2011 Fanfiction Competition Winner

LEGEND OR FAKE? By MissAdric2

Prologue

Arrows flew everywhere, left, right and centre. Ivy and the Doctor dodged them as best they could. How on earth had they gotten into this mess? The Doctor was almost about to stop the siege but somehow failed, how did that work? Had Ivy told him her vision wrong? If so, why did she do that? Did she still not trust him? Whatever the reason, they had to get out of this fight.
As they both ran an arrow was aimed and fired right at the Doctor. It hit him in the shoulder. He fell to the floor. Ivy knelt down to him and tried to get him up and moving. They had to get out of this crossfire. Ivy dragged the Doctor to cover where she saw him again, scared out of his wits. Definitely not the man she thought he was. The legend she had learned about in school and seen on TV. She put the Doctor on a nearby table and went over to him.
“You need to stop this! Your men believe in you!” Ivy said to him.
“I can’t! I’m just a fake” The man said.
“Maybe, but now is the time to prove yourself, the Doctor is hurt, again, because of you so you owe it to him and me!” Ivy said getting upset “Now go out there and stop that Prince John from taking Nottingham! Believe in yourself Robin Hood!”

Chapter 1

A day before hand....

“Doctor, I think we are in trouble yet again” Ivy said with her back pressed up against the TARDIS doors with an arrow held at her.
“I think we might be Ivy” The Doctor said in the same position.
“Should we reason with them?” Ivy asked.
“These guys look pretty tough and maybe a bit think, might be best to just follow orders for now” The Doctor said. Ivy nodded.
“What are you doing in our forest?” One man asked.
“Well, we are here to explore, not injure or harm, just seeing what was around the place, that's all, no need to worry about us” The Doctor answered.
“No-one comes here unless there is a real reason!” The man said.
“Well we have” Ivy answered this time.
“Put your hands up” Another man said. The Doctor and Ivy put their hands up.
“What should we do with them?” The small man asked.
“We need to wait until Robin comes, he’ll know what to do with them” Someone else answered.
“Robin?” Ivy whispered to the Doctor.
“That’s what he said” The Doctor whispered back.
“I think they need to be taken to the camp” A very handsome said from a short distance away.
“Robin, we found these people trespassing” The small man said.
“We searched them and they have no valuables” Another man said.
“Well take them to the camp, blind fold them and bring them” Robin said.
“Hang on, who are you exactly? Robin....?” Ivy asked quickly before she was blindfolded.
“I’m Robin of Locksley” Robin said.
“Robin Hood?” Ivy asked shocked.
“That’s one of my names yes” He answered “Blindfold them, now!” And the blindfold came over Ivy’s eyes.
Oh my God, Ivy thought, that man was Robin Hood, the actual Robin Hood. As Ivy walked and tripped her way to their camp she began to think of the questions she want to ask him. Even though she probably wouldn’t get to ask them because, he didn’t look the kind of guy to have an instant liking to a stranger. Oh well she thought, it’s still amazing that she’s now met Robin Hood. She smiled.
“Don’t know what you’re smiling at missy!” The man said to her. She stopped smiling. “That’s better”
“Sit them next to that tree and tie them up” Robins voice said.
Ivy was pushed to the floor and she felt the Doctor sat next to her. The rope went round her hands and waist so she couldn’t move.
“Right you can take the blindfolds off now” Robin said. The sun blinded Ivy for a few seconds until her vision became clear. The Doctor was sitting next to her and his blindfold was taken off. He was also blinded by the morning sun but she saw that his vision came back quicker than hers.
“That’s better, I can see properly now” The Doctor said.
“Well done Sherlock” Ivy said sarcastically.
“Why thank you Watson” he said while smiling “Right, now then let’s all calm down now, my names the Doctor and this is Ivy”
Ivy smiled “Hi”
“We know that you are Robin so who are the rest of you?” The Doctor asked politely.
“Why should we tell you? All we know you could be spies sent from Prince John to the sheriff?” Robin asked.
“Cause we’re not, simple as, if we were then wouldn’t we be carrying some sort of symbol, like your friend said, we have nothing of value” The Doctor explained.
“Yeah, you searched us and you would have found a symbol of the sheriff or Prince John” Ivy backed up the Doctor’s point.
Robin and his men stood there looking carefully at them. He was contemplating what to do with them.
“They are right Robin, we didn’t find the sign of Prince John, these must just be passerbies, travellers” The small man said.
“Maybe your right Little John” Robin said “keep them tied up though just until I can know for sure that they are not spies”. Ivy nearly burst out laughing. The small man was Little John, the one who in TV and books was always portrayed as a big giant. Obviously legends can be changed.
“That is Little John” Robin said pointing to the small man “this is Alan A Dale” he said pointing to a lean looking man with a slight beard. The Doctor and Ivy nodded at him. “This is my right hand man Will Scarlet” A young man who looked like he did a lot of working out bowed his head “and my other friend, Friar Tuck is out at Nottingham at the minute”
“Nice to meet you all” The Doctor said.
“Same” Ivy said. She started to feel something in her gut, creeping up.
“What are you doing in Sherwood forest?” Robin asked.
“Like we said, we are just exploring” The Doctor said.
“Doctor” Ivy whispered.
“I want to believe you” Robin said.
“Doctor” Ivy whispered again.
“Well you should, because we are telling the truth” The Doctor said.
“Doctor!” Ivy whispered again frustrated.
“What?” The Doctor whispered.
“Vision coming in” Ivy said.
“What is it?” Robin asked. The Doctor looked Ivy in the eyes and saw the tiredness again.
“Oh nothing Ivy’s just tired that’s all” The Doctor said quickly.
“She said vision” Little John said “is she a Druid?”
“No! It’s just a code word for us, she says vision and I know that she needs to rest” the Doctor tried to lie.
Ivy couldn’t hold her eye lids up much longer. They were so heavy. Her vision was almost upon her. She took a deep breath to prepare herself and she let the vision engulf her.

