Authors Note: Why HELLO, how are we all?
Yes, it has been rather a while…I am SO SORRY to anyone who is still out there caring about this story lol. My only, feeble, excuse is that I went overseas for a fair chunk of time, but before I left I had intended to finish this story, but then got awful, awful writers block. Anyway. I am terribly sorry, but here is the last cherry on the cake of this story. I think now it feels more complete than it did before.
There are some ideas for a sequel in the works too, (hopefully).
Thankyou again to all you MARVELLOUS, AMAZING people who have been reading this story, especially all you who have been with me from the start (and what a LONG journey its been lol.)
Also, I haven't done Much's P.OV yet (I don't think), so here is my first and last attempt at that lol.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
They were holding hands. Again.
Much made a faintly disgusted noise as he walked towards them, thumping his feet on the ground and hitting a stick against nearby trees, making it perfectly obvious that he was nearby so that they didn't think that he was sneaking up on them.
"Robin wants you" he shouted as soon as he judged he was close enough. He hoped that his voice would carry over the sweet nothings they were most likely whispering in one anothers ears.
There was no response and Much sighed again, and doubled his efforts to make noise. He started down the hill towards where they were sitting, backs to him, hands entangled.
It was still taking some getting used to, all the changes that had been going on in the past month or so. Of course there were the big differences, Marian's presence in the gang being one, the continued absence of the sheriff reducing their work load being another. But there were small things too. Whereas before the camp was always, always filled with the quiet scratch of a knife on wood this sound was rarer now, seeing as Will's hands were more often than not to be found paired with Djaq's. Allan was different too, filled with a new hardness and determination to the cause that Much hadn't seen in him before, the incident. He still joked and laughed, but there was an edge to his comedy, a need to be part of every mission whereas before he might have deferred (or hidden from) responsibility.
And of course, there was the constant need to make noise as one walked in the forest near their camps, for fear of coming across one or other of the resident couples. Much had taken to carrying his stick with him, whacking it against trees and the undergrowth as a sort of early warning system. Little John's reaction had merely been to try and leave the camp as little as possible when one or other of the couples was unaccounted for. Allan on the other hand seemed to derive a certain pleasure from surprising them, especially Will and Djaq, mostly because Will remained a fascinating shade of red for the rest of the day after being interrupted.
He was almost half way down the hill, crunching the leaves beneath his feet as loudly as possible, and he tried calling out to them again.
"Oy! You two! We're having a meeting if you would care to join us?"
Will looked up with a startled glance, a sheepish redness beginning to cover his face.
"What about?"
"Who knows." Much replied, turning to make his way back up the hill. "But he was pretty adamant we needed to be there pretty quickly".
He didn't want to watch what he knew would be going on behind him. Djaq helping Will gingerly bring himself to his feet, the dogged, careful steps he would take as he made his way back up the hill, as though every movement was a determined effort. The bruises on his face were gone now, though they had certainly taken their time, working their way through the colour spectrum before finally letting go. Once the clearest evidence of the injuries was gone, the splotches of colour that they saw everyday, it had felt like the recovery should be almost complete. But this was not the case at all. Ribs that had been broken were still healing slowly, and needed to be protected from jostling at all costs. Much, who knew far more about medicine than anyone but Djaq gave him credit for, knew that beneath Will's loose fitting shirts, which dwarfed his already far to thin body, there were burn scars that would probably stay with him forever.
It was hard on all of them, the continued evidence that their gang had come so close to being ripped to shreds. Both Allan and Will still fought enemies in their sleep, Will shouting and twisting, Allan going suddenly rigid, and then falling limp, silent tears colouring his cheeks.
But Much knew that while it seemed like they were so far from recovery they were also slowly but surely moving back to normality. Banter passed among them, as sharp as it had always been, and even Marian, at first confused by just how mean the men could be to one another was catching on to the underlying meaning of their harsh words.
