A/N Even after all my pleas and offers, I do not own BBC Robin Hood, its characters, and plots. I only own my own characters. I would like to thank the user knarl for words of wisdom and advice. Her story is pretty awesome so check it out. Remember to follow, favorite, and review. Everything helps. Enjoy.

Chapter 5 Stargazing

The rest of the day she spent talking, celebrating, and training. Alex was always a very ambitious person and insisted that she begin at once, but also was insecure and scared and wanted to be skilled as soon as possible. They would celebrate the new member that night as they ate and drank by the fire. Robin smiled at the girl's determination. He knew that she would be a great addition and she could always offer new insight. She after all, was a woman with higher education and knew many things he couldn't even fathom, though he would never admit it. She had a strong, stubborn, determined will and a smart, intelligent, witty mind. She also had a very pretty face and fit body, though he would never say that out loud in fear of one of his men hearing and Marian catching word. "Oh Marian!" he thought, "She will surely have information on Sheriff Vaisey's plan to eradicate the 'witch'." He also figured he would need to explain the rescue and inviting Alex into the gang to her.

Alex was waiting for her first training session from Robin as he made the announcement he had to go see Marian, so he appointed Djaq and Allan to teach her. Allan was a good fighter and a dirty one. Alex needed to be trained quickly and fighting a cheater would benefit her. Djaq as a woman would have better knowledge of how to exactly teach her to hold her sword and bow and how to move properly and improve strength and endurance. Djaq was also an excellent fighter despite her size and could teach Alex how to use her smaller, female body to her advantage. Alex rolled her eyes and glared at Robin at the slightly sexist comment and him ditching her, but brushed it off with her signature smirk and eyebrow raise.

"Ya know, I suppose you must see your girlfriend. Just be quick. I might actually try to kill Allan here, the perv." Alex glared at the quick tongue man. Allan was leaning on a tree with his arms crossed. He said smiling, "Well I suppose if you're gonna shoot the messenger, the messenger better teach ya how to shoot 'im." He smiled at his cleverness while Alex scowled at it.

"Now you go practice and train. Djaq help Alex and supervise them. I can't have you killing him on the first day, Alex." Robin said grabbing his bow and quiver of arrows and began heading off to Knighton Hall.

Alex grabbed what she had declared her personal sword and sheathed it in her new belt and fastened it across her waist, smiling at her female friend. "Ya know, we better start." Djaq smiled in reply and started walking to nearby clearing, better suited for practicing with the even ground. Alex followed her with confidence in her step despite having a lethal weapon on her person and despite knowing she was going to have to fight a much better fighter with it. Allan stayed longer at the camp and got a drink, procrastinating his lesson. He grabbed his own sword and belt and bow and arrows and headed of to the practice area much later with great reluctance. He did not want to spend all of his day babysitting the strange girl. She was fun to talk and banter with, but she got on his nerves sometimes, as he did hers. He also was still upset at the punch his jaw received despite her multiple apologies and it being an accident. He was not proud or happy to say that she was the first woman to take him down.

Allan also had a very long list of things he would rather do than teach her how to hold a sword and swing it. However when he reached where they were practicing, he was stunned when he saw Alex and Djaq fighting already, and Alex was actually holding her own. It was obvious she was not used to holding the sword and its weight, but as she stood in a proper stance and attacked and defended and her hair back and tied up with tied twine, with the exception of her layered fringe, she looked like she had been fighting with a sword forever. She was a natural.

Allan stood on higher ground and watched from besides a tree in shock. Djaq told Alex how and where to stand and what to look for and how to attack and defend as they fought. Alex was a quick learner and soon the two women were in an almost fair fight. As they began a new match again, Alex stood in the proper stance and swung her sword in a circle besides her slowly as she observed Djaq's movements, predicting her actions. Alex then attacked the smaller women, almost catching her off guard and they battled it out for awhile. Allan could see Djaq was genuinely trying and Alex was giving it to her all. Alex blocked all of Djaq's blows and she could easily see what Djaq was planning on doing. It was like being in a fluent in a language of parries and attacks and metal on metal. She could tell when and where Djaq was going to strike, as well as her vulnerable areas. Alex knew what to do, but eventually faltered under the weight of her weapon and Djaq won with her own sword at Alex's throat. It was a long and hard fight for the girls. Djaq was incredibly impressed. Allan approached them applauding. "And 'ere I thought I was gonna have to teach ya how to just swing it." he said.

Alex wiped some sweat from her forehead and smiled. "Ya know, I did play with 'swords' when was little like you all probably did. Except my little brother and I called them lightsabers and we had cloaks and called ourselves Jedi and used the force, so maybe not like you guys when you really think about it." She pushed her fringe out of her face and retied her hair in the little twine that held it up. Allan felt a pang of guilt and loss when she mentioned having a little brother. It was not even a fortnight ago since he had lost Tom. He continued his facade however and kept up his signature, winning smile.

