The Savage Damsel and the Knight [Ashers]

[Rose Barns]

the red HAWK

It was late afternoon and Sir Guy was in Nottingham Castle, probably planning evil things with the Sheriff. Rose had nothing to do, finishing her chores early, so she snuck out the back and swiftly changed into her Red Hawk garb. She wore a dark brown skirt that served as pants as well. On top was a dark green tunic and a leather bodice. Her sword was strapped to her belt and her quiver was secure on her shoulder.

Rose slipped in through the roof, hiding from the guards. There shouldn’t be too many people around, she thought. As it were, there weren’t. With her mask tied on securely, Rose slipped from one room to the next. She knew exactly where Guy kept his money and she was nearly there. That was when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Rose could feel her heart in her throat, pounding so loud she thought the other person could here her. Her breath was too loud as well, and she tried to keep still.

Finally the noise stopped and Rose slipped out. She then reached her destination. Unfortunately the chest containing the coins creaked and groaned loudly. She cursed under her breath. A small pouch hung at her waist and she quickly filled it. Rose was not like Robin Hood. She did not steal big, but she took a little each time, not enough for Guy to notice, but enough to help her neighbors and friends. Rarely did she use the money on herself. That would make her a common thief, which she despised.

Deep in thought, Rose was unaware that someone was coming up behind her. Normally she was more attentive, but she had stayed up late the night before. Perhaps the lack of sleep had made her foolish, but she would not allow herself to get caught.

Finally she heard a noise and turned around, her dark hair whipped around in a single braid. She would have said, “who’s there”, but she did not want to get caught. Instead she knocked an arrow in her bow as she back toward the window.

[Asher Hardy]

Asher was a little annoyed to be dismissed back to the manor without his master, who had decided to stay over at the castle for the evening without the majority of his guard. He knew fully well that Gisborne was a much better swordsman than Asher was, but the young man still couldn’t help but feel a little put out – his job was to guard the lord, not go home and have a nap! He had grumbled silently all the way home, walking alongside a horse (much to his disgust) and providing entertainment for the rest of the guard, who kept laughing at him and teasing him.

His thoughts strayed to Lily, the young girl he’d met in the castle. She’d been a pretty little thing, looked so scared and lost, but he’d helped her find her way eventually so it was okay in the end. He’d also made a mental note to possibly find her again – she flushed easily and was nice to talk to, so he wouldn’t mind hanging around her when he had a day off or something.

Rubbing the back of his head, he sighed a little and as they reached the manor, he opened the door carefully and started to make his way upstairs – not to sleep, but to check on the house. It wouldn’t do for Gisborne to get home and find things missing, and the guard had all gone with their master that day, just in case Hood had been feeling particularly vigorous. He hadn’t, thankfully.

As he walked around, not expecting to find anything wrong, he started taking off the leather armour he was wearing, revealing a simple black shirt underneath. It was terribly hot, especially with the weather as it had been today, and he was sweating like a pig – most unpleasant. However, as he’d half struggled out of it, he heard a clack. A familiar clank, one he only heard when his master was at home.

Oh, bollocks…

Smoothing down his armour again, having no time to redo it all up, he crept towards the master bedchamber, shadow lengthened in the dying sunlight streaming through the window. He withdrew his sword from its halberd, holding it in his right hand as he opened the heavy door as quietly as possible, to find himself face to back with only one person.

The Red Hawk.

Anger bubbled up inside of him. He hated this thief, so much, he’d caused him such misery! So many failed attempts at catching the thief, so many wounds from his arrows and the wounds to his pride much worse, looking like a bumbling fool amongst his company… He didn’t care if the Red Hawk gave to the poor, or if he kept it for himself – he was a thief and had to pay.

”Stop!” he hissed, sword forward as he edged towards his prey. No, the Red Hawk wouldn’t be flying away tonight. He’d get what was coming to him, and finally Asher would be able to prove he wasn’t an incompetent fool, but a deserving guard, a good soldier, and hopefully, finally, a little bit of respect around here.

[Rose Barns]

the red HAWK

Rose’s heart was pounding hard and fast in her chest as the guard entered the room. Her first mistake was not making sure the house was empty of guards. Her second mistake was being loud. And her third was waiting with her arrow notched instead of trying to flee. And then her fourth mistake showed his face. Asher, her Asher was the guard to walk in on her. Of course, if things couldn’t get any worse.