They were almost back at the camp now, this one set in between two steep-ish ridges, hidden by a thick covering of trees. The rest of the group were already there waiting, Allan looking like he had just been shaken awake from a nice leisurely sleep in, John swinging his staff restlessly, Marian looking confused and anxious. Robin was the same as he had been when Much left on his mission to find the other two. He was pacing, an energy in his step that Much hadn't seen for weeks. They had of course resumed their duties to help the poor almost as soon as Will woke up. Even though the sheriff was gone he had clearly left instructions that his soldiers were following to the letter. The forest was still carefully patrolled, though not in the numbers that it had been in the past, amounting to more of an annoyance than anything else. The people were still routinely overtaxed, sheriff's men knocking down homes and throwing the innocent in jail. But there was no real sense of danger without the sheriff there, Robin and his men easily completing a few jail breaks, and continuing their regular food distributions without serious thought.
As soon as Much had seen the way Robin was holding himself he had known that something big was happening, and he had been trying not to think what it could be as e trooped off to find the missing love birds.
"Found them then Much?" Allan sounded distinctly childish, as he always did when he had just been woken up, but at the same time it was clear he too realised something big was going on.
Robin looked up, noticing him for the first time. Much took a seat on a log as Will and Djaq meandered into view, Djaq keeping her pace deliberately slow so that Will could keep up.
"Robin." She had noticed the change of energy in the camp too. "Robin, what is going on?"
He stopped his agitated movements and looked up.
"The Sheriff and Gisbourne have returned to Nottingham."
The speed at which everyone's eyes found Robin would have been comical had the situation not been so serious. Much was sure he gave himself whiplash, snapping his head up from staring at the ground.
Robin continued, "We went into Nettlestone for a distribution this morning and he was there, sounding off to the people about where he had been."
John nodded to confirm this, he had apparently accompanied Robin on the distribution.
"Where has he been?" Djaq asked, apprehensive, "did he say why he has been gone so long?"
"We weren't there for his whole rant, you know what he's like. From what I could tell he's been in London, meeting Prince John."
There was a moment as the group's eyes widened.
"Prince John?" There was a desperate disbelief to Allan's tone, as though begging Robin to say he made a mistake. "I wouldn't have thought that the sheriff was a big enough player to interest him. Surely not."
Robin shook his head. "He'd definitely been to London. From the sound of it he and the Prince are pretty cosy. They must have a pretty impressive little plan coming along."
They all took a moment to absorb this bombshell. Much had always known, as the rest of the group did, that the Sheriff would be back. They had just all been hoping that it wouldn't be anytime soon. They had been spoiled by his unexpected and unexplainable disappearance, right when they had expected he would hit them the hardest, and had since been hoping that he would stay away just a bit longer, just until Will could sit up in bed, just until Allan started eating again, just until the bruises were gone…Now that he was back there would be the nagging, terrifying worry in the back of all their minds, were they ready to go against him again? There would be no more sleep walking through their duties, keeping all their energy for continuing to tread on eggshells at the camp and try to help Will's recovery. This was going to be the real deal.
Much shuddered. The events of a month ago had been too close, painting too clear a picture of just how dangerous their chosen profession was. He knew that now when they went into the castle, went on a distribution in a village, even stepped out of their carefully constructed camps there would always be a fear in the back of their minds of just what could happen. Though he had never seen their job as an adventure previously, now no one would.
He looked up to the rest of them, all of whom were lost in thought. It was clear that this was a defining moment. He wondered what Will and Allan would do, how they would react. Robin had confided that he had not expected Will and Djaq to hang around after his injuries had healed to a point where they could travel, apparently he did not think that the young carpenter would recover to a point where he could participate as one of the gang again. Much, personally, did not agree, but this would be the moment where they would find out.
Will, head down, hand in Djaq's, was clearly aware of the scrutiny he was under. Allan's gaze was particularly penetrating.
The carpenter looked up, meeting Robin's worried gaze.
"So, everything is going to be getting pretty intense now you reckon?"
Robin nodded.
"I think we're going to need a better camp then."
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
And there it is, the end of the story. I think if you squint it can kind of fit in between season one and season 2, so there you go.
Thankyou once again for all your amazing feedback! Love you all. I have a couple oneshots and maybe a sequel up my sleeve, so might be talking to you all soon! Thankyou for sticking with the story, and I hope that the little epilogue gives some better closure than the last chapter!
Love
-Capt.Cow