anything significant.
*~*~*
Robin stood, hands planted
on his hips in a masculine undertone, surveying the groggy
recruits. The sun hadn't even shown it's face yet.
Harlow raised an eyebrow,
following his line of sight as he paced back and forth. She knew
he'd never done this before, training a group of men to be heroes
of some sort.
She let out a silent
chuckle. Robin Hood wasn't training them to be thieves. No, he was
training them to protect the fugitives from the law of the king,
which really wasn't that bad a thing in her opinion; although, she
couldn't help but wonder what turned a hardened thief into some
kind of fighting force.
It seemed to Harlow that
Robin Hood had just transformed overnight. It was obvious from the
tales that Robin really wasn't interested in a war between good and
evil. He didn't really care when King Edward II was in reign, and
even received a bit of a full pardon from him. But, now that King
Wesley was in power, he seemed grief-stricken.
Harlow wondered what had
changed. Why was this battle between supposed good and evil being
undertaken by Robin Hood, of all men?
“ Alright,
men,” Robin started, looking around the group. Several torches lit
the forest around the congregation. Harlow spotted Aldridge at the
edge of the group, holding a torch as he rubbed his tired
eyes.
Harlow wasn't as tired as
everyone else; she'd slept early and hadn't trained as hard the
previous day. Still, she wiped her eyes of sleep as she stood in
the midst of the large group of men.
Robin turned to the dark
forest beyond. “We're going to have a bit of an assessment this
morning.” He said, motioning to the dark woods beyond. “I suppose
you could think of it as a game.” He turned back to the group of
men. “The first team to capture the opposing groups' flags and
makes it back to their starting point, wins.”
The recruits looked around
at each other. “What is the point of this game?” One slightly
frustrated, and sleep-deprived man, called out from the depths of
the group.
Robin raised an eyebrow.
“Do I need a reason to wake up my recruits and give them
instructions?” He asked, booming the words as a warning. He sighed,
looking over their faces, knowing their irritation. “But, if you
must know,” He looked to the woods. “It's a strategic exercise, to
make sure you know what you're doing in the midst of
danger.”
“ Isn't it a
little dangerous to use arrows like this? We could kill each other
this way.” A recruit name Arelyn spoke up first.
Robin rolled his eyes
nonchalantly. “We're not using real arrows. We'll be giving you
these.” He head up an arrow with no arrow head. “We call them
faux-arrows.”
Harlow nodded loosely,
looking around the group as she thought about how the faux-arrows
were just sticks with feathers on the ends.
Her eyes landed on Enders
as she got lost in her thoughts.
He was tired, she could
tell, but, she already knew he was exhausted from yesterday's
training. She'd spent time practicing with him for a few hours
before she left him to Reggie, who wouldn't relent on practice
until he won at least once. That could have taken hours.
She noticed, in the dark
lighting, a small bruise on his cheek, no doubt from yesterday. She
tried to remember him without some kind of blemish or mark on his
face.
She couldn't think of a
single time.
Ever since they'd started
training, he'd always taken a hit somewhere, leaving a mark to
remember it by.
That wasn't the only thing
that she noticed about him. She could tell he was stronger. He'd
gained muscle and lost some weight. He was fit, but she found
herself worried that he'd become malnourished.
Harlow tried to fight her
heart beat as she stared at him, willing herself to suppress the
growing butterflies in her stomach. It was hard to ignore him, and
she found herself engulfed by his very presence, only to fall back
to reality as Robin rattled off the names of who would be on whose
teams.
“
*~*~*
Robin stood, hands planted
on his hips in a masculine undertone, surveying the groggy
recruits. The sun hadn't even shown it's face yet.
Harlow raised an eyebrow,
following his line of sight as he paced back and forth. She knew
he'd never done this before, training a group of men to be heroes
of some sort.
She let out a silent
chuckle. Robin Hood wasn't training them to be thieves. No, he was
training them to protect the fugitives from the law of the king,
which really wasn't that bad a thing in her opinion; although, she
couldn't help but wonder what turned a hardened thief into some
kind of fighting force.
It seemed to Harlow that
Robin Hood had just transformed overnight. It was obvious from the
tales that Robin really wasn't interested in a war between good and
evil. He didn't really care when King Edward II was in reign, and
even received a bit of a full pardon from him. But, now that King
Wesley was in power, he seemed grief-stricken.
Harlow wondered what had
changed. Why was this battle between supposed good and evil being
undertaken by Robin Hood, of all men?
“ Alright,
men,” Robin started, looking around the group. Several torches lit
the forest around the congregation. Harlow spotted Aldridge at the
edge of the group, holding a torch as he rubbed his tired
eyes.
Harlow wasn't as tired as
everyone else; she'd slept early and hadn't trained as hard the
previous day. Still, she wiped her eyes of sleep as she stood in
the midst of the large group of men.
Robin turned to the dark
forest beyond. “We're going to have a bit of an assessment this
morning.” He said, motioning to the dark woods beyond. “I suppose
you could think of it as a game.” He turned back to the group of
men. “The first team to capture the opposing groups' flags and
makes it back to their starting point, wins.”
The recruits looked around
at each other. “What is the point of this game?” One slightly
frustrated, and sleep-deprived man, called out from the depths of
the group.
Robin raised an eyebrow.
“Do I need a reason to wake up my recruits and give them
instructions?” He asked, booming the words as a warning. He sighed,
looking over their faces, knowing their irritation. “But, if you
must know,” He looked to the woods. “It's a strategic exercise, to
make sure you know what you're doing in the midst of
danger.”
“ Isn't it a
little dangerous to use arrows like this? We could kill each other
this way.” A recruit name Arelyn spoke up first.
Robin rolled his eyes
nonchalantly. “We're not using real arrows. We'll be giving you
these.” He head up an arrow with no arrow head. “We call them
faux-arrows.”
Harlow nodded loosely,
looking around the group as she thought about how the faux-arrows
were just sticks with feathers on the ends.
Her eyes landed on Enders
as she got lost in her thoughts.
He was tired, she could
tell, but, she already knew he was exhausted from yesterday's
training. She'd spent time practicing with him for a few hours
before she left him to Reggie, who wouldn't relent on practice
until he won at least once. That could have taken hours.
She noticed, in the dark
lighting, a small bruise on his cheek, no doubt from yesterday. She
tried to remember him without some kind of blemish or mark on his
face.
She couldn't think of a
single time.
Ever since they'd started
training, he'd always taken a hit somewhere, leaving a mark to
remember it by.
That wasn't the only thing
that she noticed about him. She could tell he was stronger. He'd
gained muscle and lost some weight. He was fit, but she found
herself worried that he'd become malnourished.
Harlow tried to fight her
heart beat as she stared at him, willing herself to suppress the
growing butterflies in her stomach. It was hard to ignore him, and
she found herself engulfed by his very presence, only to fall back
to reality as Robin rattled off the names of who would be on whose
teams.
“
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