Rose had grown up with Asher and he had been her brother’s best friend. He was there for her, almost like the man of the Barn’s house, even if his responsibilities lay mainly elsewhere. She had fought him before as the Red Hawk. In fact she had injured him a few times simply because it couldn’t look like she favored him and he had engaged her in some many fights. She had a scar on her stomach from a knife cut he had given her. It had not been deep and he would have never known. Rose had to be careful of injuries.

Fighting Asher has the Red Hawk had its perks, though. She had done play fighting with him when they were younger, so she knew how he fought. She could fight him with out mortally wounding him, though she ran a risk to herself. But today she was just too tired. She had been up late talking to that boy, Conor. If it weren’t for that, fighting Asher would have been easier.

“Don’t come closer or I’ll shoot you in the heart,” she warned. Her voice was low and threatening. She was able to alter it so it sounded more masculine and less like her own voice. Asher would have recognized her voice.

Of course Rose would never kill her friend and her childhood crush. Yes, next to Robin she had been totally enamored of him. He still held a special place in her heart, though she was unsure of his feelings for her. But she knew that if he found out about her being the Red Hawk, there was a chance he would never forgive her.

Rose inched backwards. She would have to let her guard down to jump out the window. That would give her friend time to attack her. Rose was trapped. Slowly she turned her hips, her arrow still pointed at him. Then she began to lower it as she lunged for the window.

[Asher Hardy]

Asher practically sneered as the Red Hawk threatened to shoot him. So many times he’d fought the thief, so many times he’d come out injured… There had been so many opportunities for the Red Hawk to kill him. Asher wasn’t completely daft. The Red Hawk clearly didn’t like killing, seeing the colour of his name spilled before him from the bodies of his victims. No, Asher wasn’t scared by this threat, although he knew an arrow unleashed at such a distance would definitely kill him, he’d stand no chance. He did stay still for a moment, shifting his blade into a more comfortable grip, and from the corner of his eye he could see what the thief had been up to – stealing from the chest Gisborne hid so well, that none of his servants would have known where it was. How did the thief find it so quickly, then? Even his guard weren’t trusted with its exact location, although most knew it was somewhere in his room due to the clanking noise it made when it was open. Now Asher understood why Gisborne never oiled those hinges.

”Go on then,” Asher replied, finally, venom in his words. ”Because I promise you, Red Hawk, you won’t be leaving this place alive if you don’t kill me first.” And with that, he darted forward, over the top of Gisborne’s bed and placed himself right next to the window, sword inches from the Red Hawk’s chest. He grinned, inching forward a little on his heels.

”Not this time, thief.” And even if the thief did escape past him and out of the window, he could certainly follow. No, the Red Hawk had definitely flown for the last time, and Asher was going to take the credit for it. Maybe he’d get a reward, extra money or something of the like – he could take it home to Rose, John and Lily; he was always worried they didn’t have enough and wanted to make sure they got the best they could. Perhaps he could buy Rose a horse – he thought she’d probably like that, being able to gallop around and have some sort of freedom. He mentally shook himself – if he kept daydreaming about what he could do, then the thief would escape and all his dreams would never be able to come true. No distractions.

[Rose Barns]

the red HAWK

Rose noticed Asher change his grip on his sword. That was not a good sign; he wasn’t giving up. This was not going to be as easy as Rose had hoped. She knew he wouldn’t give up and perhaps he meant that this time he was going to kill her, or at least try. That was something Rose also loved about him. Asher was a determined man, but that didn’t bode well for her when she was in these situations. At least this time they were completely alone. There was no one else around to get in the way or prevent her from being distracted.

“You’re in no place to be giving me an ultimatum,” Rose said in a low pitched voice. She didn’t want to say something to goad him on even further, but she didn’t have to. Suddenly he had leapt across the bed and was now blocking the way to the window. Luckily there were no guards to block the door entrance, but it wouldn’t be as safe turning her back to run down the stairs. He could easily follow and stab her from behind.

