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Post by luke on Jul 14, 2009 14:59:06 GMT 1
Luke slumped by the side of a house, the twilight sun licking at his features, and half casting them in shadows. The house was an old one, poor looking, but near the edge of where a lot of people went to the pub after a day’s work, or just to waste away the evening in any way. This was why he had come there, since it was so crowded and busy, giving him chance to be seen and for people to be ... generous. After a while, he dropped a sack on the floor, ready for coins. An evening’s begging had begun, even if he hated the job entirely.
The last month of his life had been awful for one reason or another. He had made a few friends since returning to Nottingham, but since then he had decided to move back to Locksley after a while, since he couldn’t afford to pay for an Inn room any longer. But, he hadn’t come out to a home in Locksley either, rather he figured that it would be better to be homeless in Locksley, than in Nottingham since at least this place didn’t seem as rough as others. But sleeping out in the cold had always been awful for him, and he was rather ashamed of it as well. This meant that he did not speak to any friends he might have made, or his brother, since he was far too embarrassed do any of it.
Stomach rumbling, he noticed that he was hungry also, but that was what the begging was for of course, even if people didn’t have much money to spare. He had been going hungry for a while really, but was learning to cope with it over the days. Occasionally, he would have enough to buy himself some bread, but besides that he just went without, too afraid to steal anything just in case he was sent to the gallows. Besides being hungry however, another discomfort that he had was his attire. His boots had worn out and so he had had to lose them, now being reduced to being barefoot. His trousers had ripped also, showing most of his lower legs and he only had a thin t shirt on also. But, he was learning, slowly, to cope with all that.
A few minutes went past, but not one coin was placed into the small sack which was all he had. He half expected someone to steal it one day, but fortunately no one had as of yet. Sighing, he wondered how things had come to this, as he lolled his head onto the back of the house and looked up at the sky.
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Post by Will Scarlett on Jul 14, 2009 18:00:12 GMT 1
Will was busy walking through the edge of Locksley, thinking of the different types of wood he would have to extract from Sherwood, as well as a few supplies that he would need from Nottingham. It wasn't much and they weren't expensive, but he had very little actual money to waste right now. He had fences to repair,, roofs to re-thatch, and some rotten wood timbers to replace.
As he was headed for a particular part of Sherwood for some beech fronds that would be useful in roofing he went around the corner of an old run-down house, and around that corner he saw a pair of bare feet that were, of course, shoe-less, and the trousers found just above them were tattered as well. As he continued past he thought to himself that those feet sure looked familiar, and then it struck him .... Brother Luke!
"Luke Scarlett, what are you doing here and not in Scarborough? How did your clothes get in such a shape? Stand up! Stand up!" And then he saw the begger's sack and wondered just what his brother had gotten into. Crossing his arms he said, "Explain yourself Scarlett!"
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Post by luke on Jul 14, 2009 18:19:21 GMT 1
Luke could have died of embarrassment when his brother found him like that, and he blushed a suitable red. That was the reason why he had not came into contact with anyone since it was shameful that he had resorted to begging and living out on the streets. But he couldn’t deny either that he was pleased to see his brother again, which made him think... it would be very good indeed to become an outlaw, like he always had and wanted to be.
Standing up as instructed, he looked down at his feet. “I came back to Nottingham a couple of months ago... I just hadn’t seen you. It was lonely in Scarborough without father’’ he replied to the first question, returning his gaze to his brother. “Then I went to that city but I couldn’t afford an inn room after a while so I returned here’’ he went on, before shrugging. It was too hard for him to tell his brother that he had been living on the streets after that, though he probably did deserve to be told it.
“My clothes are like this because I can’t afford any new ones, especially not any new boots. But... I should look into getting some’’ Luke answered the last question, before smiling fondly at his brother. “But I am pleased you are here.’’
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Post by Will Scarlett on Jul 14, 2009 19:15:10 GMT 1
It took some moments for Will to get over the shock of first finding his brother Luke, and then finding him in the state that he was in. Will wasn't sure if it was his or his brother's embarrassment which was the larger. As he took a good look at him Will could easily see that his brother was much thinner than he now, but a good 15 to 20 pounds under where he should be. And he barely had enough clothes to cover the appropriate parts of the body. At least he seemed happy to see him, and as his closest family member he was thrilled to see him as well, especially considering the problems that Will had gone through with Robin.
Will was sure that Luke wasn't giving him the whole story or the whole truth, but he didn't really care at this point. "Have you been staying somewhere her in Locksley .... with an old friend perhaps?" Well, in any case he was going to invite him to move back into the old place with him, at least temporarily, since Will wasn't even sure how long he would stay.
"Well we will first see if we can get you some good used clothes and boots. We may not be able to afford much more than that for a bit. You should know first, Luke, that I'm happy to see you, and hope that you feel the same way about me. Second, I'm no longer with Robin's outlaws, at least not directly. I had a bit of a falling out with Robin, and I thought it would be better if I went away for awhile. I've been rebuilding the house and the carpentry shop, and hopefully tat will produce enough of an income, until we decide what we're going to do long-term. So, you are welcome to stay, but that's up to you.
