On this day, Gisburne was at last grateful not to have accumulated so many possessions, for only this made it possible for him to leave the castle so quickly. To get his few possessions out of here, he needed nothing more than his spare horse, which had to serve for the transport, although the beast seemed to consider this beneath its dignity. At least, its stubborn behavior could be interpreted in this manner, but the knight knew it was really only due to the fact that it was used to carrying a rider on its back and not something that was stiff and inflexible. Quite obviously, the beast was irritated by this and thus gave the impression that it resented the knight being abused as a pack mule.

"Well, that was a lot faster than I would have guessed in advance," his companion noted after he had caught up with him.

Gisburne looked at the other one assessing, as if he had to first think about what to answer to him. "You don't have to come with me, after all, you weren't dismissed by the Sheriff," he told him.

The other one laughed. "He can't dismiss me too, since I've never been in his service. Besides, I have no intention of abandoning you at this time. I'm sure you need me more now than ever before."

Gisburne felt relief rising up within him. In fact, it would have been very hard for him to have to part with the man.

"I'm glad to know you will remain by my side," he confirmed to his companion, although he felt odd about such a statement. He was simply not used to having someone at his side whom he no longer wanted to miss.

"Do you want to go straight to Huntingdon?" the other one wanted to know from him now.

The knight nodded as he considered this to be quite sensible.

The other one, however, did not seem to approve of this answer. "There's another place you have to go first!" he then told him in an insistent tone.

Gisburne frowned, for the other man had never spoken to him in this manner. Moreover, he had no idea what his companion might be talking about.

"Trust me!" the other one, however, was already answering the question he had not yet been able to express. "I will show you the way and once you get there, you will realize why it is so important that I lead you to it. Right now."

Although he had a hard time not being able to comply with his companion's request, Gisburne shook his head. "I shall feel more at ease once I have arrived at the Earl's, so I should set off for Huntingdon as soon as possible. As long as I stay here close to Nottingham, I feel quite vulnerable. I'm also anxious to avoid the Sheriff catching on too soon to what's going on." Would his words be sufficient to make the other understand that he could not follow him in this case?

"Have I ever led you astray?" his companion directly posed him a counter question, however. "Believe me, you'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't follow me." Although he had spoken these words in a rather stern tone, he was now suddenly grinning at him. "Besides, you still have time."

Gisburne could not deny that his companion had indeed never failed him. Perhaps he should take the time and follow his suggestion after all. In the end, he had no need to hurry like that, for he had escaped from the Sheriff much more quickly than he had assumed beforehand.

Before he could change his mind he gave his consent to the other one with a nod, whereupon the latter wasted no time and immediately took the lead.

The two men followed the road north out of Nottingham and after a short time found themselves in the forest. The knight kept close to his companion's side as he was now beneath the trees of Sherwood. It was not long, however, before he realized that this time he had no sense that he was in for any harm here. He had almost forgotten what that felt like.

"Are you going to tell me where we are headed?" he attempted to find out from his companion, which only made the other chuckle before shaking his head. Gisburne sighed softly, but he realized that he would follow the other one regardless, for he owed him quite a bit. The man had indeed done a lot for him.

They followed the road without any real hurry, until Gisburne's companion picked his way between the trees at a point which, for the knight, was no different from other similar spots here in the forest. Here, too, he took the lead without so much as a moment's hesitation, and Sir Guy could once again observe that the other man seemed to have no trouble finding his way around Sherwood. Apparently, he always knew exactly where he was and by what route he could get to his destination. Without him, Gisburne would be hopelessly lost, for he had never managed to find his way in the forest, even though he had been here so many times. Then on the next occasion, it was once again as if he had never been here before. Although he had the impression that this had improved somewhat in recent months, he would never have ventured into the heart of Sherwood on his own. Again, he was very grateful for the continued support from his companion.

All of a sudden they emerged from beneath the trees and now found themselves on an open grassy expanse. Gisburne noticed that it was adjacent to the shore of a lake. As he let his gaze wander over the water, he became aware that mist had gathered in some spots, preventing him from making out the opposite shore. As odd as he found this, he could not deny that the view gave him a sense of peace that he had not felt in many years. Without giving it any more thought, he stopped to admire the beauty of the place. He could hardly believe that he could sense no threat here at all, as for years Sherwood had only ever struck him with dread. He had certainly not assumed that such a place would exist in this forest.