Chapter 2

Ivy was in a huge castle. Yes, a castle. A sort of bedroom, she thought. The Doctor was talking to someone in long robes. The name of Prince John came into Ivy’s head. That man must be Prince John, she thought.
“Sire, you must not fire at my friends!” The Doctor said. Ivy saw blood on his jacket. What had happened? “You cannot start a fight, your brother told me to order you not to!”
“I don’t care what my brother thinks, this my kingdom Doctor, not his!” Prince John said.
“Nottingham is protected by Robin Hood, you don’t want to get him angry” The Doctor said. Ivy couldn’t help but feel like he was lying. “Right Ivy?”
“Yeah, he’s scary when he’s angry” Ivy’s mouth spoke without Ivy’s command.
“Ha! Let him come and try to stop me! Since you are in allegiance with my brother, you must be executed, both of you!” Prince John said.
The Prince’s guards raised their swords to the Doctor’s head and to Ivy’s. The swords swung down.

Chapter 3

“Stop!” Ivy shouted. She was lying on a bed. She sat up and looked around to see where she was. She was still in Robin Hood’s camp but she wasn’t tied up to the tree anymore.
“Shh it’s ok Ivy” The Doctor said holding a wet towel to her head.
“What happened? Why aren’t we tied up to the tree?” Ivy asked while trying to get her shaking under control.
“You’ll never guess, Maid Marion came along and got us out” The Doctor laughed. “Take deep breathes, you’re fine, tell me what you saw”
“What do you mean Maid Marion came along and got us out?” Ivy asked still shaking beyond control.
“Ok long story cut short, you fell asleep, or rather put into your vision mode, Robin panicked as you started to shake and shout like there was no tomorrow then Maid Marion came with some news about Prince John, she saw you, ordered him to release you and put you on a bed until you came round again, simples as my friend the meerkat would say” The Doctor said at like 100MPH.
“Ok, that makes sense” Ivy said.
“Now, tell me what you saw” The Doctor asked.
Ivy told him everything she saw and heard. Everything from what Prince John said down to what he was wearing.
“Oh that’s not good, we need to change that somehow” he said.
“Are you ok?” A young woman asked.
“Yeah, she’s fine, or she will be in a few minutes” The Doctor said “thank you for what you did”
“It’s nothing, Robin can be a bit closed minded at times” the woman said “I’m Marion by the way” She said to Ivy.
“Hi, nice to meet you, I think” Ivy said. Marion smiled at her and went back to talking with Robin again. “Ok, so Robin Hood is real and so are his merry men. That’s pretty cool that like!”
The Doctor smiled with her.
“I know right?!?! Robin Hood and his merry men, in love with the lovely Maid Marion and rob’s the poor to feed the rich, no hang on that’s not right, rob the rich to feed the poor that’s it” Ivy laughed.
“So, we obviously have to change the vision I saw, don’t know how but we will. And as for that blood you saw that was on my shirt” The Doctor said.
“Yeah, what about it?” Ivy asked.
“Do you think it was mine?” He asked.
“It feels like it was” Ivy answered “I don’t like it here Doctor, can’t we just leave? Just this once? I really didn’t like seeing that blood all over you”
“I don’t know, you were shown that vision for a reason....”
“And maybe that reason was so we could get the hell out of here”
“That could be one option, but another may be that you were shown that so we can stop whatever fight is going to happen. Ivy I'm sorry but I think we have to stay, we might be able to stop me from getting injured, and I’m not too keen either in getting blood all over my shirt”
Ivy slightly smiled at that comment. The Doctor sat on the bed next to her and Ivy leant her head on his shoulder. Ivy’ thoughts were screaming at her to lean away from the Doctor and that she was getting too close to him but Ivy refused to listen to them. She could trust this man with her life.
“Just promise me that you won’t die and leave me in this time period” Ivy asked.
The Doctor laughed.
“I’ll try my utmost best Ivy Godber” The Doctor said.

