Subject to Error [Open to GS Members Only]

[Gavin Bates]

(OOC: Which, for now, means only me. ;_; *very sad about this*)

Gavin kicked about the camp, snarling. God only knew where the other layabouts had buggered off to - probably in town spending all their provisions. They could have at least waited for him to come back from his jaunt around the woods. He'd been interested in seeing if there was any new life thereabouts, but it appeared they remained desolate, save for the small gang (and Hood's lot, somewhere else hiding in the very hills. They hadn't figured out quite how the gits had done that, yet). To come back to an empty camp was quite irritating; Gavin liked noise, he liked to be around other people (even if he did just spend his time pissing them off when they were there). Besides, he got on well with the others, in his way.

He stomped over to Hanton’s bedspread (an old sack and some heather) and flung it up with the tip of his boot, scattering it about everywhere and sending a few coins, hidden within the soft heather, scattering across the ground. Gavin absentmindedly picked them up and pocketed them, rearranging the bedspread. He liked the guy, sure – they got on better than Gavin did with the rest of the outlaws – but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t steal from him. He had ale to buy, women to see. Besides, he was a little bit of a kleptomaniac. It was habit these days.

He flopped down beside the makeshift stove and picked up a piece of bark, pulling his knife out from his boot and digging into it inattentively, and thinking (something he didn’t really do all that often). The knife - a dagger, really – had been with him for most of his time as an outlaw; one he’d picked up off a body he’d shot down in the forest one day, only a few after he’d left Underwood and gone out into the big, wide world, finally unburdened. He ran a finger along the edge of the blade, slightly blunted from too much use, and wiped away the bark dust from it. He needed to find a whet stone, sharpen it a little. He’d heard that the handle was ivory, which was why he kept it so close to him at all times – valuable little piece, people had killed for less. The blade was a decent length, about five inches, and quite clean – he regularly polished the blade, if just to show it off.

Gavin got to his feet and stretched, dropping the now-slightly holey bark, and rooted around in Joshua’s belongings for a stone to sharpen it on.

It wasn’t like he had anything better to do than annoy the kid, after all.

[Tristan Ash]

{OOC: Hope it's okay! <3}


”What are you doing?”

With one shoulder braced against a nearby tree and his greyish eyes trained intently on Gavin as he seemingly ransacked Joshua’s personal space, the self-installed mediator of the gang was careful to sound merely curious as opposed to accusatory. His head was tilted to one side in the manner of a puppy dog trying to understand its master, and Tristan was all but serious in his questioning. If he found out that Gavin had sinister motives, however, he probably wouldn’t be as indifferent. Tristan hated the outlaw gang fighting amongst themselves and whilst he liked Gavin very much indeed he held no illusions about the man who was a thief, murderer and anything else he felt like being if it could fetch a pretty penny (or less).

Before the darker of the pair had time to answer him Tristan moved over to sit himself on Joshua’s cot, made from similar materials as the rest of them, where he could say without words that he would not sit idly by and allow Gavin to ransack and steal from their own. It was only then that ‘Romeo’ noticed the dagger in Gavin’s hands and decided to think the best of him; a luxury not often afford outlaws as Tristan himself knew only too well. He plucked a small whet stone from his pocket that he kept with him at all times. His sword was precious to him, and nicks in the blade meant rust which a trained soldier simply could not abide.

”I don’t think Josh would appreciate you looking through his knickers,” Tristan teased lightly, holding out the stone in good faith. ”Here.”

[Gavin Bates]

(It’s made of awesome, man. YAY not talking to myself anymore! XD;; )

”What are you doing?”

Gavin jerked his head up at the familiar voice, trying to figure out if there was a bit of a joke in there somewhere, and fixed his gaze on Tristan. Oh, the kid was alright; a bit uptight at times, he figured, but he couldn’t really blame him – he’d been out there, fighting the fight for King, country and Christianity, and he had morals, something an outlaw couldn’t usually afford to have. After all, it was their job to steal, attack and occasionally kill people who wandered on through. It was times like that when Tristan bothered him – when he seemed wary of going about business (picking up the purse off a dead body, nabbing the corpse’s shoes because they looked about the same size and yours were getting a bit old now), but he did it. He could handle himself, and Gavin respected that.

Although, if he wanted a fight now, Gavin really wasn’t in the mood and would quite happily just stick him in the gut and deal with the consequences later. He glared broodily at Tristan as he sat on Joshua’s bed, preventing Gavin from his rooting, and felt just a tiny bit annoyed when the man held out a stone to him. Dammit, now he had to be nice. He snatched the stone, muttering a ‘thanks’ and sat down on the ground, getting to sharpening his knife and keeping focused on it while he talked.

