Disclaimer: I do not own Rowan Hood or any of its awesome characters.
A/N: Here's another chapter! I hope the characters are not too OCC in this. Please read and review.
Rook awoke with his neck turned at an uncomfortable angle, and his head throbbing in pain. He grimaced, remembering the fight he had had with Todd the previous night, before he had fallen asleep. Rook had tossed and turned, awake for hours before he was finally able to rest. He could not help but worry about the boy. Despite what had happened, Rook still considered him a friend. Todd may hate him now, but that didn't change the fact that the boy was inexperienced, and alone in a wilderness that he was only slightly familiar with. Rook tried to shake off the feeling. He came this far on his own, Rook reasoned with himself, he'll be fine. But the churning feeling inside gave him enough incentive to get up and slide out of the hut. He put a hand to his eyes to block the sunlight, and started through the field towards the forest. Maybe he could catch up with Todd before he traveled too far. Rook wanted the chance to explain.
It did not take long for Rook to find what he was looking for. He found footprints trailing towards Fountain dale, alongside them the small tracks of hooves: Runkling's tracks. Rook smiled at the thought of Todd pulling the fattened pig on his leash through the twisting undergrowth of Sherwood. He followed the prints for a great distance before he realized they had taken a turn Northward. It seemed Todd was not headed towards the spring at Fountain dale; though, Rook realized, he could have easily been lost and unsure of where he was going. Then, something strange attracted the outlaw's eye. He passed through two great oaks to find a wall of rock, hollowed out on the side, forming a stone archway. Its familiarity struck him. Suddenly, Rook knew without doubt where he was: his father's resting place, the graveyard of the outlaws. He ducked through the archway to find himself in the blessed grove. There, but a little ways from him, Rook saw the boy he had been tracking.
Todd knelt before the marker of Jack Woodsby's grave. The sight choked Rook, and he had no words, not even a call of suffering. A small gasp was all that alerted Todd to his presence. The boy turned. Upon seeing the other boy, Todd frowned, out of shame or anger Rook could not tell, and then turned back to the gravestone. Rook approached slowly, but stopped in his tracks when he heard the boy's voice say calmly,
"You must think it strange to find me here."
Rook could hardly think in order to speak, but managed to say,
"How did you…?" Todd turned to face him.
"I came here many times to talk with Robin, back before I left. It's so peaceful…" He broke off, looking up at the shimmering trees.
"About what I said," He began, meeting Rook's eye. Rook shook his head and came to sit beside him.
"It was true. That's all…it was true." Rook muttered.
"I spoke in anger. I know you wouldn't betray them. Rowan knows it too."
Todd stood and reached out a hand to Rook. The boy looked up, eyebrows knitting together in doubt.
"Don't worry, you'll see. Come on." The outlaw took the hand and rose up to join his friend in leaving the grove. Rook turned back, and took a last look at the grave marker.
"I'll see you again, father." He breathed. Todd collected Runkling, and the two boys walked in even strides from the grove.
"So what will you do, now that everyone is gone?" Rook asked the Todd.
"I think I should go with you to find Robin. If I can be of help, and if you'll have me," He said, throwing a questioning glance at Rook. The other boy nodded, thinking of how strange it was that he had ever been enemies with the lad.
"Anything, as long as I never have to go back to Nottingham." Todd said darkly. He softened. "You were lucky Rook, to have had him for your father. I wish I had known him."
Suddenly, the sound of cracking tree branches and hoof beats erupted close to them. Far too close. The sheriff's riders would be upon them within a moment. Rook's eyes darted away from the tree line and back at Todd.
"Hide!" He rasped, darting behind a tree. Todd let Runkling to the ground, and as the pig scampered off, he ducked into a bush, only half hidden, and desperately trying to disappear. Rook took in the panted breaths and wild panic in the other boy's eyes. He could not let him be caught. In a flash, Rook's fear became resolve. He knew what he had to do.
"Run!" He said, half whispered and half growled.
"What?" He was cut off from answering when the horsemen clattered into the grove.
"I thought I heard something." One of them said gruffly. Another, seemingly the leader, dismounted and turned slowly about. Suddenly, he turned and his eyes locked onto the undergrowth where Todd lay. Rook acted quickly, before he could consider the certain death that he would meet. He bolted from behind the tree and ran past the men in the opposite direction of where Todd lay.
"Outlaw! Get him!" Yelled the leader.
Rook sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him. If he could just lead them away from Todd, the boy would have a chance to save himself. If he was lucky, he could double back and lose them, or take them to the crags where he could have an advantage. If he wasn't lucky…The answer came to him in the form of a fourth horseman, dead ahead of him. He cursed himself for his stupidity; of course one would stand sentinel. The horseman cut him off, and soon the others circled around him.
"Take his head."
Rook paled. It was over now.
"Wait." Rook let out a sigh of relief as the horseman let his sword arm go slack. "He may prove useful for information. We bring him to the sheriff." The leader said. Rook tried to swallow the lump in his throat. The sheriff. He glanced to the side in time to see the shaft of a spear being swung at his head. There was a burst of pain, and then darkness.