"It's nice here, isn't it?" his companion's whisper reached him. "This here is Darkmere," he added then. "It's not far now to our destination."

Guy broke away from the sight of the lake with a heavy heart and followed the other one along its shore, but he could not stop himself from looking repeatedly towards the water, over which the mist was expanding ever further. In the meantime, the mist had already spread to the shore, which resulted in the fact that the path could no longer be made out clearly. And thus, the knight also had problems to spot his companion.

"Don't worry," the voice of the other man rang out from further ahead, "you can't miss the destination now." His voice trailed off. "We'll see again in a moment, my Friend."

At that very instant, Gisburne notices that there was no longer any sign of his companion, which almost made him stop, but then he reasoned that since he had already come this far, he should now cover the rest of the way. Even if he could barely make out anything of the path anymore. He therefore dismounted as a precaution, for he did not trust the ground so close to the lake. Before risking any injury to his stallion, he preferred to lead him by the reins. Before he moved on, he attached the spare horse, which had been downgraded to a pack mule, with a rope to Fury's halter. He was sure that the beast would follow the stallion without any problems, wanting to stay close to the only herd member that had remained. In the meantime, the mist had become so thick that the knight was already having trouble making out his own feet, let alone the tracks his companion must have left behind.

From the direction in which he was moving, a light suddenly emerged, slowly approaching him. He quickly realized that it must be a torch carried by a person. Had his companion managed to get so far ahead of him that he now had to come back? Or was he going to have the misfortune of running into one of the outlaws? As a precaution, he stopped, even though he knew he could not avoid an encounter. There was no way for him to hide here, and he would not be able to use the mist to conceal himself. After all, this was Sherwood and here Robin Hood and his gang were supported even by nature and weather.

When this person had approached him so far that he could finally not only see him properly, but also recognize him, he was again taken by surprise, of which he did not know whether he should perceive it as uncomfortable or perhaps not in this manner. The person was not his companion - which gave him an unexpected stab of disappointment - but also not one of the outlaws, which relieved him a lot. However, he had by no means expected to meet this man of all people. He was not sure, however, if he could call the other one a man, for the serfs in the villages called him a woodland deity and Robin Hood referred to himself as his son. For many years Guy had refused to believe that he had special powers, but after he had experienced them first hand, he was no longer able to deny them. Just as he could not refuse to admit that Herne scared him, which - in all likelihood - was mainly a result of not understanding his powers.

Involuntarily, the knight had stopped as soon as he realized who was approaching him with the torch. All at once, he was no longer certain that he wanted to continue on this path, even though his friend had asked him to do so. In the last few days he had had to experience enough changes to feel an urgent desire not to have to deal with this man now as well. But at the same time, he was aware that he had no choice. He was in the midst of the forest, all alone - for there was no longer any sign of his companion, his guide - and on his own he would not be able to make his way out of here. With a shudder he recalled the one time he had attempted to do so. To this day, he did not know how he had managed to escape the trees, but he was not eager to repeat the experience.

"Come!" Herne beckoned him on. And then he uttered some words that the knight had in no way expected to hear from his lips. "The destination is very near now."

Guy could not stop himself from looking around, convinced that one of the outlaws must be behind him, to whom the man in front of him - whose head was adorned with antlers - had been talking. To his great astonishment, however, he realized that there was no one there, and at that moment he grasped that Herne had indeed meant him. This astonished him all the more as he could not remember any occasion on which he had ever spoken to him previously.

"Come!" repeated Herne, and Guy finally forced himself to start moving as he did not feel he had the choice to disobey this request.

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"Ye want 'im to just walk around 'ere?" huffed Will. He obviously could not understand why Robin had not stopped the knight. He knew that Gisburne had had a part in freeing Robin, but that did not give him - in his opinion - the right to stay here in the woods. And then here at Darkmere, of all places. He - the hardened soldier - regarded this place as something special - even if he would never admit this to anyone - and he had the distinct impression that Gisburne's presence would defile it. Having to admit something like that would be enough to make him mad, without the knight having to get in his way in person.

