"She's waking up!"
"Stop crowding her! Giver some room, guys. You'll frighten her."
Audrey opened her eyes slowly and found herself in some sort of camp. A series of faces were all looking at her with concerned expressions except one. Robin had a more inquisitive, curious look on his face. She sat up in the odd bed that she was in and stared back at the faces with the most courageous look that she had, but she knew it wasn't much. She had a headache and she was slightly confused as to where she was.
"Welcome to the outlaws' camp!" one of the other people finally managed to say. Audrey half-smiled in return. The outlaws' camp? It was the coveted headquarters that the sheriff was dying to find, and she was there! She expected it to at least look a little nicer, though. It wasn't even that big! Maybe that's why it was hidden so well.
'I didn't know we had caught the Robber." Robin's sarcastic remark broke Audrey's thoughts. "Do you have any idea what kind of risk you're putting yourself in?"
"You do the same thing, don't you? Besides, I haven't been caught," Audrey snapped.
"You were caught by us, and by a simple trap at that! Imagine if the sheriff knew about that. You wouldn't last more than a few days around here. What did you think you were doing in the first place, anyway?"
"What I did where I used to live: rob the rich and give to the poor. It's really quite similar to what you do," Audrey said, "except I'm on my own. I don't have a gang." She purposefully stared at each member of Robin's gang. She didn't remember what their names were, or if she had ever even heard their names, but they seemed clever enough. If they had earned Robin's respect, then they obviously were something special.
"So you're copying me." It wasn't a question. Robin just knew she was trying to be like him.
"Don't flatter yourself, moron," Audrey snarled. "I was the Robber years before you became so famous." She glared at Robin with cold, blue eyes. How could he possibly be so arrogant? Not everyone was a copycat. Actually, she had always thought that it was him that had stolen her idea of a life of crime and heists for good reasons. Of course, he had elaborated it and made it seem more romantic than what it really was. An outlaws' camp? It didn't look like much to her except a clutter of stolen goods and whatever they could forage from the forest. She had heard everything from a little tent to a magnificent stronghold hidden among the trees in the darkest depths of the forest. His adventures must not also be as fantastic as people rumored them to be, especially since they had used a simple trap to catch her. Something more elaborate, like a barrage of poisoned arrows or a trap that closed her in beneath the ground sounded more like Robin's style. She continued to glare at Robin, but he was silent.
"You know," the silence had finally been enough for her, "I have to be back at Nettlestone before dawn. I have court tomorrow at Nottingham, and I do not want to fall asleep in front of the sheriff and the other nobles." Audrey began to pull herself out of the crude bed, but Robin held her back.
"You're....a noble?" he asked softly. She could see something in his eyes, something she had not seen before. What was it? Pain? Longing? Curiosity? She pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
"What else could I be?" she said as she pushed Robin's hand away and began to walk out of the camp. "A farm girl?" Robin's gang watched as she began to jog out of the camp, then she halted. She had no idea where she was in Sherwood. It could take her all night to be able to find her way out. Still, she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Robin's gang. She would have to find her way back on her own.
"It's a bit of a long ways to Nettlestone, eh?" Audrey tried to punch the source of the voice out of instinct. She hated surprises, but her fist was caught in the palm of Robin's hand like he had been expecting it. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to be lost out here all night." Audrey merely turned around and began walking in the direction she thought her home was.
"Nettlestone is that way." Audrey turned to see Robin pointing to his right. She huffed to herself as she began to walk in the direction Robin was pointing. She glanced back to see that he was jogging to catch up to her.
"Do you have to follow me all the way back?"
"Of course I do! We don't know if you're still being tracked, do we?" Robin grinned as he slowed to a walk and matched Audrey's stride. Audrey merely stared straight ahead of her and began to ignore Robin's presence.
"Oh, so now you're going to give me the silent treatment, eh?" Robin said. "I guess you don't like me or something. Is that it?" Audrey stared at her feet now as she sped up her stride. She suddenly tripped over a root that she hadn't seen. Before she could hit the ground, though, Robin snatched her arm and pulled her back up. Audrey instantly snapped her arm back to her side.
"I knew you would have trouble out here, young noblewoman!"
"Listen!" Audrey wheeled around and glared at Robin with cold blue eyes. "I want you to march right back to your little camp and leave me alone. I can find my way back on my own so-'
"I don't think you can."
"Listen to me!" Audrey was nearly shouting now, but Robin let her continue with her angered tone. "I don't want to be followed, and I don't want to be talked to. I just want to get back home and get some rest before tomorrow so I can make a good first impression."
"So you're new around here."
"Goodness! Did you ever learn how to be quiet?" Now Audrey was shouting. She began to take steps towards Robin, screaming and screaming at him as he backed up from the fiery girl. "I don't need to be protected. I don't need directions. I don't need help! What gives you the right? You were the one that captured me. Grant me one simple thing and leave me alone." The noblewoman sighed. "I don't even know why you're so interested in me. I'm probably just another copycat to you, a poser that wants to be like you, but I'm not. Go back to your camp, please." Before she could see if he was leaving or not, she turned around and began jogging in the same direction she had been going. She didn't hear a sound behind her, but she wasn't about to check if Robin was still following. She had said her bit and now all she wanted was to get home and sleep. After a while, the trees began to look more and more familiar. She was getting close to her home in Nettlestone. She slowed to a walk and glanced behind her. No one was there.