Start With A Confession; Move To A Concession

[Robin Of The Woods]

Well this was not his best day ever! Robert was in the process of climbing into the back window of one of the local churches. It was a tight fit but he managed to turn, suck in, and shift things so he could fall on his head and get in. He pushed up from the ground and ran to the door just as a few arrows few at him, and landed in the deep oak instead of his thick hide. "You missed me fellows!" He yelled back to them.

With their armor, the fools wouldn't be follow him but they have to run around and get in side and them look for him. Robert ran out into the hall, and in his haste didn't quite make the turn, stumbling into the wall on the other side before moving to keep running. Really! Burn one little tax collect's carriage and everyone gets bent out of share!

He passed one of the open door ways and paused, taking a few steps backwards he looked over to his right with a grin. Oh the cleverness of me, he thought as he reached in and pulled on a brown robe. Then he start seeking out a place to hide . . . .

[Allan A'Dayle]

Allan A'Dayle

------Bloody Hell! You look at someone the wrong way, or you give a little wink to a taken woman, or you accidentally stumble into ones table... and all hell breaks loose. Unfortunately, Allan had done all three of these things and it did not take long for the consequences of his actions to be unleashed. Fortunately, he had avoided a good beating, because everyone quickly got involved. That was the beauty of a bar fight. Once one person was angry, it was like a ripple effect and everyone joined in the fun. Stumbling about, too drunk to be fully aware of their surroundings. Luckily for Allan, he had not quite reached the point of complete intoxication so he had been coherent enough to high tail it out of there just as things intensified.

------But things only seemed to get worse. For the moment Allan had stepped outside, there was a hoard of a crowd. He found himself going in the opposite direction however, wanting to get out of the hustle and bustle rather than just flow with it like a wave getting lost at sea. Unfortunately, he had made the wrong choice. By the time he could actually breath again he came across a burning carriage. Now he may not be the most intelligent person, but he knew what a tax collectors carriage looked like. Everyone did! And this one was on fire! Allan just stared at it, his instincts acting a little slow for it was not until he saw guards running towards him that he realized what it looked like. Him... they... the guards thought... and now was the time to run.

------Despite his innocence, he knew that the evidence made him look pretty damn guilty. And he was just a peasant. No one would take his word over what the guards saw with their own eyes, or assumed to see. So instead, he just found himself racing towards any place that would provide a good hiding spot. And then God shined down on him for not too far, there was a church! He made a mental note to pray that night as he ran inside the sacred building that would become his sanctuary. He did not even think of where he was going, only running towards the best place of concealment: the confessional. Quickly getting inside, he collapsed on the small bench in the confessional, trying to catch his breath. He leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and focusing on breathing... that is, until he head a noise on the other side.

------Allan jolted in an upright position. Now he was no religious man. He held his faith but really was not a practicing nor particularly religious individual. He didn't pray, he didn't go out of his way to be virtuous or follow the teachings of the holy book, nor did he attend mass. So being caught in this position would not be good at all. He could not very well tell a priest that he came here to hide. Could he? Depended on the priest right? Well, he just had to be sure. So finally, he spoke. "Father?" He asked, his voice filled with reluctance , as he tried to peek his eyes through the gated barrier. Things had just gotten from bad, to worse, to terrible!

[Robin Of The Woods]

Down here? No. Over there? Hmm, nope. Robert finally opened one door that did not lead to a single room and ran into it. It took only a second to see he was in the main part of the church. This wasn't good! At the same moment the doors started to open for the guards to come in. Damn damn damn! He turned and ducked into the first hiding spot he could--the confession box. Pulling the small nothing of a drab over he peeked out of it.

That was when he heard someone ask for their father. Oh bloody hell someone wanted to confess something. He looked at the grate to see a vague shadow trying to look in at him. Smacking his hand hard on it so the person would have to back off, "Get back in your box." He looked out at the men again before looking at the fool. "Your forgiven, and we're busy. Go about your way and and come again another day."

Because when this fool stood, then they would move in questioning him and Robert could make a run for it.

[Allan A'Dayle]

Allan A'Dayle

------Good gosh! Were all priests this cranky?! That did not seem very priest like. Then again, Allan did not exactly know what 'priest like' was. But they had their stereotypes and cliches... he would just base his perceptions off that. And right now, this priest was definitely against the norm. When he slammed his hand on the gate, Allan instintively moved back, rather unimpressed with this preist's attitude. But one did not blurt that out to such a religious figure. Would he be damned to hell if he did? Well either way, he needed to find a reason to stay in here until the guards were gone, or enough time had passed for him to be certain that they weren't lurking about. When the priest went on to say he was 'busy' in the context of a rhyming sentence, Allan was sure of it now: sure that this priest had anger management issues.