Alex studied her sword and continued talking. "Ya know, you really like watching me, don't ya? Of course, my wicked punch put you off a little." She smirked and held her sword and practice some movements Djaq taught her.

"Allan is very much a ladies man. He often has late nights at taverns. Very late nights." Djaq commented with her Eastern accent. Alex laughed and Allan blushed at the comment. He normally would brag to the lads about his late night escapades and didn't mind Djaq hearing, since he considered her one of the lads, but Alex was obviously a female, and Allan for an unknown reason was flustered at the comment about his nights with the tavern girls.

"'Ey! I thought we were suppose' to be trainin', not gossipin'." the girls chuckled and tried keeping a straight face at Allan's obvious embarrassment. Allan glared at them, still flustered, and tossed Alex his bow and a quiver full of arrows. "Now yer gonna be learnin' how to shoot. This is my personal bow, so please, don't break it." Alex caught them grinning and slung the strap of the quiver full of arrows over her shoulder. Allan walked over to a tree and tied a red piece of cloth to a branch a only slightly higher than Alex and a few meters away, a good distance but nothing too challenging. He then walk over to where she stood. "Show me what ya got." he said crossing his arms in front of his chest and staring at her focused on her body movements.

"Alright then. I guess I just have to shoot that." Alex said. She had little to none experience with this, but she had watched movies with archers shooting. She figured she knew the basics.

She notched her arrow on the taunt string and drew it. She pulled the string as far as she could and aimed the arrow slightly above the cloth and let go. The arrow went way off its course and landed only two thirds of the way to its target. Alex muttered and notched her arrow again. Before drawing, Allan walked over and reached out, grabbing her hands. "'ere. You aim like this and take a breathe." he said holding her hands and aiming towards the cloth. He guided her with his body against her back as she pulled back. "Now breathe and let go" he said. Alex took a deep breathe and as she released the air, she let go of the bow and the arrow flew, barely hitting its target. "See, its not that hard luv. Now you can shoot your rooster whenever you want." Allan said walking away to give the girl some space.

"Allan have you picked out a nickname for yourself and actually called me 'luv'?" Alex asked raising her eyes and notching another arrow. "Ya know, I didn't expect you to be the sentimental type."

"Nothin' is sentimental about me. Just figured you were one of those gals that liked to be called luv and liked to be all sweet with handsome guys like myself." he said in defense.

"I'd rather die before being showered in pet names and calling someone a pet name." She drew her bow and focused on her position. She took a breathe and fired the arrow on her own and without Allan's presence guiding her The arrow was on target, but she lacked the necessary strength to get its speed and precision. Though it wasn't the best shot, it was good enough for her. "Ya know, I do however like Rooster." she smirked at him and notched an arrow. Allan smirked back at her. "Ya you can thank the Disney fella ya like so much for that. Now put your feet farther apart." he said looking at her stance. Alex rolled her eyes and drew once again. This time she rushed her draw and completely missed the target.

"Though you are a natural at sword play, you need a lot of work with the bow. And your strength. Are all the people where you are form so weak?" Djaq asked taking a sip of water form her flask.

"Depends. I personally just never had reason to be so strong. Now Rooster, are you gonna help me or what?"

Robin sat on the edge of Marian's bedroom window and waited for her. He soon the footsteps of the lady and smiled. She entered her room and shut her door behind her and as she turned around, flinched at the unexpected outlaw smiling and sitting on her window.

"Robin! What are you doing here?! And what were you doing rescuing the witch yesterday?" the dark haired lady asked approaching the smirking archer.

"Alex is not a witch. She's just from far away and she's now apart of my gang. I just came here to make sure you weren't jealous of the company I keep." Robin looked up at Marian and winked at her.

"Why would I be jealous about you? And where is this girl from? The Sheriff is furious that he let one of Hoods associates slip from his fingers, and a mysterious one no less." she replied glaring at him.

"I think you are always jealous about me." Robin smirked and placed his hands on the top his bow, balancing it straight with the other end touching Marian's bedroom floor. "Alex is from very far away and she cannot return home yet. I just am asking you to try to ease Vaisey's anger towards her."

"And how do you suppose I should do that?" Marian asked upset.