Chapter 4

Everything happened quickly after that. Soon Marion had to go back to Nottingham, she had been gone too long but she needed Ivy to go back with her. Ivy agreed but the Doctor wasn’t very happy about it. Ivy convinced him that she would be ok and as soon as she could get back she would.
Robin however needed the Doctor to stay with him and help him out at the camp. The Doctor wasn’t very happy at this as well, he wanted to get out of the camp and help somewhere else, he hated being in the same place for too long. But he reluctantly agreed and he stayed put while Ivy went with Maid Marion.
“She’ll be ok Doctor” Robin said.
“Oh I know” The Doctor said “So what do you need help with?”
“Getting a plan together to kill Prince John” Robin said.

As Ivy and Marion rode back to the castle, Ivy couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Doctor. She wanted him to come with her deep down but she hated showing her soppy side. She just brought her tough side out again to grin and bear it. The ride wasn’t as long as she thought it was because she soon saw the castle on the horizon of the tree tops.
Marion was let straight through the gates and a man dressed very sophisticated came up to her.
“Ah my lovely Marion did you get what I wanted?” he asked.
“Yes my lord, I have brought my sister for you” Marion answered.
Ivy had been told to play along with the sister act. Marion did have a younger sister that she didn’t want to bring and put in danger, Ivy, however, was very happy to be put in the face of the sheriff. She wasn’t scared of anything, except her dreams.
The man, who Ivy guessed was the sheriff stood in front of her. He started to invade her personal space, which she really didn’t like. She was trying her hardest not to tell him where to go. His breath stank but his appearance said something else. It said that he was high class and had a lot of money.
“What’s your name?” He asked right in her face.
“Elizabeth” Ivy said what she was told to say.
“Well, Elizabeth welcome to Nottingham” he said offering his arm to her. Ivy reluctantly took it with a shy smile on her face. Marion walked just behind her.
Ivy was shown to a room just next to Marions’ and there she was told to stay put. Ivy knew she wouldn’t but agreed otherwise. The sheriff left her alone and Ivy waited for Marion to come back.
It wasn’t long until she entered the room.
“Thank you Ivy, for doing that” Marion said sitting next to her on the bed “It’s just I don’t want my sister to....”
“Get hurt, I know, I have a brother. I would do anything to stop him from getting hurt” Ivy finished for her.
“Thank you”
“Anytime!” Ivy said “So what’s the plan now?”
“We wait for Robin; he’s making the rest of the plan” 
“So why do you need me in the castle?” Ivy asked.
“Well, the sheriff does want my sister for something, I'm not sure what, if I came back empty handed then the sheriff would be asking questions, that’s one reason. Another is, it’s better and safer if there are two of us inside the castle, I can look out for you and hopefully you can look out for me. The sheriff and Prince John are planning something big and with us ‘on his side’ we can find something out and tell Robin” Marion explained.
Ivy thought this was actually a good plan but she couldn’t help but feel like, the longer she was away from the Doctor, the more in danger he would become.


