Time's Arrow 1/27
Title: "Time's Arrow"
Copyright Notice: All characters owned by the BBC, BBC America and Tiger Aspect Media.
Plot spoilers: Up to Current Seasons of all Shows.
Pairings: Much/Robin, OC Horace (Portrayed by actor Colin Morgan (Merlin)
Warnings: None for this chapter
Rating: G
My first multichapter, multi fandom fic. This series brings together characters from Robin Hood, Torchwood, and Doctor Who.
New chapters will be posted weekly (hopefully). Enjoy! Criticize where my grammar and punctuation gets spotty! I want to do this right!
Time's Arrow
By
Darkentwisted
Chapter 1: Knaves Bearing Gifts.
Sherwood Forest, 12th Century, England.
Lazy rain soaked the forest at midday, making the sky as grey as dusk. The carriage made it’s way slow and laboriously though the deeply rutted path through the woods. Rain had made the ground soft and it’s wheels sank deep into the peat as the horses strained against the reins at the call of the coachman’s whip. Suddenly a cloaked figure stood in the middle of the road flagging the coach down.
" Highwaymen!" The coachman thought, as he shook the reins trying to make the overworked horses move faster but was thwarted by another hooded man who had run up and seized them.
"We won’t harm you, we just want your money!" The figure at the horses called out. "This is how it goes." Cooperate and we only take a tenth of your wealth for the poor and let you go on..."
The other figure finished, "Fight us and we take it all!"
The coachman looked at the weapons both men brandished and realized that fighting them was futile.
The man at the horses inquired, bow and arrow at hand, "Is there anyone in the carriage besides you?"
"Nay," Said the driver. " I was delivering the spoils of battle in Cardiff to my lord’s castle in York. I took the wrong road and I think I’m lost. I’ve been driving this forest for two days. Please don’t rob me I beg you. When my lord finds out, I shall surely hang."
The man in the hood thought it over for a minute, he saw the terrified look on the face of the driver and realized he could not have been any older than Will Scarlet. "How old are you may I ask?"
"I’m twenty and a month Sir, but I doubt I shall get any older if you rob me. Better to just slit my throat and leave me on the roadside for the buzzards." The young man looked at the ground forlornly while he shook, partly from fear and partly from the damp air.
"We don’t kill unless it’s to defend ourselves," the hooded stranger firmly said. "Has your lordship inventoried his spoils yet?"
"Nay sir, the boy replied "I am on the way to his banker to unload and talley then back to Cardiff for more."
"Then you shall not swing." The man in the hood assured the young driver steadily while he and the other opened the coach door and took out a small trunk among the many that were loaded inside. "This you offered good Samaritans in trade for safe passage through Sherwood, a hot meal, and a nights rest before going on to York."
"A hot meal, Master?" The other figure asked, suddenly annoyed. "Another mouth to feed?"
"Yes he is a guest of the forest now and it is our duty to care for him."
The other man raised his hands in the air in frustration, mumbled to himself about why they didn’t just give him warm milk and tuck him in bed, then proceeded away with the trunk. The remaining robber looked amused.
The coachman was much relieved, "Thank you sir, I can so use the rest and a warm fire."
The man in the hood pointed forward. "Drive ahead then. Your horses will alert the others you are coming. When they stop you, tell them you know us and they will lead you to camp for the night. Tell no others about us, or swinging from a gallows will be the least of your troubles!"
"Aye sir!" The coachman said gratefully. "Oi! What am I to say to the others when they ask?"
The stranger threw back his hood revealing bright mischievous green eyes, a scruffy, handsome face and brown tousled hair. The rightful Lord of Locksley smiled at the young man , "Tell them, We are Robin Hood!"
As the coach went on, Much joined Robin on the path with the trunk. "You’re too trusting, Master Robin and one of these days you’ll be the one to swing for it!"
Robin reasoned with his fussy comrade, "You saw him, Much! He was merely a boy, hungry, cold and lost." He gazed at the trunk Much was holding, "Helping a young lost traveler for an evening is a small price to pay for adding to our poor chest."
"Fine! Now I have to catch more squirrels," Much sulked. Then he looked down at the load he was carrying, "Can we see what’s in it, Robin?" Much was having a hard time hiding his excitement.
"Yes, lets stop and rest by that tree and we can open it." Robin, by this point, was just as curious as Much. He had been to Cardiff once and though finding it more primitive than England, wondered what plundered Welsh treasures were inside.
They eagerly flipped open the top and fingered the jewels, coins and trinkets it contained. Much was contentedly putting rings on his fingers, baubles on his ears and necklaces around his neck. Robin laughed at the spectacle as Much paraded around and playfully primped in the jewels. At the bottom of the trunk was a small gold case. Robin carefully picked it up and opened the lid.
The sound he made summoned Much to take off the finery and come over to him. "What is it?" Robin was holding up a large necklace by it’s chain.
What had made him gasp was the large stone dangling from it. The stone shined a deep opalescent bluish white but it seemed to be filled with opaque liquid with all the colors swirling around inside when it moved. It made a slight hum as he handled it.
"Careful Master, it’s enchanted!" Much exclaimed as he pulled back from the necklace.
Robin shot an irritated look at his naive friend, "It’s not enchanted, Much but there is something quite odd in its appearance. It’s beautiful," Robin said entranced. He thought how it would have looked around Marian’s neck had she still been around to wear it. The vision of her in it made him sad and he shook it off. "We could feed the villagers for a week with the money from this!" He gently put his hand on the stone and felt its warmth though his fingers. It responded instantly by humming louder. The colors shimmered as though suspended in liquid.
"Put it down Master Robin!" Much said in alarm, "Please, I beg you! Your making it angry. I..."
Robin started to utter that he was doing no such thing when he looked up and saw Much’s face had turned deathly white. His blue eyes were wide circles of horror as he looked behind his former master. Robin turned in dread and saw what had distressed his friend so. The woods behind him had distorted like an image in a breaking mirror. In the center was a white light like the sun that was growing fast toward them. Robin dropped the necklace. He glared at Much, matching the terror in his friend’s eyes with his own, "Run!"
Robin half pushed his stunned friend in front of him as both men ran through the woods with the light giving chase. When they exhaustedly realized they couldn’t outrun it, they hit the ground hard and the light engulfed them.
Robin felt himself falling and looked over at his terrified friend. Much was flailing his arms screaming, but no sound was coming out. It was then that he realized, he too was screaming silently and felt his vocal cords straining against vacuum. The last thing he saw, was his friend coming down on hard earth. He watched Much make contact headfirst in slow motion. It knocked him out instantly. Then Robin met the ground himself, hard on his shoulder, with a loud thud. He was instantly engulfed in blackness.
Next Week
Chapter 2
Road Trip!