Asher’s sword was another matter. It was too close for comfort and she had barely enough time to sling her bow on her back and draw out her own sword. She had to either distract him, or suggest a fair fight. Asher would probably have to give in to a request for a fair fight, but then she noticed something that only a close friend of his would notice: he was almost daydreaming. It wasn’t enough for Rose to run, but it was enough to sling her bow on her back, dropping the arrow, and drawing her sword, which she did. She also took a step back, letting her own sword aim at his chest.

“Don’t make promises you cannot keep,” Rose said. Even though he had not said, “Not this time, thief. I promise,” he had said it in such a way that he intended for the statement to come true. “Now, let’s deal with this like civilized people,” she added as she quickly charged him. Rose may not have been strong, but she was fast and her charge was not intended to injure or hit flesh. Her goal was to either tire Asher out, injure him to the point where he couldn’t easily follow, but would easily heal, or jump out that window and get far enough away for him not to follow.

(((I give you permission to god-mod a little if it makes it easier or if it's necessary. ;D )))

[Asher Hardy]

It wasn’t like the Red Hawk himself was really in a position to argue either, Asher thought privately as he barred the thief’s way to the window. His only other route of escape was through the house itself, unless he decided to kill Asher this time, and the house was filled with staff, other soldiers around and likely ready to fight the thief into submission. Besides, if the thief did simply run away like the coward Asher suspected him to be, Asher could simply follow and take him out from behind. He wouldn’t feel so great doing that – it wasn’t really very fair, was it? And Asher had been raised to believe in fair play – but he would do what duty required of him, at the end of the day.

His daydreaming proved to be a disadvantage, giving the Red Hawk enough time to withdraw his own blade. He mentally cursed, at the same time as admiring the craftsmanship of the sword. ”That’s no English blade,” he whispered – he’d only seen such work in one place, and that was on the hip of the infamous outlaw, Robin Hood. In previous fights, he’d not gotten close enough to actually have to engage the Red Hawk in hand to hand combat or any close range battle, so this was a new experience. His eyes narrowed as he came to a realisation, or rather a conclusion. ”You’re working with Hood?” This could lend a good reward indeed. He wasn’t afraid of the sword now pointing at his own chest – he was reasonably confident in his ability to defeat his enemy, because this time, he was on the right side for sure.

Unlike his opponent, Asher was happy to cause pain, and to do whatever was necessary to win this fight, and he parried the first blow with ease, knocking his foe’s sword to the side and out of his way. He then brought his own sword down, only to be blocked by the other weapon, and he snarled a little. ”Civilised? You sneak into a house when no one is around and steal from them! How is that civilised?” He pressed forward to push his opponent away from him and prepared for a new charge, making sure that he would keep his opponent away from the window and back him further into the room. It wouldn’t do to give the Red Hawk an opening.

[Rose Barns]

the red HAWK

Rose nearly cursed herself when he mentioned her blade. It had been her father’s sword and then her brother’s when they had fought in the Holy Land. Would Asher remember such a blade? John Jr. had shown it off when it returned with the news of their father’s death. But then it had still looked rather new and shiny. Now it looked used, though not weak. Just well used knowledgeable, if a sword could be so.

John Barns Sr. had acquired the sword during his first battle. Along with it he had gained his first scar. But then the fatal day came when he could not recover from an injury. Rose had cried so much, but not in front of her mother and brother. She had hidden, though she never knew if Asher had seen her cry. Of course Rose couldn’t cry in front of her mother, who had fainted and then took to her bed for a month. Maybe a bit longer.

“Nice observation,” she said to his notice of her sword. She was smiling when she said that so he could hear the smile in her voice. Rose then shook her head at the next question. “Now, I am not as lucky,” she said truthfully. Rose would have liked to be with the infamous outlaw. But hearing the way Asher said it hurt. He had grown up with Hood as his lord and master and Hood had been fair. Gisborne never was. He had tortured the peasants of Locksley log enough. If the Sheriff had a new plan, it was they who suffered first. Being a guard, Asher probably hadn’t of realized it.

Asher engaged in a little swordplay and Rose blocked it with ease. She then faked right and moved left, striking at his sword arm. “And is it civilized to kill poor peasants who haven’t done anything just because we are poor?” she asked. “You were once not so high and mighty,” she added. Rose liked Asher, but he fought on the wrong side.

Rose moved further back in the room as he pushed forward. This was not going to be easy after all.