“No, no no no no no and once again I say no!” The Doctor said annoyed at the ridiculous plan that Robin had suggested.
“Why won’t you help us Doctor? You said you would” Little John asked.
“I don’t work that way, yes I help anyone who needs it, but I don’t do violence, there’s no need for it. Words win wars, not brutality. Look, Ivy isn’t here to back me up, but trust me, talking does work, often, sometimes, ok not all the time but it does work” The Doctor said.
“We can’t talk to Prince John” Friar Tuck said finally arriving in camp “whatever he is planning, it is bad, very bad. I’m afraid talking is not an option anymore”
“Oh Tuck, I thought you would be on my side, man of the cloth and all. Oh well, looks like I'm on my own again” The Doctor said.
“I didn’t say that we had to use brute force either my friend, by the way what is your name?” Tuck said evenly.
“The Doctor, nice to meet you” The Doctor said quickly “continue your idea Tuck”
“Yes a pleasure to meet you too. My idea doesn’t include talking direct or attacking him, but, maybe, if we catch him off guard, on his own then we could distract him from his plans”
“What do you mean Tuck?” Alan A Dale pitched in.
“I mean Alan, that maybe, just maybe, if we can just postpone his plan then we will have time to work out exactly how to deal with the situation and then choose the right course of action, after all, we don’t know what he is planning yet” Tuck explained.
“Oh, well done Tuck, well done! Bravo!” The Doctor clapped alone. He noticed no-one else was clapping so he stopped. “ok, so Ivy should be in the castle be now right?”
“Tuck did you see Marion arrive at the castle?” Robin asked.
“Yes, with someone else on her horse”
“That’s my friend Ivy, good she’s safe for now” The Doctor said “right we need to find out exactly what Prince John is up too, when is he supposed to arrive in Nottingham?”
“In the next few days Marion said” Robin mentioned.
“OK, Ivy said that she would ride back here if she had some news, but we are going to go to Nottingham to fish out some information from the locals. Someone needs to stay here in case she come back” The Doctor said.
“I’ll stay” Robin said.
“No, we need to you Robin, you’re the leader” The Doctor said.
“I will stay and wait for Ivy” Tuck offered.
“Fine ok, Tuck stay here and the rest are coming to Nottingham!” The Doctor said boldly.

