Fire in the Trees
May. 24th, 2007 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
will_scarlettThe days are full and green as the crop grows well and there seems to be quiet for a time in Nottingham as everyone works to tend the harvest. Though this is not peace, not truly, only a moment of quiet, a breath before the world changes once again as it always does.
The change comes on silent feet hidden amongst other worries as the men ambush a well laden party of nobles coming to visit the Sheriff, the haul is good and no one is badly hurt, a rare thing when it seems the hunters are never far away. As the coin and goods are moved off the road and the nobles are harried on their way with laughter ringing in the trees, smoke rises through the trees.
Will spots it first and calls out, “Smoke? I’ll go check tis near Sigmund’s.”
At the word smoke, all the men turn with worried looks and Robin looks and replies, “Aye, Will, ye’re the fastest, probably tis naught but green wood burnin’ wrong.”
“Aye,” Will says as he heads off into the Green and the men stop to pray that the smoke is nothing, for fire brings trouble to Sherwood’s boughs.
The way is quick and fast once Will knows where to head, Sigmund’s cottage, where the scent of charcoal fills the air but today the scent is off as he approaches. On silent feet from the edges, Will comes closer, fearing a trap since Nottingham has been too quiet and sees ash and no cottage just wood. Forgetting all but Sigmund, Mary and Isolda, he rushes forward, pulling at the fallen wood, but no screams, no sounds, the Sheriff’s men built the fire well, using the charcoal that was the family’s life, it was not meant to spread but to kill.
Will’s hands burn with the heat, but he doesn’t feel it as he finds the bodies and the pain rips him, without thought he stands and punches the first thing he finds, a proud oak, his knuckles bleed and the burns hurt, but the pain remains. In time he stops and blows a long winding note from the horn by his side, then stands lost and numb in this place of death and ash. Finally he moves, because if he stands still, he’ll fall or cry or be sick and he can’t, not yet, not till everything has been done and walks through two trees to be away from the ash…
The change comes on silent feet hidden amongst other worries as the men ambush a well laden party of nobles coming to visit the Sheriff, the haul is good and no one is badly hurt, a rare thing when it seems the hunters are never far away. As the coin and goods are moved off the road and the nobles are harried on their way with laughter ringing in the trees, smoke rises through the trees.
Will spots it first and calls out, “Smoke? I’ll go check tis near Sigmund’s.”
At the word smoke, all the men turn with worried looks and Robin looks and replies, “Aye, Will, ye’re the fastest, probably tis naught but green wood burnin’ wrong.”
“Aye,” Will says as he heads off into the Green and the men stop to pray that the smoke is nothing, for fire brings trouble to Sherwood’s boughs.
The way is quick and fast once Will knows where to head, Sigmund’s cottage, where the scent of charcoal fills the air but today the scent is off as he approaches. On silent feet from the edges, Will comes closer, fearing a trap since Nottingham has been too quiet and sees ash and no cottage just wood. Forgetting all but Sigmund, Mary and Isolda, he rushes forward, pulling at the fallen wood, but no screams, no sounds, the Sheriff’s men built the fire well, using the charcoal that was the family’s life, it was not meant to spread but to kill.
Will’s hands burn with the heat, but he doesn’t feel it as he finds the bodies and the pain rips him, without thought he stands and punches the first thing he finds, a proud oak, his knuckles bleed and the burns hurt, but the pain remains. In time he stops and blows a long winding note from the horn by his side, then stands lost and numb in this place of death and ash. Finally he moves, because if he stands still, he’ll fall or cry or be sick and he can’t, not yet, not till everything has been done and walks through two trees to be away from the ash…