King George's Kingdom - Forest - 7 Years BDC

[Hollywood Heidi]

King George's Kingdom - Forest

Events occurring 7 years before Dark Curse

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

I move slowly and silently through the forest following tracks said to have been caused by Redcaps with my arrow at the ready. The forest itself was still and silent for the most part, though I could hear things, things that didnt belong in a forest, voices maybe but they weren't my concern. I had heard that a wealthy noble who had attained his wealth through some morally despicable means was coming through this way and wanted to get what I need from him without running into the Redcaps. The tracks themselves weren't exactly fresh roughly made an hour ago and I counted at least three of them. I find a tree that gives me a good vantage point of the highway and surrounding area, I climb to the top and begin to plot my escape and the robbery itself, everything needs to go smoothly, so I sit and I wait focusing on my surroundings ready for whatever may come.

[Mary Margaret]

Snow White just kept walking. She didn't know what else to do. Her father was dead, her stepmother wanted her dead, and the only reason she was still breathing was because the Huntsman had decided to spare her. Maybe he would deliver her letter to the queen and all would be forgiven. But she doubted so many years of bitterness and resentment could be wiped away with a few pen strokes.

She wasn't even sure which direction she was going. The forest was so confusing, a maze of trees that went on forever in every direction. And what could be behind those trees? Every noise set her nerves on edge, even the ones she recognized as harmless birdsong. Maybe if she kept moving, the scary unseen things couldn't keep up with her. It was a sound plan. At least until the sun would go down.

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

I sat in the same spot of the tree not moving an inch when I heard some bushes rustling coming from down below, I ease back the strong and wait. A dark haired woman emerges from below, she looks lost with a hint of desperation following no particular heading, just walking. Unfortunately for her she is on the path that contained the Redcap tracks, I know I'm going to have to abandon the robbery and follow her, just in case she continues on this path and gets herself into something she cant get out of.

[Mary Margaret]

Her tears had thoroughly dried by now, and she figured she should be paying more attention to where she was walking. She needed to see and hear clearly. There was talk of strange creatures that lived in the forest; some meant no harm, but others did. The whistle the Huntsman had given her, while a very nice gesture, seemed a futile weapon against any real foe.

When she stopped to listen, she thought she heard the sound of movement other than hers, but she couldn't locate its source. It didn't come from the trees. There was silence there, which was disconcerting in its own right. No, the sound was somewhere on the ground, marked by the crunching of dried leaves.

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

She failed to get off the path and was now being hunted, toyed with, I watch from high up while I decide the best course of action. A Redcap gets close to her, too close for my liking, I pull back the string on my bow and send arrow gracefully flying into the Redcap's heart for a clean kill. I know I am going to have to get her out of here now and begin descending down the tree ever vigilant as now there will be are more Redcap's with more likely on there way now that there are two victims they can have. I follow her as she moves through the forest with more determination, I pick my pace up as the surrounding goblin like creatures do the same. I sneak up on her and gently put my hand over her mouth while whispering in her ear "Miss, I need you to do exactly as I say. I promise I wont hurt you now I'm going to let you go."

[Mary Margaret]

She heard the sound of something shooting through the air. No, she was definitely not alone here. She spun around but saw nothing apart from the trees. Then she gasped in surprise as a hand was placed over her mouth and a stranger's arms enveloped her.

"Miss, I need you to do exactly as I say. I promise I wont hurt you now I'm going to let you go."

By this point, Snow had had it with people trying to kill her or kidnap her. Her mind moved quickly from shock to fight or flight, and she opted for both. First, she hesitantly nodded her head to let the man know she agreed. When he loosened his grip and pulled his hand away, she thrust an elbow backward into his chest and began running.

But she didn't get far as her impractical royal clothing and ignorance of the woods tripped her up and sent her tumbling down. She recovered her bearings, wiping the long black hair mixed with dead leaves from her face, and found herself in front of a hideous creature. Small but decidedly menacing, a crimson wrap around its head and a gleaming blade clutched in its hand. She braced herself against the ground beneath and behind her as it began to close the distance between them. Okay, so maybe she should have listened instead of running.

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

The woman elbows me on the chest before running off, not the best idea given the circumstances, she wasn't from these parts her clothes were a dead give away. I draw another arrow from my quiver and slide it into my bow and pull back on the string as I dash toward the direction the woman ran to. When I catch up to her she has fallen over coming eye to eye with a Redcap, was listening to me really that bad an idea. I release the string on my bow causing an arrow to sail into the eye of the Redcap causing it to drop its blade and double over in pain. I draw my sword and move toward the woman slicing the belly open of a Redcap that had lunged from a shrubbery near her. I reach down and pull the woman up I give her a quick look and she doesn't appear to be injured so I hand her my sword and ready my bow. "Miss, I'm going to need you to stick the pointy end of the sword into anything that comes near you, the important thing to remember is not to stab me! I'm going to need you to follow my directions very carefully, can you climb?" I ask her as I shoot an arrow into a bush containing a Redcap.

