All Along the Watchtower (1/?)

[Goldberry]

Author's Note: Well, here is my new fic that I can tell will take me
forever to finish as I am constantly researching for it! *sigh* This
is sort of a compiled fic based on the life and tales of Robin Hood.
As you may have guessed, Heero Yuy will play the part of the Earl of
Huntington, who is believed by many to actually have been the famous
thief. Some characters you also may recognize as playing obvious
roles such as Relena as Maid Marian and Quatre as Alan-a-Dale.
Others will come totally from my imagination. The story itself is
taken from a number of novels as well as my own unique twist of the
life of Robin Hood, so you may recognize various parts as being from
films or books, but I hope the overall impression is original.
Please enjoy and if you have any comments or suggestions, please
feel free to voice them!

Pairings: 1xR, 2xH, 3xD, 3xC?




All Along the Watchtower



Spring of 1192
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
Huntington Castle




It was harsher than she had expected, but then she supposed she
would always see the gentle walls of Huntington Hall superimposed
over the stark stone fortifications that the old Earl called a
castle. It had been years since she had set foot in Huntington, and
back then it had been a child's foot, pattering down the dimly lit
hallways playing seek-and-find with a tousle-headed boy of nine. She
smiled slightly at the memory and cast her eyes over the walls
again, seeking the familiar comfort of something long ago. She
didn't find it.

The Earl had done a fine job of erasing any memory of his dead wife.
Nothing of her warm and gentle presence remained, even the
tapestries on the walls were different, portraying distant
battlefields in honor of the Earl's son, Sir Heero Yuy who had been
knighted by the Coeur de Lion himself in the midst of war for valor.
The whole castle reflected the effects of the Crusades, and Relena
wondered if she would ever again feel comfortable there.

She had come today simple out of curiosity. The Earl had announced a
great celebration in honor of his son's return from the sun-soaked
battlefields in the east, with everything from a feast, to dancing,
to a hunt on the marrow. Relena had no intention of staying that
long, though she knew leaving early would require a great
explanation to the Earl, but she really had no desire to spend any
more time in the company of William de Gray, the Sheriff of
Nottingham, than absolutely necessary. Just thinking of him brought
a scowl to her lips before she cleared the expression away. He had
long expressed interest in her, thinking his newly given power by
Prince John made him more than a match for her. In reality, he was
below her station as he had bought his nobility with his
inheritance. She was the cousin of King Richard, and as such, had a
title to uphold. Her family was well known in the Shire and,
considering its connections to the royal house, was one of large
influence. She had no desire to wed the Sheriff, and indeed, had no
fear of it ever coming to pass. Her brother, Milliardo, was the only
man with the power to give her hand in marriage, and he had long
despised the power-hungry William. Short of an order from the King,
she was safe from marriage, but not from his unwelcome advances.

"Good morning, my lady," he said, striding up to her and taking her
hand. She inclined her head slightly as he kissed it, holding it a
bit longer than custom demanded before dropping it with a
smile. "How fare you on this lovely day?" William fell in beside her
as she walked leisurely from room to room, nodding to other nobles
that called greetings to them, and she restrained herself from
frowning. She really wasn't in the mood to stomach his flattery, and
she had promised Catherine a walk in the gardens later?

"I am quite curious to meet the acquaintance of Sir Yuy, my lord.
Have you heard much about him?" she questioned, lifting her pale
lavender skirts slightly as they stepped in the Great Hall. If any
room fully proclaimed the changes the Earl had made, it was the
Great Hall. The ceiling itself towered above the attending guests,
strewn with banners depicting the gold stag of the House of
Huntington. The impression was one of military strength and this
time she did frown. Did the Crusades mar everything?

William seemed to notice her displeasure but did not ask of it. "I
have not yet met the Earl's son, though I hear his valor at Acre*
brought him to the attention of the Lion Heart himself." Relena
nodded once, she had heard the same. She looked about quickly for
the Earl and found him in conversation with a group of barons from
the north, the timbre of their voices betraying the seriousness of
their conversation. One she recognized as the Earl of Salisbury from
his brief appearances at court, a blustery sort of fellow that loved
his land and his hounds. What would Huntington be doing speaking
conspiratorially with him? The sheriff was still talking, "?staying
for the hunt, of course? I would be most delighted to escort you, if
you would allow me."