[Asher Hardy]

Fortunately for Rose, Asher didn’t recognise the blade – he associated Saracen weapons with Robin and his gang, rather than his friend and her family, having seen it brandished by the outlaw more often and having been defeated by it a few times. He vaguely recalled seeing such a weapon being wielded by his best friend, but he’d been far more relieved to see his friend back home than he had been interested in some token he’d brought back from his travels.

Was that amusement in the thief’s voice? Was he being sarcastic? Or was he genuinely appreciative of the observation? That would be a little weird, and it kind of threw Asher a little bit. The thief was very sociable when there was just the two of them, wasn’t he? Asher sneered as the Red Hawk denied being a part of the gang. ”Where else would you acquire it?” he asked, pushing forward a little more, trying to get his opponent out onto the landing where he could get some help.

Asher held back a hiss of pain as the Saracen blade struck his arm, cutting it, nearly making him drop the weapon. He held the wound for a moment, reeling back a step, glaring at his opponent, but kept his weapon at the ready. He wouldn’t be brought down so easily.

The thief’s next words confused him. How the hell would the Red Hawk know anything like that? High and mighty? He was just doing his job, it was nothing like that! And since when were the poor being punished, anyway? The taxes were to aid the King in the Holy Land, by decree of Prince John himself. It was all for the country, and if the peasants caused trouble, what could he do about it but obey the law and do his job? ”If they commit a crime, they have to face the punishment,” he snarled, losing his temper and darting forward, once again bringing his sword down on top of his opponent’s and this time losing his grip, the aftershock making his wound a little worse and the pain too much. It didn’t matter, anyway, he was only using it as a distraction – he used his other hand to grab the Red Hawk’s shoulder – very thin, not as wide as he’d expected – and push the criminal to the floor, grinning. The Red Hawk might be good with a weapon, but Asher reckoned he’d win at hand to hand.

”I’m only high and mighty when I’m winning,” he replied.

Hope that’s ok! Also - Kick him off his feet!!! X3;;

[Rose Barns]

the red HAWK

Rose was grinning, but only briefly. He did not recognize the sword at all. “From a man superior than the likes of you and your master,” she said. When her blade hit Asher’s arm, she stopped herself from wincing. This was what happened when she fought him. Injuries would occur. But would she be able to tend to them as his friend after this fight? Rose had tended to a few of his other injuries she had caused him. It was the only way she could think of to forgive herself the damage she had done.

Asher pushed forward again and she realized what he was doing. He was trying to get her out of the room and out into the open where help would likely be. He was being cowardly, or so it seemed. In some ways it felt like a compliment. She was a great enough opponent for him to want help. But maybe she thought he just wanted to capture her alive and well to give over to the Sheriff for torture and pain. Would he do the same if he knew who she was?

“And if they didn’t, they still have to face it? And is it a crime to eat? These people are taxed to the point where they don’t have enough money to buy food!” Rose was surprised at how blind Asher was, but it was all the more easy to forgive him of his alliance. He thought he was doing good, helping the king. “Trying going a week with three children and a wife with only a small loaf of bread.”

Suddenly he grabbed her shoulder and Rose knew there would be a bruise there the next morning. She then fell to the ground, though her arms went out to protect her spine. Then he said what every man would say when he thought he was winning: the last line before the end. But it wasn’t the end. Lifting her right leg, she swung it in, kicking him, then repeated the movement with the left leg before sitting up and using the right to sweep out his legs. Once he fell, Rose stood up and held her sword out, pointed at his chest. She kicked his own sword away.

“And now you’re low and weak,” she said, a little triumph in her voice. She looked at him and knew if she left now, he’d still follow. There was only one thing she could do. Cursing under her breath she made a swift movement with her sword, drawing blood on his upper thigh. It wasn’t a deep wound, but it would hurt to walk on. Then she sheathed her sword and began to walk away. “I’ll see you next time,” she said.

[/size]

[Asher Hardy]

Asher had realised that keeping the Red Hawk alive was more beneficial and would reap more rewards than simply killing the outlaw, but he didn’t mind either way. Mostly, he thought the man was lying about his allegiance with Hood, and wanted to find out if it was true, if Hood was making a larger, more organised network. More the fool, Asher thought, recruiting people to a cause he wouldn’t be able to win.

