Aladdin, Grumpy and Robin Hood were travelling with the members of King Stefan's court and peasants that lived near the palace. They were making for Helm's Deep, a caravan one would easily consider themselves. Grumpy was travelling on a pony that had been given to him by one of the stable hands, on account that he had no hope of actually riding a full-grown horse (due to his height). Next to him rode Eilonwy on her own horse, they appeared to be deep in conversation.
"It's good to see her smiling, I fear that she didn't get the attention she rightfully deserved in recent months from me," Stefan told Aladdin who he was riding alongside. Aladdin simply nodded in agreement. Suddenly, they heard some horrible barking from the far right. The group looked and saw a small pack of goblins riding on wolves.
Those with bows began to fire them at the attackers. Robin Hood often launching two arrows at a time, he never missed a mark.
"Get the women and children out of here!" Stefan ordered Eilonwy as he led the men towards the goblins, swords drawn. Grumpy licked his lips and rode forward twirling his pickaxe.
"Come bring your pretty faces here!" he chortled. The fight only lasted a few minutes but for the survivors it could have been longer. Aladdin confirmed that the markings the goblins carried were in fact from Jafar.
"That wretched bird must have told him where we were most likely going!" snarled Robin Hood.
"We will do what we can in the present state, get the wounded on carts, I'm afraid we must leave the dead," said Stefan in grim reply. It was in the morning of the second day of their journey they made it to Helm's Deep. They ushered everyone in as quickly as they could. Stefan knew that there was a good chance that they could get attacked that very night, he had his people hide in the caverns and had sentries posted all along the wall.
"It's a great shame we don't have Archimedes with us, we could send him out to see if an army of Isengard is in fact coming over," said Grumpy.
"It's a great shame about many things Master Dwarf, but we must make do with the situation with what we do have" replied Aladdin.
Meanwhile…
Eeyore had gathered up other Ents for a meeting. They had decided that very night, they were going to attack the stronghold of Isengard. Piglet and Gopher were once again allowed to ride upon their friend's back.
"This may be the last march of the Ents," he told them.
"Oh, d-d-d-dear, you don't mean to tell me you're going to fight a battle just to lose, are you?" asked a very frightened Piglet.
"Oh no, we Ents can break stone apart easily. Trolls were made in mockery of us, and stone will break under pressure of true Earth. I just don't know if there'll be a gathering of us like this again," replied Eeyore as he joined in a marching song in the strange Entish language.
Back at Helm's Deep there was an unexpected surprise. A large, strange orb suddenly appeared in front of King Stefan while he was having a meeting with his officers along with Aladdin, Robin Hood and Grumpy. They were shocked to hear it speak, and with Merlin's voice!
"I really do hope that this thing is recording. Now, I am at this time unable to be there in person but I felt it was necessary to warn you that Jafar has in fact sent an army of his own goblins to Helm's Deep. I felt it necessary to warn you so that you can take the proper preparations. Good luck," then the orb essentially popped with sparkling dust raining down where it had once been.
"Well, this is a fine state of things, not only have we been attacked on the road, but now we must prepare for battle in the last possible safe location," replied Stefan.
"We have tussled with some of these goblins from Isengard before, their armor is thick and they have far better fighting capabilities than your standard, mindless rabble," warned Grumpy.
"Well, that's encouraging," said one of the officers.
"Well, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures, enlist everyone who can wield a weapon," said Stefan rather gravely. They had no shortage of volunteers, old and young, man and woman those closer to noble birth and those very poor offered up their services to protect Helm's Deep. Those that were left in the caves were mothers that were busy with their babies.
"Some of these folks look like they've seen too many winters," observed Robin Hood.
"And some perhaps not enough," added Grumpy.
"But they are all willing to fight, and someone wiser than myself once said that one man defending his home is worth ten hired soldiers," said a feminine voice. The three companions turned around to see Princess Eilonwy decked out in armor with a sword by her side. She had a helmet under her arm.
"Perhaps the philosophy can apply to women as well," she said with a smirk.
"Well, I'm not opposed to fighting alongside a woman, it would be an honor to fight alongside you Princess Eilonwy," said Aladdin as he bowed.
"No need for formalities," replied Eilonwy as she made a hand gesture that suggested she wanted Aladdin to stand back up.