Relena blinked, realizing William had asked her a question. "Oh,
that is most gracious, my lord, but--"

"Think nothing of it, Relena, dear. It would be my pleasure." He
kissed her hand again and smirked at her before striding off before
she could say anything. She stared after him a moment, affronted at
the lengths he went through to bother her, before shrugging
slightly. He always knew just what to say to get a favorable reply.
She could hardly deny him a perfectly harmless request, and he knew
it. So much for bending to a lady's wishes.

"Sir Heero Yuy, Lord of Huntington," the announcer's voice rose
above the quiet murmurs of the crowd as the door of the Hall opened
and a tiny pathway opened among the onlookers. Relena found herself
standing on tiptoe to get a better look as a young man strode into
the room, his dark, unruly hair marking him immediately as the
Earl's son. She could see little of him from her vantage point but
she caught a flash of dark Prussian blue eyes and nodded to herself.
He was still the same but, of course, taller and broader in the
shoulders, with the lean muscles that came from hard sword work. He
had clearly become a man while he was away and she wondered suddenly
if he still remembered her. It had been years since they had played
as children together. Did he still remember the times they had spent
in the gardens, pretending to be lords and ladies of the manor?

Heero made his way through the crowd slowly, hardly speaking and
offering only few words when spoken to directly. He seemed very
aloof and apart, as if he considered himself very different from the
gossiping nobles that crowded around him like vultures. Or perhaps
uncomfortable was the right word. Whatever the case, he finally
reached his father you clapped his arm, his craggy face beaming and
he introduced his son again. The nobles clapped lightly and began
moving forward in hopes to speak with the young knight. Relena moved
forward with the rest but was pulled to the side suddenly by an
insistent hand on her arm.

"My, how the young lordling has grown," a voice piped in her ear,
and she turned to meet the icy blue eyes of Dorothy de Gray, the
Sheriff of Nottingham's daughter. Bastard daughter, some said. She
was dressed in a slimming gown of blue satin with a fine layer of
transparent silk georgette flowing over it with satin sleeves of
puffed georgette to match. She wore a pretty necklet of glowing blue
stones and a pair of silver slippers on her feet. Her long sunflower
hair was immodestly draped over her shoulders instead of pulled away
from her face, and Dorothy smirked at Relena's disapproving
expression. Dorothy had a somewhat loose reputation among the young
gentlemen of the Shire with rumors constantly circulating of her
many exploits, none of which she confirmed, or course. Her father
barely spoke to her, too busy finding someone to marry her off to,
and so Dorothy constantly paraded herself, hoping for his attention.
Unfortunately, she cared little for what people thought of her, and
Relena knew for a fact that the girl was no virgin. What the sheriff
would say to that if he knew, Relena did not want to know.

"Dorothy," Relena replied, nodding in greeting, "Do you know Sir
Yuy?"

"No," the other woman purred, "but I plan to." She glanced at
Relena. "I see you and my father have already spoken, I suppose he
wants to spend the day with you." Dorothy's voice had a sharp edge,
representative of the jealousy she harbored towards her father's
relationships. Relena shook her head, all she wanted to do was to be
rid of the older man, but Dorothy would never believe that. To her,
her father's attention was everything.

"You have an interest in him?" Relena asked instead, nodding to the
dark haired young man. Dorothy tilted her head, her raptor gaze
settling on Heero.

"He's handsome enough, perhaps Father will arrange something."

"Perhaps," Relena replied, and then pulled herself away, "I must go
and welcome him back. Care to join me?"

Dorothy shook her head, smiling secretly to herself. "I'll see him
later." She gave a little wave. "Have fun."

Relena turned away and moved forward again, exchanging smiles with a
few acquaintances. The closer she got to the front of line, the more
nervous she became, without knowing why. After all, it was not as if
she had never spoken to him before. It was just that he had never
looked so?lost, before.

Steeling herself, she gathered her courage and stepped forward.

* * * *

Heero Yuy was bored.

He had returned to England to find it the same as when he had left.
The same chattering, fickle people he had met a dozen times before.
What was worse, was that after months in the hot, sweltering heat of
Israel, the cold, damp weather of England had left him feeling
somewhat off.

The war had changed him. He was not the same, na?ve young man who
had left with such high ideals. He had seen things that still
haunted his nightmares, and sometimes came to him even in the
daylight. The Crusades would never leave him, and he wondered if he
would have survived if he had stayed.

A serious sword wound to his chest had sent him away from the battle
front and into the care of the best physicians his father could buy.
He still bore the scar of their haste, thinking to send him back to
the front as one of Richard's most trusted men, but his father had
pleaded that he be sent home as Heero was his only heir, and the
King had agreed, providing that Heero wanted to go.