Chapter 5

Marion had been called to the sheriffs ‘quarters’ so Ivy decided to go for a wander around the castle. It was similar to the castles she had seen on TV and in films but they weren’t exactly right. The castle was all in neat condition. The walls were clean and almost brand new. Any steps he came across were all in line and straight. There were even pots of flowers every now and then in the window sills. The guards that were protecting the castle were in perfect sync with each other and didn’t flicker when Ivy walked past them.
When Ivy turned the next corner she saw something she didn’t like. This corridor was completely empty. No guards, no flowers and no windows. It felt as if Ivy shouldn’t be there, so she kept walking onwards. She soon came to a dead end and almost decided to go back to her room but something stopped her. She looked at the wall that was standing in her way and placed her hand on it. It was cold and rough against Ivy’s soft skin. She then put her ear up against the wall and heard whispers. She couldn’t make out what they were saying so ran back to find a glass. She bumped into a guard.
“Oh excuse me, but where can I find a glass of water? I seem to have gotten a bit lost” Ivy said.
“Go down to the kitchens, just down those steps there” The kind guard said.
“Thank you” Ivy said. She turned and went down the steps.
“Be careful, you can’t trust many people around here” The guard said.
“What makes you say that?” Ivy asked stopping on the second step.
“You say you are Marion’s sister, but I've met her and you look nothing like her. Marion is obviously trying to protect her so who are you?”
“And why should I tell you? How can I trust you?”
“I can’t prove it, but this what I can say, I live in the same village as Marion used to. I used to work for her father before the sheriff had him killed for power. I wanted to make sure she was ok so I got a job as a guard to look after her. I grew up with her”
Ivy looked the guard up and down. She wasn’t sure to trust him or not. She didn’t want to let the Doctor down by trusting the wrong people.
“Do you love Marion?” Ivy asked.
“No, I am happily married; Marion was just a very close friend. Robin is the one destined to marry Marion”
Ivy gave up and just told him.
“My names Ivy and I'm helping Robin and Marion out in finding out what the sheriff and Prince John are planning” Ivy said.
“Well, I’ll go and get that glass, go back to the wall and I’ll meet you there” the Guard said.
“Wait, what’s your name?” Ivy asked.
“Eli” the Guard said.
Ivy nodded and ran back to the wall she had found. She didn’t have to wait long for the Eli to find her. She took the glass, pressed it up against the wall and listened carefully.
“What do mean the Prince will be here this afternoon?” a male voice shouted, making Ivy flinch back slightly.
“I just got a message from him sir” another male voice said.
“Well, this puts everything out of sequence, the plan was supposed to come into play tomorrow. He was supposed to arrive late tonight, rest up and start tomorrow early. He must be in a hurry, must be. Ok, go and get his chambers ready for his arrival” There was silence for a minute or two when a female voice appeared.
“You wanted to see me?” Ivy recognised the voice, it was Marion.
“Yes, the Prince will be arriving this afternoon, I want you to make sure that you give him everything he asks for, whether it be simple or complex. Will you do that?”
“Yes sir”
“Ok, that is all” Silence again for a minute or two.
“Why does the Prince always do this to me? Making sure I only know his plans at the last minute, does he not trust me? Either way I have to make sure that that Marions sister doesn’t know what’s going on and only finds out so late that she can’t do anything about it. She doesn’t seem like the brightest girl so she will be easy to deal with. The witch idea was fantastic though. It will set everyone of Nottingham into a rage! Brilliant!”
Ivy couldn’t listen anymore. She stepped back and ran to her room again. Eli was right behind her.
Ivy slammed the door open and Marion and the Doctor were sitting on the bed. Ivy couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the Doctor. He smiled too and pulled her into a huge hug. She was so happy to see him safe and sound and no blood on him.
“What are you doing here?” Ivy asked.
“Me and my merry men came here to see if we can get any scoop on the goss” The Doctor said. Ivy just shook her head. “Can’t pull that line off can I? Ok never using that again” Ivy laughed.
“So who are you here with?” Marion asked.
“Don’t worry Robin is here, you can have a good kiss later, I also brought Alan, Little John and Will” the Doctor said. Marion went as red as a tomato.
“I love it when she does that” Eli laughed.
“Ah yes who is your friend Ivy?” The Doctor asked.
“This is Eli, he helped me find a glass for me to have a bit of a snoop myself” Ivy said.
“Ah nice to meet you Eli, I'm the Doctor” the Doctor shook his hand “Right what did you find out?”
Ivy told him about what she heard the sheriff say and the Doctor didn’t look happy at all.
“Ok, he is obviously going to need you for something, something big, right you need to come back with us” The Doctor said.
“Why? Marion needs me here” Ivy said confused by the idea.
“Because we all need to make a plan, all of us together, we can’t be separate and make a plan, very difficult believe me so you, Marion and Eli will have to come back to camp” The Doctor said.
“We’ll have to tell the Sheriff we are going out for a short ride” Marion said.
“Right ok you go do that now and I will meet you down in the stables” The Doctor said “you go too Eli, if a guard is escorting them, the sheriff will feel much better” Eli nodded and followed Marion to the Sheriffs chamber.
“So stables?” Ivy asked.
“Yep, come on” the Doctor said grabbing Ivy’s hand and running towards the stables.

Chapter 6

“The sheriff seems ok with the idea but I'm not sure about his final decision” Marion said coming into the stables with Eli in tow.
“We better be careful in case the sheriff sends his guards after us to see where we are going” Eli suggested.
“Right, Ok then, saddle up then and Marion you had better go a different route than me, don’t want them finding out where Robin Hood’s camp is do we?” The Doctor said getting on his beige horse. Ivy mounted onto her black one and stroked its neck. “Be careful Ivy”
“Always am Doctor” Ivy squeezed her legs to get the horse moving “see you on the other side” and Marion, Eli and Ivy rode out into the village towards Sherwood Forest.