"'ow did 'e find 'is way 'ere?" he demanded to know, not looking at any of his friends. "'e must 'ave 'ad a guide!" Now the looks with which he eyed the rest of them were quite challenging, as if he wanted to force one of them to make a confession.

"Do ye really think one of us would have shown him the way?" John exclaimed, glaring in his turn at Will angrily.

"Do I know it?" retorted the former soldier. "Is 'e with us now, after Robin's rescue, an' no one 'as told me?"

"Will!" admonished Tuck. "This has gone too far."

"Yeah?" Will Scarlet looked over at their leader, who had not commented on these words until now. "Is't why Robin's been actin' so odd the last days?"

The leader of the outlaws did not react to Will's statement, even though he did not like the fact that the latter had come so close to the truth. Robin Hood had not accepted the knight into the band of outlaws, but soon he would become officially part of his family, and it felt the same. And he had not yet brought himself to inform his friends about this change. To be honest, he had not expected Gisburne to reappear in the woods so soon. He had hoped to have more time before he had to bring up the subject with his friends.

He was well aware, however, that he could not remain silent at this point. "You saw that Herne met him, Will. That means we don't have to worry about it ourselves anymore. Herne probably made sure he found his way here, too," Robin tried to reassure his friend.

"What does 'erne want with Gisburne?" There was no way Will was willing to give up so quickly, but for now that only caused the rest of the outlaws to sigh because of his stubbornness. And not for the first time.

"If he deems that we need to know, he will let us know." Sometimes Robin found it very trying to deal with Will's contradictory nature. "Come, let us return to the camp. Herne will surely see to it that Gisburne doesn't wander around the woods unattended. Besides, I have something important to tell you." He was already dreading the reaction of his friends and was sure he knew exactly what he would get to hear from Will.

All the way to their camp Will grumbled quietly to himself, but he refrained from protesting loudly anymore after finding out that none of his friends supported him, not even Much, who hated Gisburne for killing his father.

For Robin's liking, they had reached the camp much too quickly, but he was aware that he could not back out now, after he had already announced to his friends that he had something to tell them. However, he had done this quite deliberately and mainly for the reason, that he did not pull out at the last moment. He was quite uncomfortable with the topic, but still the rest had to hear this from him before his father made it public.

And yet he then bought himself a respite, wanting to know one more detail before revealing himself to his friends. "You haven't told me how Gisburne came to be searching for me," he wanted to know from the rest of them as soon as they had settled back into camp.

"Ye was gonna say somethin', weren't ye?" however Will went on the counterattack, giving his friend the impression that this was a topic he did not want to talk about just yet.

"So will I," Robin tried to placate him once again, "but don't you think I have a right to know why I was saved by Gisburne, of all people."

Tuck sighed. "You won't believe us anyway, Robin." He looked at the younger man with a pleading look, but the latter made no move to back away from his question.

"It was Gisburne's suggestion," the monk finally went on.

"Gisburne's suggestion?" repeated Robin Tuck's words.

The monk sighed once again. "He didn't want the Sheriff to know what he had done on that day. Most of all, he didn't want de Rainault to know what he had said."

Robin frowned, not understanding what Tuck meant by "that day". But then it suddenly occurred to him that he could only be referring to the anniversary of the first Robin Hood's death. This was a day he had always kept to himself so that his friends could mourn Robin of Loxley unhindered. He had also never before asked them what they used to do on that day, and the rest of them had never said anything about it of their own accord.

"What did he do that he didn't want the Sheriff to know about?" Robin attempted to return to his question.

"You never asked us what we did on that day and we refrained from telling you about it," Tuck began again, unaware that Robin had just been pondering that aspect. "That's why you never knew that every year on that very day we saw Gisburne right where Robin died."

"Gisburne?" The leader of the outlaws shook his head in bewilderment. He certainly had not expected to hear such a thing. "What was he doing there?"

"Ye won't believe it," John let himself be heard.

When Robin looked at him questioningly, he quickly carried on. "He got drunk."

"He what?" Robin could indeed not believe this. "He got drunk that very day at the scene of Loxley's death? And you guys let him?"