And the thief was insulting his master! As far as Asher had seen, Gisborne only did what he had to in order to ensure peace and stability. He was a little harsh, yes, perhaps a little heavy handed, and he’d had a lot of heartbreak in his past – why should the public judge him? It all worked, didn’t it? ”You know nothing of me or my master!” he hissed.

”I don’t believe you,” he replied, thinking of some of the families he’d seen. He’d been told they just wouldn’t work hard enough, refused to conform. He couldn’t have taken innocent people to the castle for punishment; he refused to believe he’d condemned people for crimes they hadn’t committed. Surely the lords would have stopped it? He harboured no illusions that either Gisborne or Vaysey were in any way kind, but he thought they at least had limits. He’d never been privy to anything except what the public was shown, and the pair were never overtly outside the law in such appearances.

Foolishly, Asher hadn’t been expecting the Red Hawk to retaliate, and finding himself on the floor hurt his pride more than his body. He flailed for a moment, trying to push himself up, but found himself, unarmed, at the mercy of the Red Hawk, who stood over him, crowing. His arms were behind him and he was breathing a bit heavier than normal, scowling up at his enemy. He kept an eye on the blade, though. Now that no one was around, no one to try and stop the outlaw, would he finally kill him? ”Finish it,” he hissed, not wincing as he saw the blade move, but surprised by the feeling in his leg. It didn’t hurt for a moment, and then the pain erupted with the blood, a hand instinctively moving to it to stem the bleeding. He hissed as the outlaw started to walk away. He wouldn’t let that happen!

Ignoring the pain in both his arm and his leg, he pushed himself up slightly and dived forward, grabbing the Red Hawk’s leg and pulling him to the floor. Asher quickly crawled over, pinning the thief’s legs down with his own, and attempting to grab the Red Hawk’s hands so he couldn’t fight back. At least the sword was unobtainable, and Asher made sure of this by quickly unsheathing it and chucking it away. They’d fight like real men now, even if the Red Hawk seemed kind of… well, girly.

”I said we finish this now!” he hissed.

[Rose Barns]

the red HAWK

“I know more than you think,” Rose said back, her breath and voice finding power in her lower stomach. Rose didn’t blame Marian for rejecting Gisborne. He lacked sympathy and he already signed his own death warrant when he ultimately chose the Sheriff in the end. Her brother had told her about how the Sheriff had some play in trying to kill the king, though he hadn’t said it quite like that. But now he never talked about it.

“Then don’t, but open your eyes,” Rose replied. She didn’t expect Asher to stand up, though he didn’t quite, but he lunged at her and tackled her to the ground. She let out a grunt as she hit the wooden floor. Panic suddenly struck her as she realized he had the upper hand. Not only was he on top of her, pinning down her legs, but he was now trying to pin down her arms. She bridged up, bucking like a bull, but he wouldn’t budge. He was too heavy and she wasn’t very strong. But she couldn’t let him de-mask her.

“No!” Rose yelled, as she bucked up again. She tried scratching at his face, though she couldn’t reach. The only thing she could do was keep his hands away from her face and mask.

It would be terrible if Asher found out her identity. It would probably be worse than when Gisborne learned that Marian would never love him. It would be the worst betrayal in his mind. She was his best friend’s little sister. She had played with him when they were younger. She had tended to his wounds and he had protected her and her family. And here she was fighting him and stealing from his master.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, though he couldn’t hear it.

[Asher Hardy]

”How do you know anything?” he asked after pouncing on the thief, grabbing at one hand to keep it away from his face. Vicious little bugger, wasn’t he? His hands found a wrist, wrapped around it and held it away for a moment, the struggle from the Red Hawk ripping it back out of his grasp to have another go. He shifted himself forward, trying to keep the thief down; his struggling was pitiful, he couldn’t muster the strength to shift Asher, which the guard found surprising. He’d always thought the thief would be stronger than that. But the wrist… It had been so delicate, so… not masculine. Feminine. Too feminine for his liking. He grabbed the Red Hawk’s shoulders, pushing them against the floor to stop the struggling, and used what little light spilled from the window to have a proper look, this time.

