With the sun beating down on her and the dust rising from each step she took, a young woman strolled along one of the many paths of Locksley while humming softly to herself. She was in no rush and slowly made her way through the small village amongst the houses greeting the few people who passed her.

"Morning, Edyn. Enjoying the sun?" the town blacksmith greeted her.

"Very much so," she replied smiling. Truth be told, with her fair skin that was prone to burn she usually avoided the harsh sun, but today she was enjoying it, basking in its heat to warm her face and arms. Winter was fast approaching and she would regret not enjoying the good weather while she had the chance.

She and her older brother Henry had moved to Locksley several years passed from the outskirts of York after their mother's death. Neither had known their father as he had left them while they both were very young. They had agreed to acknowledge him as dead, too ashamed to admit to others of their abandonment, so when their mother passed away the two of them were left as orphans at the ages of thirteen and sixteen. A distant relative had agreed to swap homes for their larger house in Yorkshire in exchange for a smaller home in Nottinghamshire, away from all the memories of their non-too thrilling childhood. Had they know what sort of Sheriff was to gain power after two years of them residing in Locksley, they would have reconsidered.

But here they were. They quickly adapted to the different lifestyle and opened a bakery, their own little business they were both proud of. Henry had always had a knack for baking, while Edyn preferred interacting with people and enjoyed selling their goods. The people of Locksley were hesitant of them at first due to their youthfulness, but soon saw passed it and were happy to buy from them, when they could afford it.

Smiling at the memory Edyn continued on. She carried with her a large basket holding several loaves of bread and a small amount of cheese she had stolen from her own kitchen without her brother's knowledge, payment for a favour she had asked of another villager. When she had heard that the sons of the village carpenter and another Locksley boy, Benedict, were planning on stealing from the Sheriff's storeroom she had struck up a bargain with the oldest son to guarantee that her brother and herself would receive extra sacks of flour so they could continue to bake bread to keep their taxes paid. When she had awoken that morning she had found three sacks hidden behind their house.

As she approached his house she noticed his father hard at work out the front. "Morning, Mr Scarlett."

"Oh, good morning," he said. "Can I help you with something?"

"Umm, I was wondering if Will was home." She wasn't sure how much his father knew about the theft and decided it was best not to mention it.

Dan Scarlett gave her a sidelong glance before he answered. "Yes, he and Luke are inside. Go ahead."

She smiled her thanks and approached the door. Only a few moments after she knocked the door was pulled open and Luke, the younger of the two sons, was standing before her. He stared at her for a moment and before she had a chance to speak he called out behind him, "Someone here to see you, Will."

A confused Will slowly came into view. "Hullo."

"Hello. Umm, I have some loaves of bread here. For the flour," she said awkwardly. His silent disposition and stiff posture always made her nervous for some reason.

"Oh, thank you. Come in." He led her to the small kitchen area and took the bread from her, setting it aside uncovered, along with the cheese.

Edyn knew better than to come across as bossy but she couldn't help herself but take pity on him. "You'll want to cover them with a cloth. It will keep it fresh."

"Oh," was the only reply she received before he began rummaging around in search of a cloth. She smiled sympathetically towards him; his mother's absence was slowly becoming more obvious.

"How long has it been?" she asked.

He slowly looked up at her; strangely he knew exactly what she meant. "Nearly two years to the day." He paused for a moment. "It doesn't feel that long ago, yet in some ways it feels like I've lived a lifetime without her, strange as it sounds."

Edyn shook her head. "It doesn't sound strange at all, not to me anyway."

He then straightened up and looked at her properly. He was one of the few people she knew that made eye contact, searching deep into her own dark eyes as he were deliberating what kind of person she was; it seemed odd for such a shy person.

"Well, I should probably head home before I get growled at," Edyn said feeling slightly awkward at the lack of conversation.

"Yeah," Will agreed, "I should probably go help outside. Grab those, Luke," he indicated at his brother to the pile of wood near the doorway.