Looking back on his decision, he regretted it. Everywhere he turned
he found himself comparing it with Israel and he seemed to find
himself in two places, as two people, his memories all tangled in
the fury of war.

And then he looked into her eyes.

They were a beautiful sky blue with hints of lavender brought out by
the color of her dress. She was wearing a gown of crushed ivory
velvet with an inner paneling of pale purple silk covered with a
layer of fine lace. Her hair was pulled back in an array of curls
with a strand of amethyst pulled through them, glinting when she
moved her head. A few tendril framed a face almost faerie like in
its loveliness, and he found himself looking hard at her, something
about her pulling at him. Who was she?

She blushed under his gaze but held his eyes proudly. "Hello, Sir
Yuy. Welcome back to England."

Behind him, his father supplied her name in a low whisper, causing
him to blink.

"Lady Darlian," he said, and then stiffened as his eyes showed him a
place faraway, in a land she would never see.

<i>The sun beat down on them mercilessly, burning tree, leaf, and
the very souls of the soldiers that fought across the sands. Battle
cries and screams filled the air, but he could hear only his own
grunts and cries as he surged forward, sword raised and dripping
with the blood of infidels. Acre stood before him, the city silent
now behind the walls that had fallen under Richard's siege. As
always, he could hear the helpless cries of the women as they were
raped in the streets by desperate soldiers. They were all desperate
now, desperate to end the madness that had taken all of them in this
war of death.

"Taa'la hena, Heero!" Peter Darlian shouted from in front of him,
his unit trying to get to where Richard's banner was still raised
above the fighting. "Tah al!"

"Roah," he shouted back, the Arabic that had been so hard to learn,
slipping easily from his tongue. Peter went ahead and he followed,
his sword cutting through Saracens as he went. He was only a few
feet from the unit when he heard Peter scream. Heero turned
abruptly, just in time to see a Saracen cleave Peter's head from his
body with a single deadly arc of his sword. Stunned, Heero could not
move, not think. Peter had taken the position Heero was suppose to
occupy, it was suppose to have been him?

He raised one hand to the letter slipped under the layers of his
armor and raised his sword to the sky, tears of anger slipping down
his face.

"For England and the Lionheart!"</i>

"Heero?"

Relena was standing close to him, her hand on his arm, her eyes full
of concern. Her face?Peter's face, looked up at him, innocent, and
he had to step away. He did not deserve her comfort, could not let
himself be comforted by her. It should have been him?

Her hand fell to her side and he could see the hurt in her eyes at
his sudden withdrawal. Feeling cold and hot all at once, he withdrew
the letter he had carried all the way from the holy lands and
offered it to her.

"From your father, my lady."

She breathed out quietly and took it from him, tears glinting at the
corner of her eyes though she did not cry. For a moment, he was
further confused by an image of her as a young girl, running in a
garden, laughing with him. Could this woman really be the little
girl had played with as a child?

She held the letter calmly in slim fingers and inclined her head to
him. "Thank you," she said, before disappearing into the crowd
again, leaving him still confused and wondering just what the
Crusades had done to him.


tbc?


* * * *

*The Battle of Acre where Richard conquered the city and later slew
2700 Muslim prisoners on his way to Jerusalem.


Arabic translations--

Taal'la hena = Come with me

Tah al = Come

Roah = Go!


Please review! It would mean alot to me! *huggles*

[blackrose]

OOOh. Awesome. You've obviously done alot of research on this one, and it shows! Take your time - well, I say that now, but if you leave me w/Heero and Rel NOT together for very long...you'll probably hear me whining. :razz:

But for now - HURRAY! And I'm off to read the next part. ^__^

Love,
Rose

[Hitomi Lei]

I love Robin Hood. As a child My brother and I spent countless hours playing in the wood behind our house. We played Robin Hood most. I can't begin to count how many bows and arrows we made or how may times the evil sherif died by our hand...Thank you for combineding two of my greatest loves...

[Jannbond]

Oooh, that was simply lovely. Your writing is well developed, descriptive, and addictive. I love how you've written the characters here and the era you've set this in. I've always loved Robin Hood.

You have a way of bringing everything to life, so it isn't merely story-telling, but so that the reader can _see_ what's being written without much effort on their part. That's such a nice ability. ^^

I'm looking forward to the other parts of this. I'm hoping to have time tonight to read through most of them!

Keep writing! You're supremely talented.

~Jen