[Mary Margaret]

"Um...I can try," she said, slowly realizing that she wasn't about to die. At least not at this particular moment. More of the creatures were appearing, and the sword he'd given her was much heavier than the one she practiced with at the palace. She spotted a tree with branches low enough to reach and made a dash for it, pausing only long enough to slice at one of the monsters that tried to block her path.

Since she didn't have a scabbard and needed both hands to climb, she stabbed the sword into the ground and reached for the lowest branch, pulling herself up onto it. She'd had practice climbing the queen's apple tree in the courtyard. Granted, if her stepmother found out she would have killed her, but that seemed a moot point now. She looked back at the stranger who'd saved her to make sure he was okay. "What now?" she called back to him.

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

"What now?" she called back to me as I shot another Redcap. "Climb higher, right to the top. We will do this one step at a time." I ran over to the tree and picked up my sword covering here while she climbed. When she was up the top I sheathed my sword then I began to climb up reaching her in no time. I looked at her and informed her "Everything will be fine, I promise Ill get you out of here." I then took a couple of steps before leaping off a branch into the neighboring tree." I reach out ready to catch her "I'm going to need you to jump to me."

[Mary Margaret]

"Um...uh..." Snow felt like saying she had very strong reservations about this man's escape plan, but the ground below continued to become more hostile. And it seemed very far below. No time to let fear of heights stand in the way, though.

He'd made it look so easy. It was clear traveling through the treetops was second nature to him. She took a deep breath and a running start along what she hoped was a secure branch before leaping toward his outstretched arms.

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

I caught her in my arms and helped her along the branch. "That wasn't so hard was it? They do say the first time is always the hardest." I Shimmy around the tree leading her, slowly allowing her to get comfortable with the location of our get away. "No we just have to do this a few more times until we get into the territory of something bigger than the Redcaps." I inform the woman with a confident smile.

[Mary Margaret]

"They don't really teach tree-climbing at court," she informed him, doing her best to keep up as well as avoid looking down. "I suppose it's thought to be un-ladylike."

"No we just have to do this a few more times until we get into the territory of something bigger than the Redcaps."

"You mean there's something bigger, and scarier, than those...Redcaps?" She risked a glance downward to confirm that they were still there and still determined to do them harm.

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

"You mean there's something bigger, and scarier, than those...Redcaps?"

"There's always something bigger. Just up there and over to the left we begin to cross into the territory of a Earth Troll, and as long as we leave it alone it would cause us any harm. However we go too far left we enter the territory of a Jaberwocky and we really don't want to run into one of those, I barely escaped last time. By the way, you can call me Hood, Robin Hood."

[Mary Margaret]

"I never knew such creatures existed. I only heard of them in stories," she confided. At least this Robin Hood knew the forest and its dangers well enough. More than most people. Maybe someday, if she survived, she would learn why. "Everyone calls me Snow."

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

"I never knew such creatures existed. I only heard of them in stories."

"All stories have to start some where."

"Everyone calls me Snow."

Now that name was familiar to me I had seen it on a wanted poster, those posters of which Ive had my fair share of run ins with. Outlaws the called us, nothing but lowly thieves. "Snow, as in reward offered on Snow White?"

[Mary Margaret]

She paused and looked at him with wide eyes, bracing herself on the nearest branch. Perhaps honesty was no longer the best policy. The queen certainly wasn't going to make it easy for her to go on, even if she had escaped the huntsman's knife. "Well..." Snow began, "some stories aren't so true.

"But my father the king is dead, my stepmother wishes me the same, and I have no kingdom to call my own," she admitted in a breathless torrent of words. "If you wish a reward, the queen could give you far more than I."

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

"But my father the king is dead, my stepmother wishes me the same, and I have no kingdom to call my own if you wish a reward, the queen could give you far more than I."

I couldn't help but let out a slight laugh at how fast she explained everything. "Snow, don't worry I believe you, I have many a wanted poster of my own. Wanted the outlaw known as Robin of Sherwood AKA Robin Hood. Of all those charges on the posters I am only guilty of a few, I steal from the rich so the poor do not starve, I never harm the innocent and I help the helpless." After finishing my sentenced I jumped to another branch.