Edyn followed Luke to the door with Will trailing behind. The moment the door was pushed open Luke stopped and hurriedly stepped back while Edyn felt Will pull her roughly behind him. In the split second she had stood in the doorway she had noticed two strange men she had never seen before, both dressed in traveller's cloaks and hoods.

"It's alright, boys," Dan Scarlett called to his sons.

As always, curiosity got the better of Luke and he didn't even hesitate after he heard his father's voice to step back outside to meet the two new arrivals. Will however was a bit more reluctant remaining in front of Edyn as though these men were a threat. She smiled at his manner.

Outside, Luke was already showing off his skills with a bow and Edyn allowed herself to take in their appearances while their attention was diverted. The closest, whom she guessed from his stance took charge, was leaning casually against his bow whilst he spoke with Dan; the bow itself was unlike any Edyn had ever seen before. She forced herself to divert her eyes away from his weapon to look at him more closely. His clothes were that of a traveller, both worn and dirty indicating the great distance they must have travelled. He was of average height and only a slight build. His companion was very similar with clothes, weapons and height, though his build was slightly more rounded, and he carried with him a shield instead of a bow. They both had the same exhausted yet relieved expressions on their faces and Edyn felt that they were of no threat.

She was about to leave for her home when she noticed dust rising in the distance causing her to hesitate, not a moment later she could see a group of the Sheriff's men heading their way and gathering in the centre of the small town just outside of where they stood. Edyn wanted desperately to run back to her house and be at her brother's side, but instinct told her that would not help the situation. Sir Guy of Gisborne, Lord of Locksley, led the men and everyone gathered outside knew this was not a good sign. Instantly his men leapt from their horses and charged into all the houses dragging out every Locksley resident to stand before Gisborne. Edyn grimaced when she saw her brother roughly shoved outside by a particularly burly soldier; another followed carrying their remaining sacks of flour.

"No!" she whispered. Will caught her arm and pulled her back. She hadn't even realised she was instinctively moving towards were Henry had been thrown roughly to the ground.

"Don't!" Will warned her. She noticed the smaller of the strange men looked over his shoulder at her before returning his attention to the spectacle of Benedict now being dragged from his home. Sir Guy was sat astride his dark horse and smugly explained to the town of the flour theft and how the guilty were to be punished indicating towards both her brother and Benedict.

"Stop!" Edyn cried stepping forward.

"Edyn, don't be a fool!" Will hissed at her.

She watched as Sir Guy turned his horse so he could face her. His horse was tall and Sir Guy himself was big and broad-shouldered making his appearance all the more intimidating; Edyn feel tiny and insignificant in comparison. She suddenly felt all her confidence leave her and she stuttered nervously through her words. "H-how can you punish a baker for having flour in his possession? You have no proof to say that it was stolen. We regularly buy our flour from the mill in Clun." Her voice was shaky and higher than normal; all hope of sounding convincing was gone.

"Interesting," Sir Guy sneered. "Because I heard that the mill was recently closed down; which makes me think that this flour is indeed stolen."

Edyn's heart sank right down to the pit of her stomach. She had gone and made matters much worse by proving it was stolen plus also giving herself in.

"No, you don't understand, Sir Guy," she heard her brother plead. "I bought this flour weeks ago. The mill owner told me in confidence that it was possibly closing down so I bought as much as I could afford at the time. That flour is all I have left to bake with."

"Well then, we'll leave it for the Sheriff to decide whether you're guilty or not," Gisborne replied.

"Wait!" A different voice spoke. The smaller of the travellers stepped forward, addressed Sir Guy and bowed before him.

"My name is Robin, Earl of Huntington, and Lord of this Manor. Your services here are no longer required," he spoke.

There was an outburst of gasps and his fellow traveller dropped to his knees bowing deeply. The rest of the townsfolk still stunned copied his actions. As Edyn lowered her upper body she did not take her eyes from this strange man, Robin.