"You can use your womanly charms." Marian glared at the comment. "Alex is a good person and she really doesn't want that much trouble. She is very new to all of this. Now I do have to go. Say hello to your father.. and Guy for me." Robin then jumped out of her window safely and started heading back to his home, the forest. Marian looked out her window and the outlaw and muttered under her breathe that he was a cocky, righteous man for doing all of this, but he was a good man for doing all of this. She would help him and the foreign girl even though she saw no reason to. As far as she was concerned, the girl was trouble. The audacity to call out the Sheriff, despite her impending death, was incredibly dangerous. Vaisey now had a personal grudge against her. She also was appalled at the girl's wardrobe. Did this Alex have no shame? She decided to gather some information, but she would not speak of the girl to anyone. She trusted Robin and his decisions, even though she would never admit it to him, but didn't see why she had to go out of the way to protect this disgraceful woman.

Robin walked back to the temporary camp. He found Much cooking and the rest of the gang listening to Alex and Allan argue about something. He laughed mentally at the fear he had before the girl that wouldn't be able to fit in. He walked over and greeted everyone and listened in to the huge debate.

"Ya know, I think I forgot what we were initially arguing about, Rooster." Alex said crossing her arms.

"Pretty sure it was 'bout how you luv my charms and looks." Allan smirked, "And how you are just shy to tell me it."

"Ridiculous, I think it was how I managed to wrestle you to the ground in a few minutes today on the first try on sparring hand to hand and you are just too shy to admit defeat. And I did punch you too." Alex raised her eyebrows at him and looked at the captivated group, "I think everyone was present and listening, except Robin who was busy." she smirked at him and looked at the rest of the gang, "Do you all recall what started this huge debate?"

Everyone thought for a minute. Will was the first to respond, "Pretty sure it was about Allan's charms, if they exist."

"'Ey! You can't insult me if you are on my side." Allan responded to his friend. Will shrugged and chuckled, amused.

"No I think it was about Alex beating Allan." Djaq said, "And it was very impressive. Allan was basically standing, not expecting much from her, again, and she completely knocked him over and twisted his arms that he was begging for mercy." The two girls smiled at each other and laughed.

"I believe it was Alex beating Allan, but it quickly switched to his charms. Or was it the other way around?" Much thought about it, but interrupted his own though. "This is ridiculous. You are arguing about your arguing!"

"Exactly. It does not matter." John added.

"Well I think Alex should win whatever this is because it is her first night here as one of us." Robin said. Alex beamed at him and Allan glared, their similar blue eyes contrasting each other by their expression, but both contained the playful spirit behind them.

"You already got Marian. You don't need to flirt with others gals." Allan whined.

"I think someone is a bitter loser." Robin responded. Alex stood up next to Robin and put her hands on her hips.

"I think as winner I get a prize of not washing the dishes tonight." she beamed at everyone else.

"You can't just get out of the chores. We have a system." Much said, "I just figured out how to add you in!"

"Pity that I won then." Alex smiled and raised her hand for a high five from Robin. Robin looked at her confused.

"Oh you medievals. Here," she grabbed Robin's hand with her other hand and raised it to hit her other hand. "It's a high five. It is a celebratory action. Like 'Woah we just didn't get hanged. High five!' or 'Hey, I just caught five rabbits to eat. High five!' or 'My wife and children didn't die of the plague. High five!'. It applies to a wide range of things."

"Is that all you think we do here?" Will asked amused at the girls examples, "Survive hanging and the plague and go hunting."

"Well you probably mention stuff about king and country and all that and get extremely drunk." Alex shrugged. "No offense of course."

"None taken. Now how about we have supper and celebrate our newest member." Robin proposed and everyone agreed, with Allan offering a high five to Will, who rolled his eyes and left his friend sitting alone. ""Ey don't leave me here. I don't know what to do now!" he yelled at him. Alex high five him and laughed. "You accept your loneliness with grace and awkwardness."

The night continued on and everyone went to sleep. Alex laid down on her mat and looked up at the stars and smiled. She is the only person in existence to have seen constellations hundreds years apart, even though they didn't look that different. She looked up at the stars and the trees blocking them until she eyes closed and she could no longer see them or the fire flickering nearby.

Alex screamed for help. The flames were rising and the heat was unbearable. She couldn't make out much, just the yelling of the peasant's anger and hatred, and the sight of the smiling Sheriff. She cried out for help and tried to free herself from the ropes and chains biding her to the stake, but they held tight binding her to a fate of inevitable flames. They were increasing and coming closer, licking at her tender, ivory skin and turning it into red, blistering pain. Alex looked around the crowd for help and saw Robin looking at her. She then saw the rest of the gang in crowd: Will and Djaq, Allan, Much, and John. She cried out for them to help her and free her, but they remained in the crowd and their faces contorted into hatred and bloodlust. She screamed that she couldn't die. She had her family and friends back home. She then saw all of her future loved ones in the crowd. Every face of familiarity sneered and yelled at her, cheering on the snarling flames. The flames were at her feet and the pain was unbearable and forcing screams out of her even with an extremely dry throat and there was no possibility of being saved. As she was trying to free herself from the pain and death, she felt herself be shaken and heard Allan's voice softly, faintly whispering her name.

