Hard Habit To Break

Chapter 1

It was no surprise to Anya that they were on another rescue mission. It seemed almost inevitable that any time they set foot out of the forest, someone from the gang ended up in the custody of either Sir Guy of Gisborne, or The Sheriff himself, and thus needing rescuing. Everyone in Robin's gang had been in the dungeon at least once, it almost seemed like a rite of passage; you couldn't call yourself an outlaw, or a member of the gang until you'd made a trip to the dungeon.

~//~

Allan had gotten himself caught poaching, again. One would think the man would have learned the first time, but alas it seemed not. All the townsfolk knew that poaching was a hangable offense in Nottingham, which included the forest that Robin and the gang inhabited currently. The only thing that wasn't common knowledge was when the hangings would take place, it truly depended on The Sheriff's mood. Sometimes it was early as the next day, and at other times it was weeks later; thus making rescue missions even more complicated.

Allan had been imprisoned for about two days now, and when he hadn't shown up for the evening meal the day before yesterday, Robin had begun to suspect that something had happened to Allan, as he wasn't one to miss a mealtime. Robin had immediately gone into town to see what information he could find out via his spy on the inside, Marian.

Marian always seemed to know what was going on inside the castle. She resided there part-time and was the current object of Sir Guy's affection, which worked to many people's advantage, including Robins. Notably when Robin tended to be one step ahead of The Sheriff's so-called carefully laid plans.

Robin returned to camp with the news that everyone had been dreading, that Allan had been captured by The Sheriff's men. It was rumored that Allan, along with other criminals, was set to be hung by the neck, until dead, in a few days. Robin relayed that the only reason the prisoners hadn't already been hung, was due to the gallows needing repair. This gave everyone some time to come up with a plan to get the prisoners out safely and efficiently.

~//~

The gang moved inconspicuously through the crowds of people, and guards, towards the stairwell that lead down into the dungeons; it was all too easy! The guards were too busy harassing villagers who looked like they might have something of value on them, to even care about the six of them. One would think with Robin, being who he was and still at large, that security would be tighter. Especially with a member of their notorious gang in custody! It seemed however that the lack of security never changed.

Anya always found this funny, because in her homeland this would never fly! 'Either The Sheriff's an idiot, which isn't hard to believe at times, or this is a trap!' she thought to herself as they moved deeper into the castle towards the dungeon.

"I'm telling YOU I was only pretending to shoot the deer, I wasn't gonna shoot it!" Anya heard Allan say to someone, did he expect anyone to believe that lie? 'Come on Allan, you can do better than that! Hell, even the village children could do better.' She thought, rolling her eyes at the absurdity of his statement as she rounded the final corner and found herself officially in the dungeon.

~//~

Anya watched as Robin snuck up behind the dungeon master and struck him over the head with the hilt of his dagger. He caught the man easily as he fell unconscious and drug him off to the side, propping him up against a wall. The prisoners cheered loudly when they realized who was in front of them, adding to Robin's already inflated ego. After a few moments of soaking in the praise, Robin quickly spoke to them "Please be quiet, if the guards hear you it will ruin the rescue mission. We will get everyone out, I promise you. However, you will need to follow the plan we have come up with, I must have everyone's cooperation. So listen up! Once we get the doors open the first group will follow D'Jaq and Will out, the second group will follow John and Much, and the last group will follow Anya and me."