”If the bleeding idiot’s gonna keep a spare pair, he oughta go hide ‘em somewhere else. He knows I’m gonna find ‘em and fill ‘em with nettles if he don’t,” Gavin replied, rubbing his thumb over the blunt edge of the blade. He paused for a moment and looked up briefly. ”Where you been anyway? Off to see that bird?” He raised an eyebrow and gave a little leer. When he’d found out Tristan fancied that rich girl… what was her name, Alice… out of his old village, he’d taken to teasing him mercilessly and seeing how much he could get away with as he made a mockery of her. He knew they hadn’t really interacted that much, but Tristan did seem the sort who would defend a lady’s honour anyway, and Gavin did grow up around her. It wasn’t that hard to add something ludicrous to an otherwise innocent childhood tale. Besides, teasing him always put Gavin in such a better mood.

He raised the hand holding the knife and gestured loosely to the rest of the camp. ”Got any idea where these gits ‘ave gone? I got some news down at the tavern at Merton, ‘eard there’s a lord or something comin’ through. Might be worth a look. What do you think?”

[Regina Apple]

Regina waltzed back into the camp after doing a little hunting. She, unlike the other buggars who'd run off, didn't feel the need to go into a town as she couldn't spend her wares on women, seen as how she was one. She was, however, fair hungry and all they ever seemed to have in the camp was apples someone had been scrumping. She hated apples. Why couldn't they scrump for tastier fruit, or better yet, scrump for gold so they can buy a feast or something. When she found the scrumper, Gina would have to leave a lasting mark to remind him not scrump less often.

Upon entering the camp she found Tristan and Gavin having a natter round someone's belongings. Gavin appeared to have his hands immersed in the stuff. Putting her game down, she made her way over to the pair saying, "I do hope that those aren't my under garments you are trawling through Gavin." Though when she plonked herself down in the group - making sure she had a good view of Gavin - she saw that it wasn't her adopted corner he was routing through. Who's it was didn't really bother her - so long as it wasn't hers - but she had the feeling this was where Joshua stayed, knowing how much Gavin like to torment the poor boy.

She listened to Gavin grumble an amused smirk on her face. He said some of the silliest things. "You seen Alice?" Gina asked enthusiastically. Tristan visiting Alice was her only source of real gossip, and despite her dislike of nobility she thought the whole affair to be romantic. Not that she would ever let the guys know, they might start teasing her even more and lose what little respect she'd earned. Which she deemed totally unfair, she'd been here far longer than any of them - well, most of them, Gavin anyway - she'd been here when Little John was part of their gang.

"What you been doing in Merton?" She asked in a jested acusatory tone. Though his words made the cogs turn in her mind. Lord coming through the forest, always sounded like a good idea. Especially if they beat Hood to the loot. "A raid is always fun." Gina gave Gavin a flirty look and a wicked grin saying she was all for this ambush. "Who knows, this noble might even be pretty this time."

(ooc - *fails*)

[Tristan Ash]

[OOC: Sorry this took so long! Enjoy. ]

Tristan was, luckily for Gavin, in a pretty genial mood. He ignored the acid implicit in Gavin’s glare and watched his fellow outlaw. If there was one thing Romeo had learned about men like Gavin, it was that they needed to be occupied. By offering him the whet stone he had effectively robbed Gavin of his irritation (or so he thought) and thus peace would (hopefully) be restored. Something the usually level-headed young man hadn’t counted on was Gavin putting in his two pennies’ worth about Alice. Tristan had hardly mentioned her to the group – mainly because he had known they’d drag him over the coals for even associating with a noble – but he had mentioned her. His nostrils flared at the tone Gavin now associated with his new love interest, however, and only an idiot would have mistaken the gleam in his eyes for anything less than angst.

”She’s not a ‘bird.” Tristan retorted hotly. ”She’ a lady, and you’d do well to remember it!” For all his running through the forest and avoiding the Sheriff’s men, Tristan was a noble through and through, and he had never quite been able to get rid of the silver spoon parting his lips. He couldn’t bear people disrespecting ladies though, and to his credit Tristan never discriminated between high or low born ladies, or between those who were nice and those who were not. One lady was much like another to him (excepting, of course, Alice) and he would not stand idly by and allow Gavin to taint them with his tongue. ”So watch it,” he concluded in counsel to his friend, hoping he would take heed. ”And I wouldn’t have a clue where anyone is. No one ever tells me anything!”