Guy shot his men a dark stare. "Bring the prisoners!" he growled.

"I believe the baker proved his innocence," Robin called out calmly.

Gisborne deliberated for a moment. "Fine, he stays. But the boy did not. He will come with me to Nottingham. If you have a problem with that you can take it up with the Sheriff." The town watched silently as Benedict was forced to follow Guy and his men away from his home.

Edyn let out the breath she was holding in relief and turned to Will. "I won't do that again. I'll get some more bread to you but that's it. I want no more part in this stealing." He remained silent refusing to make eye contact. She left for her home when something stopped her as she passed Robin. She turned to him and placed a hand on his arm. "Thank you, so very much." A little stunned by the sudden contact he gently placed a hand on hers and smiled.

Back at her home her brother turned on her. "How could you be so stupid? Stealing! I never thought I'd see the day when you of all people would steal. I'm so disappointed in you."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know what else to do," she replied. "We have no money left and I thought it would be a way of ensuring we'd have something when winter comes. If we remain this way we'll either starve or be thrown out of our home due to unpaid taxes. I didn't think we had any other choice."

Henry scoffed. "You really are the one to make everything seem so much more dramatic then it really is."

"Oh, really? Well then what is your plan? Because as far as I can see I'm the only one who's trying to ensure we have enough supplies to keep going."

"You don't think I'm not worrying about that? All I'm saying is that there must be another way rather than stealing," Henry replied. "We've just got to think, that's all."

Edyn stared nervously at the floor. She had thought of a plan long ago if things were to get this tight. She had worked out that there was enough money from sales to support one of them, but with two, it would near to impossible to pay the ever rising taxes as well as afford food for them to eat. Maybe it was time for her to fend for herself? She was sure she could do most tasks that could be thrown her way; she had made it this far with only a sibling to help with tough situations. Who's to say she couldn't make it on her own?

"Henry, I've been thinking," she started slightly anxious.

"Always a worry," he joked, though his voice was still gruff.

She ignored him and continued. "Why don't I go and look for work in Nottingham? With the money from the bread you'll be able to keep the Sheriff off your back and not have to worry about lack of money for taxes."

He simply stared at her for a moment. "You're not serious, are you? It's a perfect solution, yes. But think about how unrealistic it is."

"Why because I'm female?" she shot back at him.

"Don't get defensive. I'm just pointing out the facts. There are so many people camped outside the gates of Nottingham because they can't afford a home. What makes you so high and mighty that you'll be able to walk straight in and get a job and somewhere to stay? Life's not that simple!"

"It can be if you know where to look."

"Fine, tell me where you'd go?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest, always a sign of his frustration.

Edyn's eyes dropped to the floor too ashamed to admit her plan. "I don't want to say."

Henry shook his head and opened his mouth to retort with another smart comment when he stopped himself. "You – you don't mean you're going to try and become a tavern girl, do you?"

She shrugged. "As long as you're female and still relatively young, you're almost guaranteed work. There's always money in alcohol and gambling. And I can work for my bed so I'll have a place to stay."

"You do realise what else you work for?" Henry asked raising his eyebrows. Edyn refused to answer. "I'm not going to let you do this. No sister of mine is going to become a whore!"

She shuddered at the word. "I won't! The girls that agree to that do it for extra coins. I will not lower myself to that."

"It doesn't matter if you do it or not, if you're one of those girls it will be expected. Your reputation will be ruined."

Edyn scoffed. "What reputation? Besides, I don't care what everyone thinks. Let them say what they want."

Henry shook his head. "You say that now, but trust me, you will regret it. And what if something happens to you? When you're doing that sort of work, especially surrounded by drunks, it's almost inevitable that you'll end up in some sort of trouble."