"Uncle Stefan is putting me in charge of the children's group, not sure if I like the idea of leading them into battle," she continued, a bit of regret in her voice.
"You'll do well m' lady," replied Robin Hood. Suddenly a horn was heard.
"That's no goblin horn!" he announced. The four of them ran up to the walls where they saw a small group of animals, a large bear was leading them. This made Robin Hood smile.
"Open the gates! These guys are friends!" he announced with a smile. The gates were open, the bear was none other than Little John who hugged his friend.
"Word reached Sherwood that you guys were heading here and well, we thought we'd come on over and well, looks like you guys might need a little help!" laughed Little John.
"You came right in the nick of time Little John, and yes, we'll take any help we can get at this point! Everyone, this is my merry band of misfits!" Robin Hood told those present. A young rabbit wearing an oversized hat rushed up to hug Robin Hood and the fox picked him right up.
"It's good to see you too Skippy! You're probably going to be put with the rest of the kids, heads up," he told the little rabbit.
"Well, I won't turn down extra help, I mean I've got a few women and children here, a dwarf, a fox and a monkey, what's a few more animals?" asked Stefan with a nervous smile. Everyone found themselves waiting for the battle, Robin Hood stood between his good friends Little John and Grumpy. Friar Tuck was with a few older recruits, silently whispering a few prayers.
"What say we have ourselves a little contest to see who can kill the most before the battle is over?" asked Grumpy.
"Are you just asking me, or is Little John part of this as well?" asked Robin Hood.
"All three of us of course," replied the dwarf. Then another horn was heard, Grumpy was unable to see over the ramparts because of his height and tried to stand on his tiptoes.
"Shall I get a box for you?" asked Robin Hood. Grumpy had a brief chuckle over that. A large army of goblins was marching to their fortress. They stopped a few yards from the wall, as if to challenge those inside to make the first move. Well, they did, one of the archers accidentally released his arrow too soon and hit one of the goblins.
"Hold!" shouted Stefan, then the goblins charged.
"Fire away!" shouted Stefan. Those with arrows quickly fired away. The goblin army was so large that they couldn't miss a mark.
"I got one!" Robin Hood and Little John announced in unison.
"Oh, well now that's not fair!" grumbled Grumpy. Eilonwy's group of youngsters let fly their arrows from another position.
"Now get lower!" Eilonwy ordered her group as they ran to a lower part of the fortress. Then the goblins released grappling hooks and were clearly using them to hoist ladders up.
"Stop the advancements!" shouted Stefan. Little John had two small axes and started going down the wall chopping them ropes. Due to his bear strength, he made quick work of his job. Grumpy went in the opposite direction using his pickaxe, but he and so many of the human soldiers of Rohan found that they couldn't keep up and soon goblins were coming upon the walls.
"Release the hives!" shouted Friar Tuck to his elderly companions. They obeyed releasing some bee hives that he had brought with him on catapults. When they landed among the goblins I'm sure anyone who's seen an angry swarm of bees can imagine what happened next. Those who were closest found their armor couldn't protect them. But the hordes of Isengard still fought on. Grumpy was counting up to nearly a thirtieth kill when a cannon was produced. It launched a large fire ball that decimated a large portion of the wall!
"They have broken through, everyone fall back!" ordered Stefan. Eilonwy wasted no time leading the children under her leadership back to the caves. Grumpy had to be carried away by Aladdin and one of the foot soldiers of Rohan because he didn't want to leave the fight. Little John was badly injured by the blast and limped back to the caves, surrounded by the older soldiers and his friend Friar Tuck, arrows were still firing, some fell, but they knew they couldn't do much for their dead that night.
Now I want to make it clear, this is a fairy tale, nothing to be taken seriously so I don't want anyone berating me about putting children into battle. Besides, in the film version, Theoden did have young lads and old men recruited for the battle. I thought it would be cool to have a few women in the battle (female empowerment) so it made sense for Princess Eilonwy to be part of the fight as well. I didn't know whether to go the film route with a surprise help or the book route where that didn't happen but I thought I'd bring Little John back and I thought Friar Tuck helping with the older guys would be fun. Goodness knows the Rohan in the actual could have used a bear like Little John. I was going to have this go on the next morning with (SPOILER ALERT) Merlin's return but the chapter was getting long enough