"He didn't do anythin' else an' we weren't in the mood for a fight that day. We let him. After a few hours he always disappeared. We forgot about it 'til the next time," John explained.

"And this year?" Robin inquired.

"This year Will wouldn't leave him alone," Tuck now took over the narration once again. "So, we went to him. Only to discover that this time he was drunk to the gills. He was no longer able to stand on his own two feet. And the stuff he had downed would have knocked even Will out."

"So, you took him with you, did I understand that right? But if he was that drunk, he probably didn't say anything more." Robin still did not understand why this would have led the knight to go in search of him.

Will snorted. "That's what we thought. We tied 'im to a tree, which 'elped 'im not to fall down. Then 'e started talkin' again."

"Ye won't believe it," John continued, and Robin thought he had heard those words too many times already. "He got into it with Will, about Robin's death. Will said he was dead an' Gisburne said he wasn't. Gisburne said Robin could not die as the Son of Herne."

Robin could only shake his head once again when listening to John's words.

Tuck took over the talking once again. "And then Gisburne started asking the question of why Robin wasn't there that day, like he would run into him any other day. He then went on to tell us that he needed him and he just wasn't around. The way he talked, everyone would have gotten the impression that Robin and he were best friends. It was really creepy. You can probably imagine that we were all glad when he finally fell asleep."

The monk paused only briefly before continuing. "The next morning, Nasir and Will went in search of you since you had not returned to us by then. By the time they showed up at camp with the grim news of your disappearance, Gisburne was awake again as well. Of course, we put him right on the spot, but he claimed to know nothing. Naturally we didn't buy it, at least not at first, but then he told us about fitz Edgar and that the latter was apparently the Sheriff's new favorite. Little by little, we really came to believe he was telling us the truth."

John suddenly had to laugh, but he obviously did not want to talk about that episode, so it just stuck back to Tuck. "Then it turned out that, to everyone's amazement, he could still remember everything that had happened the day before. He was more than just uncomfortable with that. Believe me, there was no way he wanted the Sheriff to know what he had said. We quickly realized that, but none of us expected him to suggest that he would search Nottingham Castle for you. In return, he wanted our word that we would not tell anyone what he had done. But we also got the impression that his suggestion was influenced by the fact that the Sheriff hadn't taken him into his confidence for some time."

"That's how it was," John confirmed, and everyone else nodded in affirmation.

"If someone else had told me that, I would indeed not have believed it," was all Robin could say at that moment to what he had just learned, but then he had to laugh too as he tried to imagine what had transpired.

He quickly turned serious again, however. "I completely overlooked the fact that Gisburne has already been acting differently for several months than he used to previously. He has ignored us and dealt only with the various outlaws who had taken shelter in Sherwood. The ones we would have hunted ourselves."

"That's not right," Will - of course - contradicted him. "'e's been after us three times."

"That's true," Robin admitted. "But in all three cases he called off the pursuit very early. And you may recall that we learned afterwards that in all of those cases he was acting on the express orders of the Sheriff."

John nodded. "I forgot, too. Do ye think that's why de Rainault went lookin' for another helper an' wanted to get rid of Gisburne?"

"Maybe," Robin reflected. "But really, it doesn't matter. All I really wanted was to understand why he, of all people, got me out of the dungeon."

"Well, that's settled," Will declared. "Now ye can tell us why ye ran us into camp, an' why Gisburne is out there alone."

"Yeah," Robin began, "you probably won't believe me either. I've been racking my brains for days trying to figure out the best way to tell you, but I'm afraid there's no easy way."

He looked at his friends one after the other, all of whom stared at him, quite startled by his words. All except Nasir, who already knew the truth, but so far had said nothing, since it was not up to him to tell this tale. Besides, he was convinced that Robin would not shirk from it. Therefore, he had expected that he had nothing else to do than to wait. Obviously he had been right, because this moment had come now.

"Gisburne is my father's eldest son."

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Guy could absolutely not figure out for what reason he found himself here at the lake, yet he had followed Herne. He had even left his horses behind on the shore and had joined the other man in a small boat. He had not objected to taking the pole and bringing him and Herne across the lake. Eventually they reached a flat, rocky ledge, onto which he then pulled the boat up. It had not even needed the instruction of this alleged woodland deity, for he had in no case intended to swim back. In case he would get out of this situation alive. Then, however, he would have to say something to his friend about having been led by him into the forest on that day.

