Winning IS Everything [Robin]

[Robb Cooper]

It was the day of the grand tourney, and peasants and nobles alike had gathered from miles around to bear witness to men challenging one another to prove their supremacy. The stands were jammed-packed with chattering crowds, all excited to see the contestants line up before their targets, readying their bows in a bid to prove their supremacy. Or that was how the scene in Robb's head was unfolding.

In reality, a handful of the village boys had gathered just outside the city to show off their marksmanship. They had set up a couple of broken barrels to serve as targets, and instead of chattering crowds, all they had were a couple of chittering crows perched on the city wall overlooking their little game field. Of course Robb had to be one of the participants; it would do his Grandfather's spirit proud to see him win this competition! Almost all of their bows were homemade, as were their arrows, but for the most part they were of sound quality; if you were going to put the time into making a bow, you were going to make it to last. Or you were going to try to. Robb had a few failures of his own that could attest to that, but the bow he held now was one he could be proud of.

They didn't have enough targets for everyone to shoot at different ones, so they lined up and took it in turns to aim at the barrels. Most of them fell short or went wide and flew over the barrels entirely, causing the others to erupt with laughter. When it was Robb's turn, he took a deep breath, just as his Granddad had taught him, drawing back the string and taking aim. Exhaling, he tried to feel for the right moment, and then released the string...the arrow just grazed the edge of the target, before whizzing past to land a few feet beyond. Well...it was better than anyone else had managed yet!

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[Robin Of The Woods]

The locals were so cute. Not in the awww; sort of way but in the 'what the hell' sort of way. Robert was a few dozen feet back from the boys who were trying to shoot. His one hand was filled with berries and he would eat a few ever now and then while watching their mistakes and the few who were they cheer and laugh and mock. Innocence was bliss.

Robert wasn't going to join sheriff's fun today; but nor did he want it peaceful. He was planning on showing up; letting a few gossips see him and let them spread the word. By the time it reached the nobles and the games--everyone would know 'Robin' was close by. Every noble would be inspected; every guard summoned; and everyone would be looking for him.

Meanwhile; Robert would be back home climbing into bed.

It would make the sheriff look like he was jumping at shadows; and was frightened at this name. These boys would be the perfect way to keep the chaos going. Pouring the berries into his mouth; Robert took out his own bow and one arrow. Then he dropped to one knee as the last boy--one he almost recognized from his own manner but wasn't sure--was about to shoot a second time. Right as the child let the arrow go; Robert did as well. It caused both of them to hit the center of the target they were using.

At least he had their attention; and if they were smart and bragged to everyone; or even just told others then the rumors would be spreading. Meanwhile; he needed to disappear.

[Robb Cooper]

Robb was taking his time with his next shot, lining it up, ignoring the calls of the others for him to just hurry up and shoot, already. But even as he let the arrow fly, he knew it was off course, just by the feel of it, it would go wide again. Hence his surprise when he heard the satisfying thunk of it embedding itself in the wood of the barrel, only to be double when he noticed there was not one, but two arrows sticking out of the target. And he was overcome with excitement when he realized there was only one man who could make that shot.

Everyone else was still pointing and working out what had happened after Robb took off, using what his grandfather had taught him to trace the arrow back to where it must've come from, and then tracking from there. He had to be quick! He knew how fast Robin could be from experience; every time he tried to track him down after hearing about a rumor or a sighting, he got there too late and the bandit king was already gone. But not this time! He wasn't working on rumors or hearsay, he was the eye witness this time! And he'd track Robin down no matter what it took.

He moved as quickly as he could, hoping that since Robin wouldn't be expecting anyone to follow him, he wouldn't be in any big rush. He didn't even stop when he reached the woods, where he might've paused in the past since mum's head would explode if she learned he'd been in there, he had important things to do! Like catching Robin Hood! Well, not catching him, exactly...more like finding him. He would never turn him over to the Sheriff, that was for sure. And it seemed today would be his lucky day, because that was definitely a man-shaped shadow just a little ways ahead of him. He ran double time to catch up to him, determined not to lose him this time!

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