Robin stood in the middle of their camp, staring at the knife that was still buried in their hidden door. She had no idea what she was going to do. She turned slowly to look at the small crowd of people that had gathered behind her. It was more than just the people who had been in the square with the gallows; others had joined them on their walk away from the castle and into the woods.

The crowd looked back at her expectantly. She counted heads; forty seven men, and another eleven women.

She looked at Halt and Will, hoping they might have a plan, but they looked back at her with neutral expressions; besides, these people were here to follow her, not them.

They were here for Robin Hood.

"What the hell are all these people doing here?!" a voice yelled from the back of the crowd, and Robin immediately perked up. It was a familiar voice, and her heart soared as Gilan pushed his way to the front of the assembled villagers.

"Gilan, you made it out safe!" Robin said, embracing him tightly. He hugged her back, and Alan and Little John pushed through the crowd to join them. "I'm so glad the lot of you are okay. We had a plan to break you out,you know, but I'm glad we didn't need it."

"A ranger doesn't need rescuing!" Gilan declared proudly.

"Oi, our escape plan was my idea," Little John said crossly, glowering at Gilan before offering Robin a broad smile. "I'm glad the lot of you are alright too, lass. Where'd all these people come from?"

"They've decided to join us in the fight against the Baron," Robin said. "We have a small army now, all of whom are willing to fight for their freedom!" A small cheer rose up from the crowd.

"Well..." Alan said, then leaned forward to whisper so that the crowd wouldn't hear. "What are we going to do with them? We can't stay here, not now that the Baron's guards know where this is, and we don't have the supplies to keep a band of sixty people going. Especially not now that Winter has taken its grip..." Robin looked around. The ground was hard and frozen with a fine dusting of snow, and thin strips of ice hanging from tree branches. Towards the horizon the mountains were tipped in cruel white ice, reminding Robin that King Duncan was sealed away in the Steppes.

"We'll have to find a new spot," Robin said decisively. "Somewhere to start a new camp with enough room for everyone."

"Just what I was going to suggest," Will said, and Robin flinched; she hadn't heard him join them. "This first couple days will be crucial, and will decide whether or not we get to keep these new recruits. I will be able to advise you, but Robin - you are the figurehead of this mission, you are the one they will look to." Robin stared into his eyes and nodded solemnly.

"Your first decision," Halt said, and Robin flinched again; she hadn't heard him approach either. "Will be how you go about looking for a new place. Will you have everyone march together, or split up to find the best place?"

Robin frowned for a moment. "I think... split up. It's cold, and the sooner we can find a camp and start fires and pitch tents, the better off we'll be. It'll be hard to find somewhere big enough for everyone."

"Aye, that it will be," Little John said musingly. "Perhaps we should break into seven groups, since there are seven of us, and we can each lead a group out? We shouldn't have them in little groups because if they get lost, they might freeze to death. We know these woods better than anyone."

"Sounds like a plan," Robin agreed. "Hello, everyone! Welcome. We are going to establish a new camp, and we must look for an ideal spot! Now, if you, you, you, and... uh, you four over there wouldn't mind coming to stand over here, Halt will lead you guys to the East to look for a good spot to camp." Robin pointed to seven people in the crowd and motioned them over to join Halt. "And if you lot there wouldn't mind coming with Will to the Northeast, and you lot here could come stand with Alan to the North, and you over there with Mauch to the Southeast, you six with Gilan to the South, and you lot with Little John to the Northwest, the rest of you will be coming with me to the Southwest. No one to the West, obviously, because that's where the Baron is..."

People nodded their approval and began dividing as she had described, going over to stand with the people Robin had pointed out to them.

"We'll meet back up here at noon for a mid day meal and to see what everyone has found," Robin said. "Then, in the afternoon we'll go to the best camp site and start establishing a camp. Any questions?"

People looked at one another tentatively, but no one spoke up with a question.

"I have one," Halt said. "Does everyone have everything they need from their homes? Warm clothes, supplies, so on and so forth?"

The crowd shifted uncomfortably, and several people shook their heads. Robin mentally smacked herself in the forehead for not thinking to ask it sooner, and was instantly grateful that Halt and Will were there to think of things she forgot.

"Well, for those of you who don't, how about you go back and get it, and meet us here at noon with the rest of us?" Halt suggested. "Then you can come to the new camp with us. The more you can bring to establish the camp, the better."

There were several mumbled agreements, and about three quarters of the crowd broke off and disappeared into the woods, leaving them with only about fifteen people aside from themselves standing in the clearing.