He could naturally only look at the part he wasn’t sitting on, but even the feel of the body underneath him told him a few things. He could feel the curve of the thief’s body through his legs, straddling the outlaw as he was, not the straight, thin lines he’d expect if he was pinning a boy. If he looked properly, he would be able to see breasts underneath the tunic, standing out against the loose fabric as it fell against the outlaw’s body. Thicker, fuller lips and a more delicate jawline, set in anger, the strength of the outlaw…

”You’re a girl,” he breathed, disbelief setting in. The cause of all this trouble, a woman? Of course, there were several female outlaws, but to know he’d been humiliated so many times, defeated so often by a woman… It hurt, a fair bit. Before the revelation could throw him off kilter and give the woman (a woman!) a chance to throw him off, he reaffirmed his grip on her shoulders, unconsciously making it slightly gentler. His father had brought him up to be a gentleman, and he didn’t quite know how to deal with this situation.

”What did you mean open your eyes?” he asked, somehow less reluctant to force her to get up, to take her downstairs and show her off before the guards than he had been mere moments ago. Who knew what some of them would do? It would have been different if the Red Hawk really had been a man, but a woman… She wouldn’t be jeered at. It was far worse than that. He couldn’t let her go, but he couldn’t take her down there either. He moved one hand, to reach up to her mask, and hesitated for a moment. She’d said something, he couldn’t hear what, but something. He ignored the blood that was still dripping from his arm, down onto her leather armour, and resumed his motion to remove her mask.

(OOC: mwahaha had to leave it for one more post X3;; )

[Rose Barns]

the red HAWK

“How do any of us know anything?” Rose asked back, sounding a little bitter. She could feel his hand on her wrist and then her shoulder. He was shifting and she knew sooner or later he would figure out she was no bloke. Marian had always gotten away with out anyone realizing she wasn’t a man, but then she hadn’t wrestled with Gisborne. She was angry, though, that she wasn’t any stronger. She made one last attempt by pushing his hand off her shoulder. There were ways of weak people fighting stronger people and she used his weight to get him slightly unbalanced. She then hooked his leg and tried to reverse him, but then he said the one thing she feared and the strength left his body.

Rose didn’t know how to respond right away, but she could feel his grip on her shoulder become gentler. “Took you long enough to figure that one out,” she said, her voice less masculine, though still low. If she spoke normally, then he might recognize it.

“What I mean is the truth is right in front of you. Don’t let Gisboren obstruct your view,” she said, feeling that maybe he was less reluctant to listen. Both of their speeches were taking on longer sentences. But then the worse came and his hand moved to lift her mask.

Rose struggled even more, getting her hand up and knocked his away. She then tried to block her face from his hand to prevent him from removing it. “You don’t want to do that!” she exclaimed, out of breath. She could feel a knot in the pit of her stomach and it took the strength completely out of her. This was it, here was the end to a beautiful friendship and a gruesome rivalry. Asher would never look at her the same and she knew he would only be repulsed. This caused her eyes to well up a little bit, but she kept herself from crying. She was stronger than that. She then moved her hands to his chest and pushed, “No,” she said one last time. Her braid had come undone in the back and there were strands framing her face now.

[/size]

(((the suspense!)))

[Asher Hardy]

Asher wanted to shake her for that. What kind of an answer was that, how do any of us know anything? Honestly, why couldn’t people just give straight answers? Especially since she was effectively caught now, there was no point in running round in verbal circles anymore. The revelation of her gender had taken him off balance a little before he spoke, and when the Red Hawk tried to topple him, he very nearly went, but a firm grip on her shoulder and her own tensing up at the sound of his exclamation saved him from being felled again. He hadn’t expected it at all. He’d hoped she’d just give up then. He’d taught someone that, once, because it was a technique he used himself – a lot of people did, it didn’t mean anything, but it was interesting to experience someone use it in an actual fight.

”You do a good job of hiding it,” he muttered, wondering why he was just talking to her in this uncomfortable position. The edge to her voice, the depth, it had been taken away a little now that the secret was out, and this made him all the more tense. He’d hoped it would turn out that he was imagining things, that it wasn’t really a woman. It just made things so much worse.