Edyn continued to glare at her brother. He had a point. Nothing she could say would prove him wrong. When she didn't reply Henry simply sighed. "Fine, go and do what you have to do. But be it on your head if something happens to you. You brought it upon yourself."

Edyn was amazed. She didn't think he'd ever agree, but maybe some of her points had made him realise she was right. A part of her was a little disappointed that he had agreed; this was not something she wanted to do.

Henry made his way back to the kitchen leaving Edyn to gather her few belongings. As she packed she delicately placed her fingers on the pendant around her neck. A habit she had picked whenever she was nervous.

When Henry re-entered the room he look at her stunned. "I didn't think you would be leaving today."

"Why put it off. It only gives you time to reconsider and back out."

"This is ridiculous. At least sleep on it," he argued.

"No, I've made up my mind. If I leave now I'll make it there before it starts to get dark," she said slinging her old cloak around her shoulders. "Besides, I'm not the one for long awkward goodbyes."

The corners of Henry's mouth twitched. "This is hardly goodbye. We're not going to avoid each other for the rest of our lives."

"Well, whatever it is, short and sweet is the way to go."

"I'm going to miss you," he mumbled.

Edyn smiled. "I'll miss you too. But I'll try and visit whenever I can."

Lifting her bag to rest on one shoulder she headed outside. They hugged briefly and before she knew it she was on her way to Nottingham. The walk from Locksley to Nottingham was a few miles giving Edyn time to really think about what she was getting herself into. She had always been one to over analyse situations to the point where she became so overcome by nerves that she was now indecisive. Maybe she should go back to the safety of her home and brother? She stopped walking and tried to slow her breathing. She was now more than halfway there. What point was there turning back now, I may as well swallow my pride, face up to my fears and continue on, she told herself.

After only a few moments of continuing her journey she heard hoof beats behind her. She moved to the side of the path to allow them room. Once they were nearly upon her she glanced over her shoulder to discover that it was Robin Hood and his companion cantering past her. She noticed Robin himself briefly turned his head in her direction before he focused his attention on where he was headed. She guessed he was on his way to try and free Benedict; she hoped he would be successful.

When Edyn finally made it to the intimidating town of Nottingham she stopped and stared up at the towering walls. She had never felt so small and insignificant. At leased in Locksley she felt she was someone, here she was simply another peasant under the Sheriff's power.

Walking along the small bridge leading to the town's gate she looked down at the homeless people all living together in what look liked a dilapidated shantytown. The only protection from the weather was the old rags and odd wooden materials they had collected and pinned up which they now hid under, huddled together in an attempt to keep warm. Every one of them looked as if they were ill or dying. They all ranged from young children to the elderly, small families as well as large with many small children. They all pathetically held out their hands to each person that passed them. Edyn so desperately wanted to help them, but she knew if she gave them the small amount of money she had it wouldn't be long before she was living with them.

She continued up the road desperately looking for her destination; it was already becoming cold as the afternoon wind was beginning to pick up. She found herself stopping out the front of the one tavern in Nottingham. The Trip to Jerusalem Inn already sounded as if it were full. She forced herself to take a deep breath. Here I go.

Opening the door slowly she was greeted by the yelling and singing of many drunken men enjoying themselves. She had been right; it was very full and she had to squeeze past many people. One man even asked her to join him and his friends. "We don't get many young ladies like that 'ere, do we boys?" His companions cheered loudly with him.

"What you talkin' about?" Edyn heard a woman call. Looking over she saw a large busted woman slinking over to the men with a jug full of ale in one hand while resting her other on the back of one man's chair so she could lean in close. "Are me and my girls not good enough for you lot?" She was clearly teasing and she stood in way to emphasise her curves.

The gentlemen laughed and one responded, "Of course you are, Gloria! All's I meant was a girl so… intact." Again the men roared with laughter and raised their goblets sloshing their drinks.

Edyn simply kept her eyes straight ahead avoiding eye contact with anyone, ignoring any other comments that may follow. Finally she spotted a man carrying a tray full of empty tankards, clearly the owner of this establishment.