------But again, even if Allan was not a religious man, he did not want to be condemned to hell. So he would have to be 'polite'. Besides, was it not a sin to deny a person their confession? He was in the confessional after all. Why else would a priest be in here if it was not to listen to another relieve their sins? What was it that people said to priests? That infamous line that they started with... Ah yes! "But, forgive me father fer I 'ave sinned." Excellent start Allan; excellent start! "And I can not allow my soul or conscience to rest until I 'ave confessed." Wow! He was on a roll today! This was where impersonating others came in handy, for right now; he was impersonating a devout, guilt-ridden Christian citizen.

[Robin Of The Woods]

Bloody idiot! Robert bit back a growl of annoyance and bit back the urge to hit the man. Honestly, he knew the poor burger was just trying to save his soul but right now Robert was trying to save his own arse! "Son, even greater men sin at least four times a day. Go collect some more sin, and come back to confess when you have more to say."

Robert leaned away from the screen to peek out at the sheriff's lackeys noticing that they seem to be in two groups. One of them were talking to a one of the monks and the others were looking down each row of benches trying to see if there was anything of note. The church was poor but Robert knew that there were often trap doors and hidden rooms that monks would hide things they did not want thieves to know about.

[Allan A'Dayle]

Allan A'Dayle

------Of all the churches, with all the priests... Allan had to get stuck with the one who was missing the virtue of patience. Yes. Even Allan knew that patience was a virtue. Why was this priest so impatient? Alright well granted, he did not know that Allan's life depended on remaining here for as long as possible, but still! He should not be telling him to go off an sin. Surely that was crossing some sort of line, somewhere, somehow. Allan was not about to give up either. He was stuck here and he was going to make it seem pretty damn convincing that he was a man in need of spiritual cleaning. "But what if I die before then? No way to be sure when yer time comes. I need to confess!" He tried to make himself sound desperate so that he would manage to evoke some sympathy from the priest. Though he did not exactly seem like the compassionate type.

------And in further attempt to make known his desperation, he decided to make note of something he had silently acknowledged. But which only added to his confusion as to why the priest was reluctant to hear his confession. "This is after all a confessional. And you a priest." Unless he was totally mistaken on the entire thing. But the man had called him son, and what kind of person impersonate a priest? Well, Allan may do it. But not in a confessional! ... Just on the other end. He certainly did not believe the irony of someone else hiding out in this exact same location was possible, so the thought barley entered his mind. No. The man on the other end had to be a priest.

[Robin Of The Woods]

Bugger man! "Alright, alright! What could you have possibly done that is so great that your immortal soul could not wait even for sleep for fear of death and hell?" He asked glaring at the screen between them. This better be good! The man better have sleep with some woman and killed her husband in a drunken battle of pride and greed or something! Really, the man seemed to think he had to confess right this very second!

He ignored the guards for the moment, but his hears were on the lookout for a sound of footsteps or voices to alert him that they were drawing near. He knew they would not look into this side of the box for fear of being damned but he didn't plan to test that out. He wanted this guy as a distraction and his escape to work out with out getting shot in the back.

[Allan A'Dayle]

Allan A'Dayle

------Ah well... damn. Allan really had not thought that far ahead. But, if there was something he could actually do it was make up things on the spot: improvise! He was a minstrel after all, pat of his talent was creating tales and myths worthy of song. "I slept with another man's wife." Not that he saw that as a sin, but it was indeed a sin in the Catholic religion... was it not? "More than once," he added, trying to overplay the guilty tone he had in his voice. For he felt no guilt at all, but he had to at least act repentant. "And I fear I may do it again!" There!

------Now, a normal priest surely would not dismiss him if he feared of committing the same sin. It would appear as if he came here for guidance and advice to put him on the righteous path, or whatever it was they said at mass. But who knows with this priest. He seemed so very impatient, sarcastic and less than amicable. However Allan had no choice but to keep him in his confessional and to remain in his portion. Until he was absolutely sure the guards were gone. Which could be a while. So hopefully no other desperate Christian would come charging into the Church to confess to the priest. Hopefully, he had the priest's undivided attention which he was clearly taking advantage of.

[Robin Of The Woods]

"Well, bloody hell man! If your going to do it again come back afterwards. No one wants to hear you confess the same damn thing over and over again." Really now! Just get off your arse and get to distracting the guards! How hard was it? You did the crime, and you came here afterwards! Not came here because you were worried about doing crime.