Alex shot up from her sleeping mat gasping for breathe, sweat clinging to her pale skin and shaking. "It was just a dream," she heard, "Just a dream." She tried to calm herself down, but was still frightened.

"You alright?" Allan asked. She didn't realize that he was there, and that he was hugging her tightly. She stared at him confused. "Me mum used to do this to me and my brother. I had terrible terrors when I was a lil one." he explained unraveling his muscled arms from her frightened, smaller body.

Alex shifted herself to be sitting up, creating space between them. "Thanks Allan. I am just a little freaked out with the whole almost died in the dark ages by being burned alive thing." she wiped away some tears from her eyes, offering a weak smile and brushed her dirty blonde hair out of her face. "Did I wake you or anyone else?"

"Nah, I was already awake. You weren't going on that much, but terrified though. I suppose this all must be new to you, regular death and fighting and facin' it ev'ry day." Allan replied.

"Ya I guess. Ya know, this place is barbaric, no offense, but where I am from, its no different. The same wars, same problems of poverty and illness and corruption, same barbaric acts. It is just shinier and more hidden where I am from." she moved herself so she sat across from Allan, "Ya know, it doesn't matter. Why were you up?"

"You ain't the only one here with nightmares. Everyone 'ere faces 'em, but I'm just hidin' from them right now."

"What are your nightmares?" she asked concerned.

Allan debated telling the girl what really plagued him. He was after all cheery, happy Allan and not someone who talked about their feelings. But he sensed that she would understand and not tell anyone about his guilt. He figured that she is worth of a small sliver of trust. He took a breathe and replied. "Me brother, Tom. It was always my job to protect 'im. He joined the gang not long ago, but got in some trouble and the Sheriff hung 'im and his friends. I was too late to save 'im." he said leaving himself exposed for the first time in his life.

"I'm so sorry. I can't imagine that. I mean I can, I have lost all my loved ones, but at least I know that when I left them, they were happy and healthy. I have only really encountered death once until arriving here. But I know that it gets easier with time and you shouldn't blame yourself for any of it. Remember him as he would have wanted to be remembered." she said seeing his pain and guilt hidden behind his blue eyes. She once before had felt that pain, but she was only a little girl and can barely remember it now.

"Ya he got a better and more noble death than he was ever gonna get without Robin. And who did you love that died?" he replied.

"Robin is ever the savior, Rooster. And it doesn't matter. It was when I was a very young girl." she said offering a cheery smile with a hidden plead to continue on. These were the moments Alex hid herself, and she knew that the only thing she could trust was logic and herself in these moments. 'But what about now?' she thought, 'Everything has changed. The world is not what it seems and I have changed my path completely and done things I could have never done back home. Maybe I could trust someone. Maybe.'

Allan complied after a pause with her silent request, but still curious about her. "I'm not bein' funny, but you got a smart way of speaking. You could trick anyone with your words." he said changing the subject to something more cheery.

"I hope so. You also could convince anyone to do anything with your charms. But back home, I was going to be a writer. I was going to write fantastical stories and adventures all from my mind and sell them in print. All I had ever wanted was an adventure, so I wrote about them. Now I am actually having one." Alex laid down on her mat and looked up at Allan. "Ya know, in only a few days, what I thought my destiny was and what I thought I was capable of has completely changed. But I suppose my destiny was always this and I am still the same person, just with a different purpose."

"You do admit I have charms!" he said. Alex laughed in reply. "I was speaking hypothetically and us they do exist, that doesn't mean they will work on me!"

Allan smirked and replied, "We'll see. But a writer? I can't even read or write, like most folks, and you want to make a livin' based on it!" Allan said laid down next her and the both looked up at the night sky. "Your world is more fair to the poor like me."

"Ya know, I do suppose Robin would be the only one to have an education, small as it is. Djaq does, surprisingly, read and write and only because its different where she is from, and she's incredibly clever. How about in exchange for help with the bow and the sword and other training, I'll teach you to read and write? I know you have better things to do, so why not get something in return. Besides, it might come in handy to know."

Allan looked at her and agreed. They shook on their deal and looked up at the night sky for awhile, fighting off their dreaded sleep. The two both laid in silence for only God knows how long, until Allan broke the silence. "Are the stars where you're from different?"

"Ya they are, a little I think. I can't really tell. But I prefer these so much more." Alex looked over to her companion and smiled. Allan smiled back and they went back to star gazing in silence with a silent understanding that they would help each other get through the nightmares and their challenges now and forever.