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Post by luke on Jul 14, 2009 19:29:18 GMT 1
Luke sighed, before shaking his head. There was no point in lying to Will about where he had been staying since he would know that there were no old friends. His childhood was spent following Will around, not making friends of his own. The people who he spoke to were always Will’s friends, and never his actual friends. He’d never been able to make friends very well, which was probably why he was in such a state that he was in now. “No, I’ve just been living out on the streets’’ he admitted, even if he didn’t exactly want to. If it was up to him then he wouldn’t have said anything, but since Will had asked him where he had been staying, there was little choice in the matter over than to own up to it.
“I don’t suppose... I could have your boots in the meantime? Just until you can get some for me?’’ he asked, when Will said that he would get him some. He wasn’t being greedy or anything, but going barefoot was not something he liked at all and so it would be nice if he got some to wear as soon as possible. “I do feel the same way about seeing you, by the way. I’ve missed you, and I hope you missed me as well’’ he said, smiling slightly, pleased to see his brother again. It had been far too long since they had spoken with each other.
However, what he said next completely shocked him, and he certainly hadn’t seen that happening. “Wow’’ was all he could manage, even if he was slightly worried about it. The outlaws were Will’s life, and he didn’t know if his brother would mind not having their company anymore. But when he said that he was rebuilding the house, he got rather excited. It would feel almost like old times again, and he would have a proper home to go to, where he lived with someone who actually cared what happened to him. “What did you fall out with him about? But of course I will go and live in the old house. It beast no home at all.’’
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Post by Will Scarlett on Jul 15, 2009 15:45:48 GMT 1
Will had been hoping that Luke had been living with 'someone', but given the condition of his clothes and general person, he really wasn't surprised. ["How long have you been in Locksley then? You are lucky you weren't assaulted and robbed, even here. Of course what you should have done is go into Sherwood, in search of Robin and the gang. At least they would have given you shelter until Robin located me. I guess all of that doesn't matter now. What is important is that you are in good condition, relatively healthy, and we are together again."
"I am afraid I need mine as well, brother. Fortunately, though, I think we have a spare pair at the house that will fit you. Those should get you by until we can get into Nottingham and get a proper pair for you. After all, before I can get you in the right frame of mind for work we have to make sure you are outfitted properly .... correct?" He could tell initially that Luke was disappointed with Will's turndown, but when he understood his idea his mood improved considerably. Besides, Luke had made it quite clear that Will had been missed by his brother. Will wondered if the members of the gang missed him, or were happy to be rid of him.
Will could see by the look in his brother's eyes and face that he was truly shocked that he wasn't running with Robin's gang any longer. Undoubtedly Luke on it being Will's gang as much as Robin's since he had been one of the original members. He also remembered the difficulty and lack of success he and his father had had in getting Will to leave the gang and come back to Scarborough. At that time, anyway, Will states that they were doing important work. Will understood his brother's shock did not doubt that Luke had lots of questions. "Well we had usome underlying problems that we couldn't get around and I thought that I could be more of a help to the people as a carpenter than an outlaw. I may go back at some point, and remember, I could be arrested at any time, so it may not be the safest place to be. Hmmm .... I thought you might not mind bring back in your old rooms," he laughed.
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Post by luke on Jul 21, 2009 18:57:04 GMT 1
“I was too embarrassed to go and seek help from Robin. I was barefoot and smelly. Hardly the sign of someone who is in a good sort of condition’’ Luke said, shrugging. It would have been humiliating turning up like that and he knew it, which was why he had steered clear of anyone he knew. He didn’t want word going back to Will that he was being reduced to have to beg to keep himself alive as opposed to getting another job like carpentry. It would have been even more humiliating to admit why he couldn’t get a job like that, since he wasn’t skilled enough to do it. “I’ve been travelling a bit since coming to Locksley anyway. So I have only been here for a couple of weeks. Not very long anyway.’’
As he refused to give him his boots though, he frowned deeply, shocked and genuinely rather hurt that he wouldn’t make any sacrifices for his little brother. It was true that his brother probably did need those boots as well, but he should have been wanting to make his little brother’s position comfortable more than anything else. Luke would have thought that he would be willing to do anything for him, and yet he wouldn’t even do anything like give him his boots for a short while. “I only wanted them to walk back to the old house...’’ he muttered, obviously pretty upset. He guessed it was nice of him to say he would make sure he was properly outfitted eventually, but he was still rather annoyed with his brother about the turn down.
“I’m not surprised he didn’t want to be an outlaw with a selfish idiot like you’’ Luke said, still irritated about the turn down. Walking a bit faster, he didn’t turn round to look back at Will when he was out of his sight. As far as he was concerned, Robin was good for getting rid of him, since that is what he presumed happened, even if he didn’t listen to what Will said properly. It didn’t matter to him anymore in the slightest, and he could get stuffed for all he cared. In fact, he did hope he got arrested since that was exactly what he deserved for being an outlaw and failing, yet again, to be a decent brother. It was just his luck to be back with someone like Will anyway. “Your carpentry was always rubbish anyway’’ he called back behind him.
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