The Tales of Robin Hood

Chapter 15 - Robin

“William!”

I don’t know why I screamed his name, I just did.  I don’t know why I thought he’d come to my rescue, get me out of here, but for some reason my brain was screaming it at me.

He had seen; the Head had seen me use it.  All I was trying to do was heal my cut, and he caught me in the middle of it.  He had dragged me in here, pushing painfully on my thigh the entire time.  Now it looked sickly, like it’d forever be there, taunting me.  Hurting me.  A scar I’ll never forget.

“Robin!”

I stood and saw William himself stop in front of me.  I opened my mouth to say something, but he was already grabbing a rock the size of his palm and banging it against the lock. “I’m fine,” I said, letting out a small squeak of surprise when the lock hit the ground.  He opened the door, and…

…hugged me.

I don’t know why, but I don’t care.  I ignored the pain in my thigh and focused on him.  He looked—and smelled—awful, but I didn’t care.

Until, that is, the door shut.

“You didn’t think you’d get away that easily, did you?”

It was Him.  The Head.  He stood there with a smirk, amused by how we had been so stupid, not running first chance we got.  He waved a hand and my right arm shot into William’s left, wrapped in rope and cloth all the way up to my elbow.

“Take all her magic this time, okay?” he asked, walking away with that.

I looked at William at the same time he looked at me, taking in his appearance.  He was covered in blood like me, making his clothes and hair look darker.  He didn’t look like himself, he looked so different.  Skinnier, too.  But we both probably look that way, only having one meal in the time we’ve been here…and who knows how long that’s been?

“Did you really get your Magics back?” he asked, and the fact that he knew that gave me hope, one of the others must’ve told him.  They probably escaped.

“Yeah,” I said, smiling. “And they seem to be stronger than before.”

“How so?” he asked, and my heart fluttered in my chest…but I don’t get why.

“Well,” I started, looking down to my feet to avoid any more thoughts like that, “I made food appear.  No girl’s ever been able to do that before.”

“Wow,” he said, then yawned and I glanced up to see him looking tired. “Have you gotten any sleep?”

The blood.  The drowning, burning of my lungs.  Throwing up all of Nick’s blood…it’s still all my fault he’s dead…no, stop it. “No,” I said with a yawn. “I didn’t want to wake up in an awful dream.”

“You should get some sleep.  I’ll stay awake.”

“No,” I said. “You should get some, you just tried to escape, you need it more.” Plus, I’d like to see your peaceful expression in the mist of sleep.  Wait, what?  Where’d that come from?

“I won’t stop insisting that you sleep until you do, so I suggest we cut this short and you give in,” he said, and I glared at him to hide the fact that butterflies were swarming in my stomach.  I rolled my eyes and gave up, bending down to ease the pain in my thigh and sleep.

“Fine,” I said, him coming down with me. “But you’re getting some sleep after.”

I laid down in the dust and closed my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

At first it was the peaceful darkness I had missed, making me feel absolutely amazing and rested.  Even if I had probably only slept for a few minutes, I felt so much better, and I loved it all.

That is, until the nightmare came.

“William?”

He was just suddenly next to me, and I was afraid of what would come next.

“Robin, I-I’m so sorry,” he said quickly. “I must’ve fallen asleep by accident.”

Fear crashed over me like a wave, and that’s when I realized fear wasn’t the only thing to do that.

There was water everywhere, filling in the space where we had stood heartbeats before.  I swam to stay at the top, but I was still weak from lack of food and sleep, it wasn’t long before I went under, red flakes of blood floating to the top all around me until there weren’t any left.  My hair flowed out around me, the blood leaving it in flakes and clouds of red.  The strands seemed to be fierier than I’ve ever seen them, shining in the light the water reflected.  My chest hurt and I beat against the ocean around me, trying my best to get back to the surface, but I wasn’t even sure which way was up.

Then, I saw William swimming towards me, grabbing my hand and pulling me up.  I don’t know how he could have much strength, being locked in a prison and all, but somehow he dragged me toward the surface.  I had already given up, though, closing my eyes and letting the water take me.  The little breath I had in my lungs left me, and I let the darkness take hold.

Whatever happens in it comes true in real life.  If you had died in the dream…

I hit solid ground and stood, all pain seeming to leave me.  I was fine, peaceful.  I was in a beautiful place filled with long grass, butterflies, and blossoming trees.

“Where am I?” I asked no one, smiling and walking over to a cherry tree, admiring the pretty little flowers that seemed so perfect.  Butterflies surrounded me and I held out a hand, a big, beautiful light blue one landing on my fingers.  I laughed and took everything in, loving every bit of this place.

“Do you want to stay?”

I turned around as the butterflies flew away, leaving me alone to look at William.

“What’re you doing here?” I asked, walking up to him.

“Do you want to stay?” he repeated.

“Sure,” I said, stopping a foot away from him. “Don’t you?”

He smiled, looking at me with gleaming green eyes, making my heart swell. “With you?  Of course.”

I felt like I was floating, but I don’t know why.  Just the thought of him staying here because of me made me feel like dancing through the grasses, jumping to the clouds and riding them through the sky…I felt—happy.  I finally felt truly happy.  But…why?

“Wh-why?” I stuttered.

He let out a chuckle, his lips tugging upward into a bigger smile.

“Because you’re amazing,” he said, closing the gap between us. “Because you’re you.”

He leaned down, his eyes looking deep into mine.  I felt like all the butterflies had reappeared as his lips grazed mine, and he kissed me.

And I kissed him back.

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A/N: So hey, y'all.  Sorry for the kinda short chapter, but I thought that's the best place to stop it and kill all my readers with the will to read the next chapter.  You are whalecum.  I'll update as soon as I can [again] so don't worry.  I'll type as fast as my fingers will let me!  Otay, I'm done now.

Oh, wait.  I must remind you again, Emma, to vote.  Since I know you'll forget.  Or ignore me.  But I've told you, so now you can't use the 'oops, forgot' excuse.

~Stay cwawesome!