones trusted to watch her," Will requested. "He already has a soft spot for her, he'd let her do anything, run off into the night and lead the police to us, for all we know."
"Well, seeing as she's in my tent, I'll be one of the ones with her by default," Robin pointed out. "But if it will truly make everyone feel more comfortable, I am not opposed to another watchman. However, if she wishes to leave, she is free to do so. We have allies throughout the country, if anything amiss should happen, we'll be all right. And you know how these dance companies are; they come and go, and hers is no exception. She said she was going to be leaving in a few days."
Will's face went red, and he saw the dissension in other faces around the campfire as well. "And that's another thing! What were you thinking, taking someone just because she fell, when there's bound to be someone looking for her? What are we supposed to do if they find her here? You'll put all of us in jeopardy."
Robin held up his hand. "All right, all right, I understand. Just- let me see what she decides to do, and we'll proceed from there, all right? I won't hold her here against her will, that's against our code."
"That sounds reasonable," John agreed. His gaze swept over the circle around the fire, lingering on Will. "And anyone who has a problem with that can take it up with me."
Robin smiled gratefully at his best friend, then turned and entered his tent. Regina was sitting on the mattress, elbow on her knee and chin in her palm. Clearly, she had been listening to the whole exchange.
"So what do you think?" he inquired. "What do you want to do? The choice is entirely yours to make."
She bit her lip, and Robin felt an indescribable urge to know what those lips tasted like. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes, and he waited with bated breath to learn what her decision would be.
He learned her response once he heard her next words: "They don't scare me, I'm not as weak as that. But I have some things I need to take care of. Do you think I could… go sort things out, then come back?"
His hand reached out of its own accord, and he squeezed her shoulder. "As you wish, milady."
He just hoped that once she left, she'd want to come back. He didn't know what was brewing between them, but he knew that if he didn't explore it, he would regret it for the rest of his life.