Ok I know that you were expecting a Lady Clark Challenge from me but me being a forgetful little Forest Spirit, I got sidetracked into doing some pigeon-y love. Enter: Leliliq who is Lardner's mate. She doesn't like being used without permission but you can still do Lardner/OC stories if you want to. Set during series 3. MARIAN AND CARTER ARE ALIVE Will and Djaq have brought back Lardner and Leliliq who have decided to settle down in the Outlaws Camp! Friar Tuck will be introduced at last! Multiple viewpoints and please review! (Whispers) I like reviews!

Thanks to all of you who have reviewed my stories so far! You guys rock!

Disclaimer: Dammit! I don't own Robin Hood . . . yet. Leliliq is mine!

Dawn. The first light of the day brings harsh reality to the comforting darkness of the night. Slowly at first, the bright orange rays poke through the wispy clouds and over the spindly trees. The Forest is wreathed in frost. It is midwinter and all is still. Even little creatures of the Forest are still as if waiting.

Allan 'A Dale sat very still on his rock overlooking the North Road. His hood was drawn up over his face and his cloak was wrapped around his body. He had been sitting here for the past hour or so. As he saw the sun begin to rise, he also saw the grim stone towers of Nottingham castle twelve miles hence on the horizon. At first he felt remorse and regret for his decision to leave the Castle Guard and rejoin the Outlaws. He could be sleeping in a soft bed instead of a hard wooden bunk in the forest, a salty wench by his side and a good tankard of ale at a moments notice. Moments later he was reminded of Gisbourne.

That monster had ordered the hanging of dozens of simple, god-fearing men, the burning of entire villages for sheer sadistic pleasure. In one moment he had ripped away the life of a good young woman forever and torn apart two people who should have been together forever. His hands bore the blood of hundreds of children. What little good that had been left in him had been destroyed forever.

His beard was tangled with frost and his skin had gone very pale. He was usually cheery and merry but ever since Marian had died by Gisbourne's blade, morale amongst the legendary Sherwood Outlaws had taken a serious nosedive. Dead branches rustled and cracked in the forest below him. Allan was drawn away from his pendant state. As swiftly as lightning, he had drawn his sword and bolted down to the disturbance like a fox. The trees look all the same down here. Dead and spindly like old, malevolent fingers intent on grasping him. Allan cautiously crouched and read the rumours of the soil that the earth brought him. Four sets of human looking footprints were haphazardly thrown hither and thither on the soil before they both headed off into the forest in different directions. Whoever made them were still not far off.

Allan's heart was thumping like mad. It couldn't have been the Guards, Gisbourne or the Sheriff because they would have killed him outright. Outlaws perhaps? Whoever was stalking him was toying with their prey. Re-adjusting his hood, Allan raised his sword in a two-handed high guard with the blade slanted across the front of his body.

A flash of dark cloak flew past the corner of Allan's eyes. The Outlaw swung his sword with a loud cry but it only met air. "Come out and face me!" growled Allan to the shadows "I'm not afraid". He couldn't have been more wrong. He was terrified. On instinct, Allan turned and swung his sword again. Instead of thin air, the keen blade met another. The figure before him directed Allan's sword away from their bodies and flung it out of his hands before crashing into him with all of his body strength.

Allan felt the air get knocked out of his lungs as the man pinned him to the forest floor. He was hooded but his cloak bore the Crusaders Cross as well as other military insignia from the Knights Templar. Another man, this time in a dark cloak and an axe strapped to his back helped the Crusader pin Allan to the floor.

Helplessly, he began to flail his legs around like a wild thing, trying to wriggle free from his captors before a third figure clad in a pale green hijab grabbed his legs. A fourth, this time a woman strode out from the shadows towards Allan, her feminine curves concealed in a sky blue travelling cloak. A sword rang loud and clear in the dawn light as she rested it on his throat. "Make a move and I will kill you" she threatened.

Allan couldn't believe his ears.

"Marian?"

YAY! Marian is back! I hope that that was an entertaining start to this little adventurous epic that will hopefully be longer than all my previous work.

The Spirit