Luckily for the pair of rogues Regina chose that moment to join the fun. ”Nice catch.” he complimented her as she sat down. His face was respectful yet curious, and he wondered at her taking off for so long into the forest on her own. Tristan knew full well that Regina was more than capable of caring for herself, but sometimes he wished that the group would behave more like a group and less like a bunch of people trying to outdo each other’s efforts. Perhaps that was the reason Robin’s gang was more liked… That and the fact that they didn’t rob from those who needed it most. If he thought Robin’s gang would have had him Tristan would have gladly taken one of Locksley’s tags. As it was, things were different.

”I’ve seen her,” he admitted blandly, not wanting to go into details about his personal life for obvious reasons. An ambush. there was no doubting that they needed the money in order to keep on keeping on. Tristan detested the life of an outlaw and he hates stealing like a rat. It was immoral and a sin against God. However, he rather thought he would hate living like a rat in Vaysey’s dungeons even more than lifting a few purses. ”Sounds good, Gav. Great work. We should split up and each take on a village, see if we can’t round up the others. When is this noble coming through?”

[Gavin Bates]

(Tis awesome Lou, as always)

"Alright, alright!" Gavin admitted defeat (for a change) and lifted his hands in the air, whetstone remaining in one. Wasn't Tristan a touchy bugger? At least Gavin had gotten the rise he'd wanted. He liked to see a bit of anger in his fellow outlaws - it was good for the character. He supposed it was something to do with the fact that he was a high born and... well, Gavin wasn't. All the lads around him, both prior to and after joining Greensleeves, referred to all women as birds, or wenches - they were just terms, no need to get angry. But, to be fair, Alice was Tristan's bird - anyone caught looking at Apple the wrong way would find themselves uncomfortable for a few days (not that he'd ever admit to it, of course). Gavin couldn't help but grin at Tristan's final words on the matter. It made him sound like such a little boy! It was hilarious.

"That makes two of us, then," Gavin admitted. They didn't communicate well, the Greensleeves, and he would agree with Tristan if he admitted out loud that they'd work a lot better if they did so - not, however, for the reasons the former noble wanted. Gavin would rather the gang focused their efforts on gaining a large stash. Organised crime, that was the way of the future - together they could make a killing (possibly literally), and then they could all leave the stinking forest. Tristan could go get back his lands somehow, get his lady and live happily ever after, and Gavin could ditch the hellhole that was Nottingham and go somewhere fresh and ripe for picking. Norwich, maybe.

At the sound of Apple's return, he merely shrugged a greeting. He didn't bother to acknowledge her haul - rather, he was amused she'd bothered; maybe he should go scrumping more often than he did, then he wouldn't have to be the one to catch the sodding animals. Too much effort, not enough return for his liking.

"I thought these were a bit too girly for Josh," Gavin replied loudly to Regina's comment, grabbing a twig and pulling it out of the floor beside him. He twirled it between his fingers for a moment, then chucked it behind him. "Then again..." he trailed off, and shrugged.

"I were having a pint!" Merton was the closest pub for a decent ale, and it wasn't like he could go to his old local or to the Trip easily - it was fine for the Locksley lot, they were liked and people turned a blind eye, more often than not.

Tristan might hate being an outlaw, but Gavin revelled in it. The thrill, the power... This was the life for him. Even if he did manage to make it to another town, he'd probably end up stealing anyway. He just enjoyed it. Maybe he was sadistic. He certainly wasn't religious.

"Day or two," he shrugged, sheathing his blade and chucking the stone in the air to catch it. "It's not like it's urgent or nothing. Only problem is, he'll be coming down the North Road."

Normally Hood's territory.

"Worth it though, by the sounds of it." He looked up and raised an eyebrow at Apple. What was she on? "Pretty boy here not enough to keep you occupied, eh?"

[Regina Apple]

Gina flashed Tristan a wicked grin as a thanks to his comment. She had gotten a good haul. But it had been hard work and she was beat - no thanks to the bloody scrumper. From Gavin's lack of interest she guessed it could be him. That and the fact he liked to pester her to no end. Well, he just wouldn't get any of the food made from the game later. She silently planned out how she could torment him, it was going to be fun.

"Well, we all know what Josh really spends his wares on. He has told me he's a fan of frills." She used her well exercised lying skills. Josh hardly spoke to her - Gina believes it's because he's scared of her - so why would he have told her about frill-fetishes? Not they these two had to know, and for all they did know she had spoken to him about frilly undergarments. She was that good. And not at all big headed about it either.