"Excuse me. Excuse me!" she called out. But he kept on walking away from her. "Excuse me," she tried again. "Oi!"

Slowly he turned to face her. He was a small dumpy man with an oily face and hair to match it. "You'll just have to wait for a drink like the rest of 'em, love!"

"Oh. No, I don't require a drink."

"Oh? And what do ya require?" he asked.

She ignored the sarcasm. "I'd like to discuss something with you."

"Well I'm busy. Either buy a drink or come back later, I don't accommodate those who don't buy," he said turning away from her.

Edyn suddenly felt confidence swell inside her; she hated being brushed off, so she persisted. "Well then maybe I can help you, if you help me," she said catching up to him.

"What are you on about? I don't have time for time wasters!"

"Well, it looks to me that you need help."

"Wow! Well spotted!" The sarcasm was back.

She stood her ground. "My name is Edyn and I am in need of work, and a place to stay. Could we maybe cut ourselves a deal?"

"I'm Joe." He then deliberated for a moment. "Okay. Here are my terms, you either take them or leave, and I won't compromise! You work here and I'll let you sleep in the back room, there's no bed so you'll be on the floor, I won't pay you and your food will be the left overs from each meal. Got it?" Edyn was beyond shocked. How was that a fair deal? She was about to open her mouth when he began to speak again. "It's a roof over you're head and food in your stomach. There are other ways to make a little money here. If you want to be picky I say good luck to ya! You'll be on the streets in no time."

Her mind flashed to the images of the homeless outside the town gates. After another moment of thought she sighed and gave in. "Fine." He roughly shook her hand. "Now lose that bag and get started!"

"Oh, umm, okay. What do I do?"

He stared at her. "You know for an intelligent looking girl you've got nothing under that red hair of yours. Figure it out!" he barked.

She jumped before dumping her bag out the back. She then began collecting all the empty tankards and serving out more drinks hoping she was doing the right thing. It wasn't long before she heard Joe's voice in her ear. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention earlier, you make sure you keep the boys happy. You get me?"

Edyn was once more utterly shocked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Lots of smiles and all that. If they ask you to dance, you dance. If they give a slap on the rear to say thanks you don't make an issue of it, okay? My girls don't make a fuss, so I don't expect anything different from you."

"I am not some whore!"

"Exactly. You're not cheap. To them you are like a prize, and hopefully they will come in here everyday hoping to win. And that is more money for me. If you have a problem with that you can hit the streets with the rats!"

Edyn couldn't believe it. She had no choice but grit her teeth and agree. The night was long and seemed to drag on forever. How could she possibly do this everyday? While she had been working she had noticed three other girls doing the same tasks. One girl was rather plump with light brown hair and extremely rosy cheeks, though she seemed very popular with the men; the next girl was extremely bony with long dirty blonde hair and grey eyes, if it wasn't for the smile on her face Edyn would have thought her extremely gloomy and ill. The last girl was the woman she had noticed when she had first arrived. With long, dark hair and the bluest eyes she was absolutely stunning. Obviously she took charge of the other girls and was the favourite with her good looks and perfect body, as well as the ability to keep the men guessing, letting them get extremely close to her before suddenly moving away and giggling while they all tried to coax her back. Throughout the night she had continued to give Edyn dark stares each time their eyes met.

"Hey look, boys!" the rounded girl called at the start of the night. "We got a new 'un." There was a chorus of woops and Edyn kept her eyes down, humiliated at the attention.

"Keep your head up and act confident. If you don't you won't last here," she heard a voice in her ear. The small blonde girl had snuck up next to her. "They're harmless, well, most of them. They just want a little fun." Edyn nodded. "You've never done this before, have you?"

"No. I think my life has been very sheltered right up until these last few moments," Edyn responded.