Ivy saw the Doctor and Robin’s men ride off onto an unknown track, Ivy followed Eli and Marion but it wasn’t long until Ivy heard other horses in their pursuit. Ivy looked over her shoulder to see if she could see them. No luck, but she knew they were there. Ivy pulled slightly on her horses reins to slow him down. Marion asked her what she was doing and Ivy told her she was going to distract the followers so she could get to Robin’s camp safely. Marion wasn’t exactly happy about the idea but Ivy kept telling her that she knew what she was doing. Marion nodded and rode off quicker with Eli and Ivy started to walk so whoever was following them would catch up.
They were taking longer than she thought so she took out her black hoodie from her horses pouch and put it on. She put the hood up to cover her face and brought the red and black scarf she was wearing up over her mouth and nose. This would, she thought, disguise her from the sheriffs men and there for they would follow this stranger. She would lead them away from camp back to the castle, a long route back but it kept them away. Once they had been taken back she would head back into the forest to find the Doctor.
The sound of hooves got loud and loud so she started to stir her horse by spinning him round in small circles. When she saw the horses come haring round the corner and patted her horse on the neck and started to gallop towards them. She counted them and there were three in total. She saw the sheriffs’ uniforms on the men but she kept galloping straight towards them. All three of them stopped still. Just for fun Ivy started to scream at them, they looked more confused than frightened, good in a way but bad in others. Ivy was just a few metres from the group now and the men started to look more and more worried, they were about to move out of the way but Ivy had other ideas. She steered the horse off the track and into the think forest. She looked over her shoulder and saw all three men chasing after her. Ivy smiled and she squeezed her legs again to make the horse go faster.
She weaved in and out of the trees and jumping over fallen logs, this place had become her assault course. She kept looking over her shoulders to check the men were still following, they were. She steered her horse right then left and left again. The tree’s reached out for her, as if they wanted to take her of her horse and leave her to the mercy of the sheriffs’ men. She tried ducking each branch but some hit her, nearly making her fall, but she kept her balance.
The men were getting closer to her. One was just behind her and was already reaching out for her. She wanted to push him off his horse but she didn’t want to hurt them, just divert them. She squeezed her legs again and the horse complied by going faster.
She managed to put some distance between her and her pursuers but she reached a large gorge. She pulled on her reins harshly and the horse came to abrupt stop. She analysed the size of the gorge to see if she could jump it. It wasn’t that big, she was sure the horse could make it. She heard hooves behind her, if she was going to jump; she had to do it now. She turned her horse around and gave herself a run up. She squared up to the gorge and squeezed her legs hard. The horse almost jumped straight into a gallop and haired towards the leap of faith. Ivy held tightly onto the reins and shouted at the top of her voice “GERONIMO!!!!” The horse leapt. Ivy felt like she was on top of the world. She was in medieval England, running away from the sheriff of Nottingham and she was jumping a huge gorge on the back of a horse.
Ivy held her breath as the other side began to move closer and closer. The horse also braced itself for the landing sensing Ivy’s feelings. The horse’s front hooves touched the ground and they both almost went flying but they managed to stay upright. Ivy stopped the horse to catch her breath and to see if the men were going to jump after her or not. They were. They had all squared up to the gorge and were beginning to jump. Ivy kicked the horse into a gallop again and ran towards the castle she could see on the horizon. She heard the horses land behind her but she didn’t look back. She kept dodging the trees and bushes and kept her eye on the target. She was almost there, now she had to stop and turn around but keep hidden so the men didn’t see her change direction. She saw a sharp corner and decided to take that way. She kneed the horse once more to get ahead of the men to give herself enough time to get round the corner and run off in another direction.
She reached the corner and careered round it faster than Ivy thought she was going. She steered the horse a small ditch that she saw and hid there until the men were gone.
The men stopped and looked around for Ivy but they couldn’t find her.
“Where did he go?” One man asked.
“I’m not too sure” Another said.
“We better just go back to the sheriff and say we lost them” A younger voice suggested.
“No, the sheriff will hang us”
“We have no choice”
“Fine, come on, hurry it up” Ivy waited until she heard the men leave. She peeked out of the small ditch and there was no-one around. She let out a huge sigh and led her horse out of the ditch. She mounted him again and rode out to Robin’s camp. 