She was a little disappointed that Tristan didn't indulge her gossip needs, but she let it pass. Maybe he didn't want Gavin poking more fun. She'd heard the whole 'bird' warning. Regina made a mental note to ask him about his visit later. She could be terribly nosey sometimes. But she lived with these people, it wasn't practical living with secrets when you lived in such close quarters. Though, the majority did have their secrets, as did she; and all of them were adverse to sharing them with her.

Regina raised her eyebrows condescendingly, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. He'd risen to her bait. He did it to her all the time, it was only fair she did it to him sometimes. Merton did do a good pint though. Gina just tended to avoid pubs though - much to her dislike, she was fair fond of alcohol - she didn't appreciate some of the attention she got. And it wasn't as if the group acted like a bunch of over-protective brothers; they didn't give a damn about what happened to her.

Squirming with excitement, the cogs turned in Gina's mind. She was glad Tristan seemed up for an ambush - sometimes she got the impression his noble up bringing still got the better of him. Having a day or two to plan was also good, meant they could plan for every possible outcome - which included Hood also being in on the passing noble. Gina would not mind taking him down a peg or two. "Why do we have to round up the others? Keep it between us, that way we get more loot." She suggested. She was tired of sharing her well earned loot with those who'd done nothing. "Let Wellsy in on it though. So then we have enough people." And she liked Simon, he was cool.

"Pretty boy here not good enough to keep you occupied, eh?" She turned to look at Gavin. "D'ya mean Tristan? Or yourself? Because you don't keep me occupied." Another lie. But whether they noticed was up to them. And they'd only notice through inconsistancy. Everyone this side of Sherwood knew that Regina loved Gavin - except probably him. "And Tristan is taken." She sighed. "It seems everyone is taken nowadays. That or they lick the other side of the stamp." She said, joking about Josh's frilly undergarments again.

[Tristan Ash]

Glad that Gavin seemed to have abandoned his cheek (or at least for the time being) Tristan was appeased. Regina's mood didn't failt to leave an impression on the quick ex-nobleman, but he brushed his suspicions to one side for now. This ambush sounded much more profitable, and whilst Tristan didn't like the idea of robbing or stealing, he did know that there was at least three families who would be glad to see him when he had some coin for them. Charitable giving was a privilege, Tristan thought; training from his childhood had taught him compassion and humility.

"We three couldn't take a noble and his whole train," Tristan countered. "Even with Simon it would be risky, especially if Hood shows up. We will need to hope that he hasn't heard about it. Or..." Tristan trailed off, his eyes absently scanning the trees around them. If, somehow, they could get a message to the Sheriff's men that Hood would be watching the North Road (a fact that seemed to escape Vaysey's limited notice) then the noble would have no choice but to ride through the thick forest. Right through Greensleeves territory.

Then again. Hood would donate most of his money to the poor of Nottingham, which is the end result Tristan found most desirable. He didn't really fancy feeding Gavin's gambling, Simon's drinking or Joshua's yearning for frilly knickers while he devoted his share, as usual, to the desitute creatures living under the bridge in Nottingham proper. It was a difficult decision, but Tristan quickly chose the 'right' option as per usual.

"Actually, nevermind. It wouldn't work. Bloody Hood!" He hoped his expletivie loaned his lie an air of authenticity.

[Gavin Bates]

Gavin cringed a little as Gina commented on the idea of Josh having frilly knickers. He wasn’t entirely sure whether to believe her or not. She was a bloody good liar, and you could never really tell. But it was just a little too much information.

”Always thought he were a bit girly,” he muttered, shuddering ever so slightly. How could a man do that to himself, really?

Gavin liked Gina’s idea – the more for them, the better, although he’d be just as happy to leave Simon out of it as to get him in on the plan. Then they’d have even more money. If they were really lucky…

”Tristan ain’t pretty,” he replied to Gina, running a hand through his hair and shooting a smirk in her direction. ”You know you want this.”

But back to serious business.

The thief rolled his eyes. ”You don’t think he’s gonna bring a whole bloody load of people with him, do ya?” he said, raising an eyebrow in Tristan’s direction. ”He’d have to come cross bloody country with all of them, ‘cause even if they could protect him, you know as well as I do that Hood would get at it, somehow. He’s got a sharp mind, that one,” Gavin admitted grudgingly. He hated that he had to give Robin at least that compliment.

”I reckon there’ll be fewer people. Maybe two groups.” He sighed. ”We need more information.”

And the wheels started turning in his head. He lifted a hand to his chin, thinking. Maybe… maybe there was a way they could do this, just the four of them (he’d accepted that Apple was going to make them tell Simon, if not Josh too). And maybe, just maybe… Hood would be able to help them out. Surely a noble wouldn’t carry his entire fortune with him, would he…? No, he wouldn’t, it would come in separate shipments, from various directions, just in case one did get lost.