[Mary Margaret]

"I assure you I am both innocent and helpless at the moment," she declared. "Are we near the home of this Earth Troll yet?" After crossing to another tree, she looked back to see that they'd managed to put some distance between them and the Redcaps. She supposed they couldn't travel as quickly wearing such heavy iron boots.

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

I leap to another tree branch when I hear her ask "Are we near the home of this Earth Troll yet?" I notice that she's looking back in the direction of the Redcaps. "Dont let their iron shoes fool you, if you were to fall off the tree they would be at the bottom to catch you before you were half way down. We're close enough to its territory my guess is they are deciding if we are worth the risk, that or they know something we dont."

[Mary Margaret]

"Don't let their iron shoes fool you, if you were to fall off the tree they would be at the bottom to catch you before you were half way down. We're close enough to its territory my guess is they are deciding if we are worth the risk, that or they know something we don't."

"Oh, I am doing everything in my power not to fall," she retorted, consciously tightening her grip on the current tree trunk that held them aloft. "I suppose Earth trolls and Redcaps are not on friendly terms?"

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

"I suppose Earth trolls and Redcaps are not on friendly terms?"

"Redcaps dont know the meaning of friendly terms, if they think they can take it down its on their menu." I stop on my branch and look around, it was going to be night soon while I could find my way through the trees fine I had my doubts about Snows ability to leap make it back to my camp in a pitch black forest. I look at the tree and pull out my sword cutting a small piece off, the moss on the tree contracts as if in pain from the cut. "We are definitely in Earth Troll territory, now we are gonna have to climb down and find somewhere to hold up for the night Miss White."

[Mary Margaret]

"If you say so," she said with a swift nod. Despite the dangers that might still lie on the ground, it was preferable to spending more time in the trees. And he'd kept her alive so far. "But I'm afraid camping is not taught at court, either."

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

"But I'm afraid camping is not taught at court, either."

"I dont mean to offend you Miss White but how exactly did you intend on surviving in these woods? You dont look particularly... able..." I begin to slowly climb down being mindful of my surroundings just encase something decided to be brave and rush at them. "I grew up in and around woods my entire life making a camp to last the night is no problem, there is a spot about an hours walk from here where a large tree has fallen down which will provide us some cover from the approaching night."

[Mary Margaret]

"I'm afraid there wasn't much intent of surviving," Snow confided. "There was a huntsman sent by the queen to kill me. I knew even when I escaped, I could not avoid him in these woods. But he took pity on me, and told me to run. To where, I do not know.

"So you are right, I am poorly equipped to survive. I just know that I must learn how," she declared. "Or find another kingdom far enough away that my stepmother cannot find me."

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

"So you are right, I am poorly equipped to survive. I just know that I must learn how, or find another kingdom far enough away that my stepmother cannot find me."

My feet were finally on the ground again as I helped the princess down. "Again Miss White I do not mean to tell you your business but are you really going to just roll over and die? I know if it were my kingdom I would fight, she is a queen in title only, nothing more. She is ruling what should be your kingdom and your people..."

[Mary Margaret]

She laughed with a hint of sadness. "I am not fit to rule anyone, Robin. My father was a fair and goodly king. The people deserve someone of equal measure. But my stepmother, the queen...she has power," she explained. "Dark magic, the same as her mother. I confess she frightens me."

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

"I am not fit to rule anyone, Robin. My father was a fair and goodly king. The people deserve someone of equal measure. But my stepmother, the queen...she has power, dark magic, the same as her mother. I confess she frightens me."

I lead her through the woods towards the tree that had fallen over carefully always on my guard. "A leader doesn't rule with fear or powers. A leader deals in hope, the true measure of a leader is not where they stand in moments of comfort but where they stand at challenge and controversy. So based on that at the moment yes I would have to agree with you, you're not fit to rule anyone!"

[Mary Margaret]

"I beg your pardon?" she blurted, firmly affixing her feet to the ground where she stood and crossing her arms over her chest. There was a certain amount of agreeing with you that people did when one was royalty, and a certain lack of criticism, honest or not. "I did not ask for my current situation, and I hardly think I should listen to the opinion of a known outlaw."

[The Jester Of Tortuga]

Robin Hood

"I did not ask for my current situation, and I hardly think I should listen to the opinion of a known outlaw."

"Outlaw..." If she only knew that I was once a noblemen, a lord, Sire Robin Of Locksley it all seemed so far away now. I turned and looked at her "Welcome to the club your highness." I added in a melodramtic tone and giving her a faux bow.