He didn’t really understand what she meant. Gisborne was a noble, so he’d know best, right? Asher had always been more of a follower than a leader, following John and letting him get them both into trouble, and Rose too – God, what would she say when he told her? Regardless of rules, he made sure he always told Rose everything he could about what happened to him. She didn’t seem to like their new lord, and while yes, occasionally Asher felt a little guilty about “betraying” the former lords, it was simply a case of times changing, and he had to do something to support his “family”, didn’t he? Guards got paid best, even if it wasn’t all that much more than he’d gotten for farming. So how was Sir Guy obstructing anything?

The thief suddenly made a commotion, hitting his hands away. He grabbed one wrist and shook her briefly. ”It’s going to happen anyway. What do you think the other guards are going to do? Let you sit there, hidden?” He let go of her wrist and resumed his efforts, only to find her pushing against his chest. Her hair had come undone, framing her face delicately. It looked so… pathetic. He felt guilty. Anyone who walked in right now would assume he was taking advantage of her or something. He shook the thought from his head. He wasn’t, he was doing his duty. Besides, he’d wanted to know the identity of the Red Hawk for a long time, now, and here was his chance. Before she could do anything, he snatched his hand forward and yanked the mask off, revealing the face underneath.

His heart stopped. A flow, almost like an ocean, seemed to suddenly wash over him from where his heart used to be, completely numbing his entire body. He just looked down at the watering eyes, a part of him cheering her on for not crying, for being strong, for being brave…

For being his brave Rose.

He dropped the mask beside her, hand trembling as he moved his hand to her face once more, this time cupping her cheek. Unlike Rose, he could feel tears welling up in his eyes, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to stop them. He blinked them back, however. The feeling was coming back, sort of – a sick churning in his stomach, the taste of vomit in his mouth. He didn’t really know what he was feeling – anger, resentment, sadness, confusion – but he knew they really couldn’t stay like this.

”Rose…” he whispered, sitting back, though not bothering to move from his position otherwise. His hand moved down from her face, along her shoulder and graced her hand briefly. His lips moved, but no sound came out. What was there he could say?

(That may be my longest post. Ever. And also one of my more melodramatic. X3)

[Rose Barns]

the red HAWK

There seemed to be the longest second Rose had ever experienced before his hand removed her mask. Her futile attempts to prevent him and passed and now she was limp. It was almost as if a part of her was about to die right now and her life would flash before her eyes, and in some ways it did. She remembered when her brother had broken his arm and Lily had scolded Asher until Rose was crying. She had been weaker then, but poverty and disaster had changed that in her, either for better or for worse.

Rose remembered when Asher had told her how he had wanted to go to the Holy Land like her brother, but was unable. How jealous he was and the only way he could make up for that was joining the guard. She had seen him sad, angry, happy, and scared, but nothing had prepared her for what she knew she would see now. She wanted to say something, anything, but it was impossible. But in this split second she knew that he was one hundred percent different from all the other guards.

“I trust you,” she said when he told her it had to be done, and she knew he would never give up until he knew the identity of the Red Hawk. Did Rose curse the day when she donned the mask and took on the identity? Part of her wanted to say yes, but she couldn’t. She had done good helping the people of Locksley. They weren’t being punished as severely and little children were not dying of famine. But price did she have to pay? The loss of trust and love from her closest friend. And then it happened. He had yanked the mask off her head and she could feel the rush of cooler air hit her face. It was quite warm under that mask.

Rose suddenly knew what it felt to have a broken and torn heart. She could see in his face the realization and the shock. His eyes looked down at hers and she could feel the tears wanting to come, but she wouldn’t let them. If she cried now, he wouldn’t embrace her and comfort her. It would hurt too much to see the rejection in his face if she did so now.

As Asher cupped her cheek she closed her eyes and turned into it almost as if to nuzzle, but then she felt his hand graze down and it sent shivers up her spine. She could see the tears in his eyes, though he didn’t cry. If he had, there would be nothing to prevent her from hugging him, though at this moment, hugging was the last thing either of them would do. Instead her name came out and then nothing else. “Asher . . .” she said back, her voice soft and a little scared, though there was so much feeling behind it. He had sat up though he was still on top of her. Rose wanted to look away and bloke out all these feelings. The rush of emotion was too much for her, but she had to be strong.

Instead Rose put her hand on his, though she didn’t try and grab it. “I am so sorry,” she said, louder this time so he could hear it. “I . . . I,” she started but couldn’t finish.

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(((beautiful! I had tears in my eyes ;D )))