"You'll soon get the hang of it. I'm Catherine, by the way. And that's Ebony," she pointed to the larger girl, "and Gloria is just over there." She indicated towards the surly girl.

"Edyn," she replied shaking the hand that was offered to her. "I must confess, I'm a little nervous about all this."

"Don't be. You just can't let your pride get in the way. Here, I'll show you." Picking up the jug she had set down she moved towards a group of older men all gathered around one table. "How's it going boys? Anyone need a top up?"

"Hello, Miss Catherine. About time you came over," a balding man said while leaning closer to her.

"I'd never ignore you, Geoffrey," she said while his fingers slowly reached out to touch her stomach and trace along the embroidery on her dress.

"I've missed you." She lifted her arms allowing him better access to her body. Without any hesitation his hands happily roamed down her sides and rested in the dip of her waist before he pulled her down so she sat on his lap. "This is better."

"I'm glad you think so," she giggled in response. She looked over her shoulder and winked at Edyn, who hoped Catherine didn't notice her shudder. This was going to be a very long night indeed.

She was so relieved when the night was finally coming to an end and the final drunk was pushed out the door. "Now, Joe!" he slurred. "Don't get any ideas with my future wife in there, will ya?"

"Of course not, Max." Joe looked over at Edyn and winked. "Goodnight mate!"

"Yeah, night night!" Max muttered as he disappeared down the dark street.

"Sounds like you've got an admirer," Joe teased. Edyn kept herself silent as he made his way over. He stood before her and studied her more closely. "Well, you're half starved and as plain as anything, but you got them happy. Good work!"

Edyn shuddered for what felt like the hundredth time that night. She didn't want to be praised for such a horrid job. She especially didn't want to know she was good at it.

"Right, I'll leave you girls to clean up. Good job as always," Joe called to his girls as he headed for the back door. "Gloria," he called when he reached the door. "When you're done why don't you head upstairs?"

"Of course, Joe," she replied. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Edyn looked around shocked. Both Ebony and Catherine seemed to ignore the interaction completely as if it were a common occurrence. She was now beginning to understand how complex and different life really was once outside of her beloved Locksley.

A:N/ Okay so this is my attempt of writing a different character into my new favourite show. I hope you're enjoying it. I wasn't intending on writing a fanfic but I kind of got typing and before I knew it ten pages was written in a surprisingly short period of time that stretched out to sixteen pages after editing. It's been driving me absolutely crazy, I've rewritten it so many times, had to cut it in half because it was getting so long, all in all a lot of work and time spent on something I wasn't planning on writing in the first place. I'll admit I'm still not sure where I'm going with this but I do have a few ideas for upcoming chapters. Some of the fine details aren't the same as what they are in the show but it was what worked with my character so yeah… =P

She's only recently turned eighteen, and she's had a pretty sheltered life, which is why she doesn't always know how to approach certain situations. I hope she doesn't seem too Mary Sue-ish. I'm trying SO hard to make her seem believable.

And I still don't know what I'm going to do with the whole romance aspect. Obviously she kinda has feelings for a particular character but I don't know if I want anything to happen or not. I'm kind of tossing up a whole bunch of ideas of where this could go… Will/Djaq always seemed odd to me, don't get me wrong, I loved the build up and all the little moments and looks between them but when they actually became a couple it lost its spark. They just don't match. And I've always liked the idea of Will/OC, but the fics that I have read the character is always a Mary Sue, half the gang are already in love with her, she usually gets with Will within the first few chapters, she's always badass and an awesome fighter, plus all the other characters seem really OOC. In saying that, I haven't read them all so if you have written one please don't get offended, I may not have read yours and it could be an exception. Oh God, I hope I didn't butcher the original characters! I love them all so much!

So please, please, PLEASE tell me what you think by reviewing, let me know if I've written a horrible fic, if she's a Mary Sue or if I've described the characters all wrong. Constructive criticism is always welcome; it will help me improve. =)