"You have nothing to be afraid of here," Herne made himself heard, as if following his thoughts.

Guy was not sure if the other person expected an answer from him, but he had no idea either what he should have said. Therefore, he preferred to remain silent.

This, however, did not seem to bother the other man. "What you are looking for you will find in the inner part of the cave.

With these words he had once again managed to confuse Guy, and this time fully, for the knight had not assumed there was anything for him to find here.

"I'm not looking for anything," he therefore told the old man.

"Of course, you are looking for something and have been for four years. Or rather, at least for four years," was the cryptic answer.

For four years? What the hell should he have been looking for for four years, and why should he find it here in the middle of Sherwood? He should have ridden straight to Huntingdon, after all. Guy was sure by now that the outlaws - that his half-brother - were playing a foul game with him. He should never have assumed that the man would stand idly by while he lost his birthright to his foe, no matter what the Earl had said.

But while he was still upset pondering his current situation, his feet had already carried him further into the cave and as a result he was suddenly able to discern that someone was lying in front of the far wall, obviously asleep.

"For four years now, he has been in this state between life and death," the voice of Herne rang out from behind his back, quite unexpected for the knight.

For four years? Guy's heart skipped a beat when he remembered a person who had vanished four years ago. While his feet had just carried him to this part of the cave without him having to think about it, now they suddenly refused to obey him. He stopped as if rooted to the spot.

"At first, it looked even to me as if he would soon enter the Realm of the Dead, but something has held him back all this time, kept him here in the World of the Living. His state never changed, though. Until six months ago. Then, all of a sudden, something happened. And now I believe he could even wake up, if there was something for him to live for. I am sure that there is someone who can get him out of this state of limbo."

Guy did not want to hear these words as they gave him hope. And hope was something he would not dare to have. Hope was something that had only ever gotten him into trouble. For this reason, he did not want to surrender to this kind of temptation at this point, for he could not bear any more letdowns, especially not in this matter.

But his feet deceived him once again. If they had just been unwilling to carry him forward, they now suddenly started to move again. His mind did not seem to be able to command them to do anything else.

"You have a few hours before you have to leave the woods again." Herne turned around and went into the front part of the cave, but Guy was not aware of that anymore, as he stood right next to the bed and looked down at the man who was resting here. Down at the man who appeared to be asleep.

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, the knight got down on his knees and bent over the man lying in front of him. "Loxley!" he called out. The outlaw's eyelids fluttered, but he did not open his eyes.

Once again Guy called the other man's name, but even now the fluttering of his eyelids was the only reaction. The knight had no idea how to get Loxley to wake up. Should he perhaps grab the man by the shoulders and shake him? But somehow that did not seem to him to be the right thing to do.

"You know what you have to do, Guy," he suddenly fancied he heard his friend whisper.

The knight abruptly straightened up for the first time he realized that he knew this voice. But he could not comprehend how he had missed that for the last six months. Why had he not realized that not only had he already known his new friend's voice, but that it was Loxley's in fact, even though that seemed completely impossible to him.

But all at once he knew what he had to do, and so he leaned over the other once more. And then he bestowed a long kiss on him, just as he himself had received when Loxley had come into his chamber.

As Guy straightened up again he was met by a pair of twinkling green eyes. "I told you I'd see you in a moment, Guy."

"How did you manage that?" the knight whispered. He was afraid that if he spoke too loudly, the apparition in front of him would vanish again.

Loxley smiled, causing Guy's heart to start beating like crazy. "It wasn't me," he whispered back. "That was you all by yourself. You called me, and you made sure I stayed by your side."

Guy shook his head, but he was unable to get a single word out.

"Are you just going to sit there and stare at me the entire time, Guy? You know we only have a few hours." When Loxley placed a hand on the knight's arm, he was finally once again able to utter something.

"I know," was all he said anyway, before kissing Loxley another time. But he now knew that this was only the beginning, for he did not want to waste the time that remained for them here in this cave.