”I think we need to make this go our way.” He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, and shot a glance at Regina. Maybe…

”Gina, how’s the leg?” he asked suddenly, plan forming in his mind. They didn’t need the wares the lord would have with him – they just needed the lord.

(OOC: Alsa has an idea ^_^;; )

[Regina Apple]

Gina grinned. She loved making Gavin cringe, not only was it fun but it was good to get him back sometimes. Plus the attention was good; he cringed because he actually listened to what she was saying which meant he was paying her attention. This was all a little sad if she thought about it, but all in all, Gina was an attention seeker when it came to Gavin. "'A bit'?" She chuckled.

"Oh c'mon Tristan. What does that pansy Hood have on us? John won't touch us, he wouldn't dare. And Hood likes to play 'fair', he wouldn't try anything." Her words came out a little angrier than they should have, but Hood made Regina so mad sometimes. Bloomin' goody-goody. She took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. "Sorry. What I mean is, it would be very easy for us to trick Hood into believing we aren't going to try anything, then do what we do best." She let her wicked smirk explain the rest. But she couldn't help but wonder if Tristan's conscience was rearing its ugly head, it better not be!

The dormant butterflies in her stomach recieved a jolt of lightening when Gavin confirmed that he'd meant himself keeping her occupied. She was about it say, "Don't worry Tristan, of course you're pretty," when Gavin did his little bit. Her heart almost stopped. Was he hitting on her or something? She smiled sweetly at him, "Don't encourage me, Gavin dear. We have company." She patted his knee, trying so hard not to vomit. Her stomach was doing this odd twirly thing and it wasn't sitting too comfortably with her breakfast.

Regina was a litte disappointed they went back to serious talks. It would have been far more fun for her and Gavin to have slipped away and continue on their previous conversation. But alas, outlaw deeds were a-calling and they couldn't ignore the duty call. Why did it always call when Gina thought she was breaking through Gavin's grump? "He has a point. For this noble to have a whole enterage would just scream, 'Hood come rob me please!'" She raised her pitch for the enterage scream to emphasise her point or something of the like.

Gavin was being smart today, Gina refrained from cutting in again in case she stopped this sudden brain wave. Instead, she nodded in agreement. Information was needed. They could hardly create a plan without anything to base it on. The glance he shot her worried Gina though. What was going on in that dastardly mine? Then her worry was overcast by the wobbly feeling she got whenever he looked at her. It was fair torturous, but she loved it. "My leg? What was up with my leg?" She asked bemused. Where was he going with this?

[Tristan Ash]

((Apologies for my slack-ness! <3))

Sometimes Tristan wondered what the heck he was doing with the Greensleeves at all. Sure, when it came down to boiling point they mostly had their hearts in the right place. They did what they did usually out of desperation, and that was their saving grace in the eyes of their slightly more moralistic friend. He overlooked Gavin’s pillaging, Regina’s mile-wide nasty streak and the faults of all the rest of them simply because they didn’t know any better, and the Sheriff had driven them into the situations they now found themselves in. Most of Nottingham was experiencing much of the same, and Tristan knew for a fact that it was much of a muchness all over England.

With friends like these, though, one certainly didn’t need enemies.

He needed air, and more importantly he needed a way to unite the group. If he couldn’t do that, then things were always going to rub him the wrong way. It was clear to the lady from Gavin’s tone that the shifter fellow had a plan and Tristan was both glad and apprehensive. He eyed the darker haired man subtly before turning his attention to Regina. ”I’ve no need for ‘prettiness’” Ash replied somewhat dryly – a direction contradiction considering his often referred to nickname.

”We will need more information, you’re right about that. But how exactly do you propose it when we three are the ones doing all the work and the others are boozing or wenching it up elsewhere?” Tristan, suddenly feeling as though he was getting one of his ‘headaches’, wandered over to his makeshift cot and sat down upon it. ”I mean, Wellsy’s behaviour of late isn’t exactly the stuff that inspires confidence. And what of Hanton and the rest?” He paused, noticing something else. "And sorry - what of Regina's leg?"

[Tristan Ash]

((Are we still going on this one guys, or should I change my post to be the finisher? ))

[Gavin Bates]

(Might as well close it, with the epic GSer thread of doom[!] I think we might end up a bit confused.

The plan's basically to go and kidnap Sebby. Regina can fake a bad leg, Sebby's known for his ways with women. Is that okay with everyone? *will make sure it's okay with Ann*)

[Regina Apple]

Sounds like a plan to mee! Just need to get Ann in the plot.