Ivy heard the scream coming from the camp and began to ride faster. She would definitely have to give this horse a good rest before she rode it again. When she arrived at the camp, by following Robin’s directions, her heart sank to her knees. She saw blood, lots of it on the ground. The Doctor, she thought. She dismounted her horse, tied him up to a nearby tree and ran into the small camp. She didn’t like what she saw. The Doctor had an arrow sticking out of his left shoulder.
“Ivy?” The Doctor asked his voice full of pain.
“I’m here Doctor; sorry I took so long, what the hell happened?” Ivy asked, trying to stay calm and not freak.
“While we were riding Robin saw some spies, he got out his bow and arrow and shot at them, but he hit the Doctor by accident” Little John explained. Ivy looked around for Robin but there was no sign of him.
“Ivy I need you to do something for me” The Doctor said. Ivy went to his side.
“What?” Ivy asked.
“I need you to take the arrow out” The Doctor said. Ivy’s eyes went as wide as the moon.
“I can’t do that, I’ll hurt you” Ivy said. The Doctor took her hand in his.
“You can do it, yes it will hurt, it will hurt like hell, but I’ve been through worse. Once the arrow is out my body can do its job. Time Lord DNA” The Doctor explained.
Ivy was very apprehensive about the whole pulling-an-arrow-out-of-the-Doctor’s-shoulder idea but if the Doctor would be ok then she had to do it. Ivy tightened her grip on the Doctor’s hand briefly and then let go to get a hold of the arrow.  The Doctor’s eyes shot closed and Ivy did the same.
“Do it as quickly as you can Ivy” the Doctor said.
“I’ll try my best” Ivy said “Ok, on three, one, two....” Ivy yanked the arrow out. The Doctor screamed in pain as the arrow came out and Ivy almost fainted once it had been removed.
“You said on three!” The Doctor said.
“Everyone says they’ll do it on three, then they do it on two, don’t know why though” Ivy said.
“Doesn’t matter, right Marion you can bandage me up now” The Doctor said to Marion. Ivy moved out of the way and let Marion do her job.
“Where did Robin go?” Ivy asked Will Scarlet.
“He went just over that hill” He said.
“Ok, thanks” Ivy said heading over the hill.
“Ivy!” Will shouted. Ivy turned round “Thank you for diverting the sheriffs’ men”
Ivy just smiled and continued over the hill.

Chapter 7

“I’m sorry Ivy” Robin said.
“I thought you were good at the bow and arrow” Ivy asked.
“I was, until I was sent back here from the Holy Land by the King to rest and grieve”
“Grieve?”
“Yes, it happened out on the battle field. I was looking after my men and one of my friends was giving me the directions. We eventually found where we needed to be when we were ambushed. All of my men were being killed all around me and I reacted. I began firing my arrows at the enemy but my friend got in the way” Robin paused. Ivy didn’t say anything until he was ready to continue his story. “We managed to defeat the enemy but my friend didn’t make it. I killed him at my hand,  my arrow”
“I’m sorry” Ivy said.
“Ever since then, I haven’t been able to shoot an arrow straight. My shot is always off target and I’m a fake”
Ivy didn’t say anything. She just sat in silence.
“Everyone in England thinks I’m going to save Nottingham and all of England when really I’m giving them false hope”
“False hope is better than no hope at all” The Doctor said. Ivy looked up at him. His shirt was covered in blood, just like her dream but he was ok. Ivy gave him a weak smile and he did the same.
“I am sorry Doctor” Robin said.
“It’s in the past now, we have to look to the future. The Sheriff and the prince are planning something big and we have to stop it”

Back at the castle the Sheriff was angry at his men losing Marion and the girl who called herself Elizabeth. He knew she wasn’t Marion’s sister, he knew from the moment Marion had left the castle that she wasn’t going to bring back her real sister.
“He was wearing a red and black scarf to cover his face sir we don’t know who he was” One of the men said.
The sheriff smiled. He knew who the stranger was. He had seen her wearing the scarf earlier. Elizabeth. He had the motive now.
“Sir, Prince John has arrived” A guard said from the doorway.
“My dear Sheriff” The Prince said from just behind the guard.
“Sire” The Sheriff said falling to his knees.
“Stand my dear fellow. How is the plan going?” he asked.
“Perfect sire, we have the motive we needed, Marion’s sister can now be sentenced to death by fraternising with the outlaws and I have proof” The sheriff said with an evil smile.