"Okay, well, I guess now we have about two people for each of us," Robin said, looking at the ragtag group in front of her. "Did you guys get your stuff on our way out of the city?"

They looked at each other, none of them wanting to answer.

"I didn't," a young lad, probably around fourteen said. "I don't have a home."

"You don't have a -" Robin started, breaking off mid sentence.

"I used to," the boy said, shuffling his feet in the thin snow. "But... we couldn't afford the rent anymore."

"You couldn't..." Robin repeated, and then her face flushed with anger. "And this is exactly why we need to put that ridiculous Baron in his place!" They nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Well, off to search for camps, yes?" Will said, clapping his hands together to bring their attention back to the matter at hand. "I believe you said I should be going Northeast?"

"Yeah," Robin said slowly. "One of us to each cardinal direction that isn't towards the town. At least, that's what made sense to me."

"Makes sense enough to me," Mauch agreed. He pointed to two of the remaining people. "You two coming with me to the Southeast to look for a camp. We've only got a couple hours to look before we'll have to double back." They nodded and followed Mauch into the trees, and within moments the others were gone too, leaving Robin standing in the old camp with the last two people. She looked at the two strangers and offered them a broad smile. One of them was the young boy that had spoken before, and the other was a boy some three years his senior.

"What are your names?" she asked, unsure of what to say.

"Xan," the boy said, then pointed to his companion. "This is my brother James."

"Pleasure to meet you," James said, offering his hand and a broad smile. "I've always wanted to meet the famous Robin Hood..."

She clasped his hand and shook it.

"I was just thinking you'd be... well... taller," Xan said, looking down at her. He was probably fifteen centimeters taller than her, even though he was at least a year younger.

"The smaller you are, the quicker you are," she said, brushing off his comment. She turned and pulled the knife from the ground and then flipped open the hidden door, going inside the hidden camp.

"I thought we were going to look for a new camp?" Xan asked, following her inside. "Not that this isn't way cool..."

"We are," she said. "I just wanted to see how much we still have here. You have to understand, it's been just the seven of us for a while now, I wasn't expecting to suddenly have to support sixty-some-odd people."

"Have to support... No, no, we'll pull our own weight," James said, flabbergasted.

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant!" Robin said quickly. "I didn't mean that you wouldn't pull your own weight. I just meant it'll be hard to get the camp started is all. I'm sure once everyone's established it'll be another story entirely. We just have to make sure everyone has a shelter to sleep in tonight, you know?"

"Oh, yeah," Xan agreed. "I suppose that makes enough sense." Robin nodded, digging through the supplies they had.

"Seems like we've got about enough to shelter twenty people," she said with a sigh. "I hope those people bring back plenty of supplies... Especially food. Our food supply wouldn't last more than a week with so many people, even though it was supposed to last all winter."

"If you don't want us here, I'm sure they'd be willing to leave," James suggested uncomfortably.

"No, no! I keep tripping over my own tongue," Robin said, trying to reassure them. "No, I'm so glad everyone's here. It's amazing. I'll just have to figure it out is all... But I will. Figure it out, I mean."

"You seem so young," Xan said with a slight frown. "Are you... my age? I always thought Robin Hood was older."

"Um..." Robin said. "No, I'm definitely older than you."

"You dimwit, she's like that because she's a girl," James said, rolling his eyes at his little brother.

"What?" Xan asked, his eyes wide. He squinted down at her.

"Woah now, that is not public information!" Robin said, shocked that James had seen through her disguise.

"Why not?" James tilted his head to the side with some confusion.

"Well, because..." Robin started, spluttering slightly. "Who would follow a girl?"

"Anyone with any sense would," James answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "You've proven yourself to be more than capable. What would being a girl have to do with that? You're strong, and smart, and you're willing to fight for us. What more could anyone want?"

Robin looked at him with wide eyes. He seemed so sincere, it was stunning; she had never really had anyone react like that. Even Halt and Will had reconsidered everything they knew about her once they knew she was a girl - this guy didn't care that she was a girl. He didn't even bat an eye; he considered the fact that she was Robin Hood more important than the fact she was a girl. And he thought she was fine just like that.

She wasn't sure how to process what he had said. It made her feel off balance; she had had to fight so hard to have people accept her as a girl, she had disguised herself as a boy to avoid that fight, but now... She wasn't sure what to think.

She turned away from him quickly, her face flushing a bright red, and started walking away. "I guess we should go look for a new camp site, shouldn't we?"