Robert looked back at the guards. "I give you my son, go NOW in peace and know you are forgiven. Ta-ta! Off with you." Get lost. Move it or loose it. Unless he killed the man over sleeping with his unwilling wife and done it all while cheating on his dying wife and staving brats--Robert didn't care where the man dropped his pants. "Shooo!"

[Allan A'Dayle]

Allan A'Dayle

------What the hell kind of priest was this?! Ironic choice of words, but still! What kind of priest told a person to go off and sin and then just come after it was done? Allan may not know much about following the bible word for word, but should he not be dissuading him to not commit another sin? Not encouraging him to do it again and then just come back. Allan was not sure why he was over analyzing this crazy priest's mind. Perhaps it was because he was just desperate to keep him here, and the priest seemed desperate to get rid of him. What an unfortunate contradiction. "I need guidance father," he told him. He could not criticize the priest by making it sound like he knew more about his job than he did... so he would just drag this out.

------For as long as he could. "I feel so lost. As if I am on the wrong path!" He always ended up on a strange path... for he was the kind of man who was always at the wrong place at the wrong time. Though he still enjoyed life for what it through at him. "I am in dire need of your advice father. Tell me, what should I do to keep from the temptation of woman? You should know much about this..." Since priests were supposed to be celibate and all. "How is it that you do not give in to such temptation?" Allan was not the kind of man who got embarrassed easily, regardless of the topic of conversation. But it was never an easy thing to speak to another man, especially priest, about his sex life... or lack there of.

[Robin Of The Woods]

"On the wrong path? It lead you into a church you moron, how wrong can it be?" This bloke was out of his mind. Really, when someone told you to shooo, you took the hint and shoooo-ed on! How dim did you be to sit there and ask for more shooo-ing? "My advice is to go North. London's there." More temptation, more girls, more guards. "That's a good path for you."

Wait! What was he talking about? "I happen to believe that in order fight sin, you must know sin well. I don't hold back, but embrace it so I can better tell others how to avoid it." Or tempted them further into it. "Go embrace it, and them return after you have learned it's evil rather then pleasures and come back when your sorry and wont do ti again. Only then the can you be forgiven. Off with you lad."

[Allan A'Dayle]

Allan A'Dayle

------Allan was utterly confused! What was this priest talking about? He had tried to keep up but he had lost him after he had called him a moron. Ir perhaps it was the whole notion of him encouraging Allan to sin, even giving suggestions of how to do it. What kind of logic was 'in order to fight sin, you must know sin well'. That sounded like a strategy in battle, that whole idea if better knowing your opponent. But sin was supposed to be avoided, was it not? This priest made no sense whatsoever! Allan may not know a great deal about his faith, but he knew when a priest was giving bad advice, and this priest's advice was utter rubbish. Could he say that to him?

------Perhaps not. He still needed to claim sanctuary in this place. He did not want to be shooed out of his safe spot! So he needed to think of something else to say since all his plans were backfiring. "I stole two loaves of bread from a baker! I attacked a man, though it was actually more self defense then anythin'! I eat my fill even though I should spare some for others! I haven't been to Church since I was a young lad; I never even read the bible!" Now, Allan was just rambling because as one sin totally backfired, he needed to find the priest's source of interest to carry on this conversation. "I stole coin from a guard, more than once! I accidentally hit a vendor with a stone the other day!"

------With his slingshot; at leas the didn't kill him though. Was it still a sin if he did it by accident? "I set the tax collector's carriage on fire!" Now that, was something he was not guilty of. But he just blurted it out, as his mind tried to frantically think of other sins that he had committed. There was a bloody long list of them! Surely one of these options would cause the priest to pause and offer better advice! Allan had done a lot in his life, yet for some reason he did not know what to confess. He was trying to think of recent things, for in the past he had not even considered how much he may be sinning. For while he held his faith, he was not a devoutly practicing Christian man. And yet, this particular priest did not seem to care.

[Robin Of The Woods]

"I stole two loaves of bread from a baker . . . . vendor with a stone the other day!" Robert could care less; and everything blurred together. While the man went on and on (AND ON) about deeds that Robert cared nothing about; Robert's mind was on the guards and his exit plan. He turned the man so completely out that he almost did not hear his last words and when he did; Robert's face turned to stare at the wall between them.

"I set the tax collector's carriage on fire!" He did . . . . bloody hell! The man was stealing his deeds! "Really now?!" He challenged. "I hear tell that was done by none other then Robin of the wood." His outlaw name; in which he rather hated but found use for. One the lower class name made them more willing to keep him secret and the other was it keep people who might not know from connecting him to his family. "Are you calming to be him?!"