We're men, we're men in tights...

[bonnypiperlad]

Characters: Robin Hood [bonnypiperlad], Will Scarlet [buckingbronco], Much the Miller's Son Daughter [anoblesavage]
Location: Sherwood Forest
Time: Early afternoonish, during the Fairy Tale plot
Summary: What starts out to be a quick afternoon's work turns into something rather different...
Warnings: Possible violence.

Comments

[buckingbronco]

Dino gives an eager, confirming nod. He's rather curious about what that had been about. There was no way their band could have been noticed, and besides, he didn't want to lose their latest bit of prey. He stands slowly, but still manages to trip over his own sword as he gets to his feet, and has to grab onto a nearby branch to keep his balance. It causes a slight rustling, and he freezes, hoping that went unnoticed. When nothing happens aside from glares from a few of the other Merry Men, he grins in a guilty way and starts to sneak after the three horsemen, trying to stay silent until they get near enough to hear their voices.

[anoblesavage]

Although the horsemen - who, on closer inspection, were wearing clothes that marked them out as the Sheriff's men - had failed to notice Robin and his gang, they had noticed another figure hiding in the forest. Leela was dressed in coarse and much mended clothes, a stark contrast to the finer garments of the soldiers. She was also clutching a dead pheasant in one hand. She had poached it in order to avoid starvation and now that crime threatened to cost her her life.

She broke cover when the soldiers turned their horses towards her, running off through the trees as if her life depended on it. And it did.

[bonnypiperlad]

Jamie also glances over at Dino at the noise, pinching the base of his nose for a moment, but keeping his 'Och' unvoiced. Luckily, things work in the Merry Men's favor and the group is able to get into position just before Leela breaks cover

[buckingbronco]

Dino winces a little at the remark, but he has to admit it was rather pathetic of him.
"As if I'd let you take all the credit for this!" he said softly under his breath as he set off after Jamie. He knew the area they were heading too, they had set up the trap their earlier that day, but he hadn't known they would be using it in this way. This would be true justice of a sort. Trying to punish someone just for trying to feed themselves was far beyond something that could be called allowable.
"Let's teach them a lesson!"

[buckingbronco]

"Gladly!" Dino calls back. A moment of disorientation strikes him. The fighting in a large group is familiar to him as anything, but for those brief seconds he's left with the odd feeling that he should be giving the orders. Then he shakes it off, and rushes toward the thug, his sword coming out of it's sheath properly.

He had hoped to catch him off guard, but the thug was already set into this stance when he reached him, and their swords met with a clash of steel. As they fought, Dino had to admit that the man was good. Very good. But he was better and Robin was waiting on him to finish this one off. That he could not fail in.

With the next move he managed to disarm his opponent, and smiled triumphantly as he took a step back...only to have his foot slip on a wet patch of grass. It sent him tumbling backwards, and the man smirked as he started to go for his own sword.

"Not so fast!" Dino kicked his knee hard enough to send him down as he scrambled to his feet.

[anoblesavage]

Much gazed, wide eyed, at the men who had appeared from nowhere to come to her rescue. She wanted to declare that she didn't need help - she should have been able to take such a smaller number guards on by herself, even armed with nothing more than a short knife - but that would have been foolish. Wouldn't it?

Shaking off her momentary uncertainty, Much joined the man named Will to tackle the final guard. She was quicker and the guard obviously hadn't been expecting her to make good on her earlier threat. When the guard fell, she was on him, her knees on his chest and her knife resting against the skin of his throat. A slight increase of pressure would have been enough to break the skin.

“Do not move,” she warned, bright eyed with relief and with anger. To Robin and the others, she added: “Thank you for ... for saving me.”

[bonnypiperlad]

Robin, meanwhile, reaches down and retrieves the thuggish guard's sword from where it had fallen, knocked free when the net had been sprung. He holds it at the guard's throat, just in case the man has any bright ideas about trying to untangle himself at the moment.

"Think nothing of it, lad. I'd do no less for anyone else being bullied by the Sheriff's men."

Just then, Little John comes over, dragging the guard the rest of the group had overpowered along by the collar of his (now rather dirty) shirt. He grins at Robin through his beard.

"Brought you a present, Robin."

Robin laughs. "Not a very pretty one, but the thought's appreciated all the same, John." He looks between the two men, then over to Will and Much. "Tell me, lads, what do ye think we should do with them?"

[buckingbronco]

Dino thought a moment before he made his reply, keeping a careful eye on the men. "I suppose we could let them go," he said, "but that might cause more of a stir than we want to deal with at the moment. It would however, serve to spread your reputation far and wide, Robin." He looked down at the man the boy they had rescued was holding at knife point. "If it would be too much trouble, I suppose we could just make the lot of you disappear. Which do you think is best?"

[anoblesavage]

It was a quiet day in Sherwood Forest. The sort of day that left Much counting her blessings, wondering at the turns of fate that had led her to such a place and such a time. She had dreamed of fighting the Sheriff at Robin Hood's side, once, but now she was living it.

The miller's daughter lay on her stomach in the long grass that fringed the main path running through the woodland, listening to the sound of the breeze rustling the canopy above her and the distant notes of birdsong. A small herd of deer were feeding nearby. It was their sudden movements - away from the road and into the safe shadows of the trees - that alerted her to the fact that things were not quite right. Their sensitive ears had picked up the disturbance on the horizon before she had.

A small group, but their leader - he could only be their leader - was richly dressed. Robin would want to see this.

She whistled, a low bird call that would attract the attention of the Merry Men and, more importantly, their leader.

OOC: I hope this is ok! Let me know if any

[buckingbronco]

When Dino hears the call, he heads towards it to find their newest recruit. He makes his way over as quietly as he can so he can whisper.

"Spotted something have you?"

[anoblesavage]

"To the north," Much murmured, pointing through the undergrowth. She had a lot of experience as a poacher. She had no difficulties when it came to being silent or going unseen in the wilds. "Their robes alone could feed a family in Nottingham for week."

They had to have riches worth taking.

[bonnypiperlad]

Robin isn't far behind Will, as the bird call has had its desired effect. He slips into an open spot just as Much points, and a small, somewhat crooked looking smile appears on his face. Looks like the abbot and his men, unless he misses his guess.

"Good job, lad. Let's gather the others and see if we can't convince them to share a bit of those riches with those who need them."