Disclaimer: I do not own Rowan Hood.

A/N: Whoa! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated! I won't make excuses, because I don't have any. So, on with the story! Please read and review!

There was blood. So much blood. Rowan screamed in pain as the trap mangled her leg, its metal jaws glinting in sharp contrast with the spattering of scarlet. She thrashed, desperate to escape the prison, though each movement was agony.

Shadows circled round; Ro could see the face of her father coming forth from the darkness, his face twisted in horror and fear. He cried out to her.

The blood was coming faster now. There was nothing she could do to staunch it. Another face entered in above her: the sheriff. He laughed, a terrible, dark sound.

"Stay there and die, outlaw." He rasped. Rowan thrashed harder in the trap. There was no escape. The metal bindings grew tighter, and the pain in her legs was nearly unbearable. She shook her head frantically, dark, matted hair falling over her eyes. Her own ragged breaths filled her ears.

"Rook! No!"

Rowan was jolted out of her nightmare. She let out choked sobs, meanwhile wiping at her eyes where tears rained. Ro tried to settle her breathing. Just a bad dream. Nothing more, she told herself. But it had been frightening, worse than any she had had in the past few weeks.

Ro moved to sit by the dying fire. She stoked it, and sat by warming herself to dispel not only the cold, but the fear. She was so wrapped up in her clouded mind, that when a blanket was draped over her she started like a nervous deer.

"It's just me." Said the honeyed tones of Lionel. Ro breathed out.

"Toads take it, Lionel, you nearly scared me out of my skin." He studied her intently for a moment.

"What is it?" Ro looked into the fire and replied softly,

"Nothing. Just a nightmare."

"Again? Was it the mantrap?" He asked gently. Ro felt gratitude that she did not need to explain it more than to nod slowly. Lionel moved beside her and wrapped a secure arm around her quivering shoulders.

"This time it was different." She said softly. "I felt it as real as if it had been me, but it wasn't."

Lionel took on a puzzled expression. He asked,

"What do you mean?"

"It wasn't like the other dreams. In those, I would see flashes of what happened that day. Usually Etty screaming my name, and the foresters coming for me. But this time my father was there. And the

sheriff-"

"The sheriff?" Lionel asked, incredulously.

"Yes. But that's not what unsettles me. It was Rook caught in the trap." The name prompted Lionel's face to shadow, but Ro continued on. "I saw it all like it was me, but I know it was him. Before it was over, I heard my father's voice call out 'Rook'. You may think me mad, but I have a terrible feeling that it meant something." She finished.

Lionel snorted.

"The only thing it means is that you have been thinking on him too long. You're just bringing him into your memories about the trap."

"No, it's more than that." Rowan said. "What if it's real?" Lionel raised an eyebrow at that.

"You really think he's fallen into a mantrap?"

"I'm afraid to believe it."

Lionel shook his head and got to his feet.

"It's nothing. Forget what you saw, it will only serve to trouble you." She looked up at him and sighed.

"You're probably right."

"Get some sleep." He turned towards his bedroll before adding, "Rowan? He's alright. Wherever he is."

Rowan stayed by the fire a little while longer. She whispered a prayer to the lady in the name of her friend. Please, let him be safe.