Ivy was heading back to the castle with Marion and Eli yet again. The Doctor and, as he put it, his merry men were going to join them at Nottingham in a few minutes. Ivy needed to get back and show her face to the sheriff so he knew she hadn’t run off.
The ride back wasn’t long; they were back at the castle in just under ten minutes. Ivy dismounted her horse along with Marion and Eli.
“Welcome back” an unfamiliar voice said. Ivy looked for the man the voice came from. Marion had already guessed who it was and had knelt down. Ivy followed suit and guess the man who was standing before her was Prince John himself. Ivy almost smacked herself, of course she should know this man, he was in her vision for crying out loud.
“Sire” The three of them said in sync.
“You may rise” The Prince said. He looked straight at Ivy. She saw almost pure evil in his dark eyes. “You must be....” he looked Ivy up and down, but his eyes hovered over her scarf “....Elizabeth”
“Yes sire” Ivy said bowing slightly.
“Pleasure to meet you, walk with me” He said. Ivy hesitated for a second but forced herself to follow the Prince. He led her to the top of the steps and stopped. He snapped his fingers and the guards grabbed her hands harshly.
“That hurts!” Ivy said.
“Oh don’t give me that, who are you really?” The Prince asked.
“Elizabeth”
“Your real name, I know you are an imposter, I bet you’re weak and Marion is paying you to pretend to be her sister” He said almost spitting in her face.
“She isn’t paying me anything” Ivy said “and would you kindly stop spitting in my face?” No-one spoke to Ivy like that, even if he was royalty.
“Excuse me? I am the King!” He said.
“You are a Prince, nothing else” Ivy said.
“Who are you? Tell me now!”
Ivy gave him a wicked smile. She leaned into the Princes face.
“My name is Ivy Godber, I'm 19 years old, I am from the north east of England and I am proud to be a Mackem!” Ivy said in her broadest northern accent “And you are no King! No-one here will believe your lies!”
This time the Prince smiled wickedly.
“I beg to differ, Ivy” He said her name like it was filth. He turned around and called for everyone to listen to his announcement. Surprisingly people were already beginning to gather.
“You might want to be careful with those hands mate!” Ivy warned the guard when his hand started to wander “You might never see them again once I get out of your grip!” The guard just laughed while dragging her into the nearby tunnel to hide them from the crowd.
Now that nearly the whole of Nottingham had gathered in the square, the Prince began his announcement.

Chapter 8

“My fair people of Nottingham, I stand here before you with grim news today. I have heard news that, my beloved brother, King Richard has died in battle in the Holy Land. I am most upset at this new. This, I hope, you will take as good news as I am now your new King! And first job for today is this. As you know the outlaws of this town are starting to get out of hand. Today, we managed to catch one of these outlaws in the act” the Prince began. Ivy looked at the crowd and saw the Doctor stand out like a sore thumb with his tweed jacket and bow tie. Ivy smiled slightly but she knew the Doctor wouldn’t be able to see her from where the guard was hiding her. “I am afraid to say that is someone who, I'm sure, you all love dearly and heard such wonderful stuff about” Prince John nodded at the guard and Ivy was dragged out. “Elizabeth, maid Marions little sister” The whole crowd erupted into a sea of gasps. “She was riding in Sherwood Forest earlier today and killed one of the loyal guards of the Sheriff. She was wearing a black and red scarf to try to disguise herself but her plan failed. Elizabeth will be sentenced to death at dusk, which is only an hour away. She will be hung at the gallows, hung by the neck until dead. I am sorry to give you such horrid news but I'm afraid there is more” the Prince looked at Ivy briefly and turned back to the crowd. Ivy was furious. She hadn’t killed anyone, she just diverted them. She looked for the Doctor in the crowd but she couldn’t find him. Surely he wouldn’t think she had killed someone. “More of you are suspects for fraternising with the outlaws who go by the names Robin Hood, Alan A Dale, Will Scarlett, Little John and Friar Tuck. You will bring yourselves forward otherwise I will attack the whole of Nottingham and innocent lives will be lost” The Prince said full of pride. He nodded at the guard again and Ivy was dragged off. “If you do not turn yourselves in by the end of the hour then my men will be released, that is all” The Prince finished. He smiled at himself and walked quickly back inside.

Ivy was dragged roughly round the corner by the guard and shoved against the wall. He laughed.
“What the hell are you laughing at?” Ivy asked.
“You are under my control now, I'm supposed to take you to the dungeons to wait for your death but, I can postpone the journey for a bit” The guard smiled wickedly. Ivy knew exactly what this guard wanted and like hell he wasn’t getting it! She wasn’t going to hit him at all, the Doctor wouldn’t approve but she knew what she was going to say.
“Sorry, mate I'm waiting for the right guy I'm afraid” Ivy said smugly.
“And who might that be?” The guard asked getting impatient. Ivy could see the lust in his eyes and it disgusted her.
“Someone who is ten times the man you’ll be! If you touch me, he will not be happy about it!” Ivy said.
“And how will he know? There’s no-one here” He said.
Ivy smiled.
“You think?” Ivy asked.
“I think you better let her go” The Doctor said.
The guard turned around.
“And why should I do that?” The guard asked.
“Cause otherwise I will release a spell onto you” The Doctor said switching on his sonic screwdriver.
Fear struck into the guards’ eyes and he let Ivy go. He ran down the corridor so fast Ivy lost sight of where he went after just a second. The Doctor hugged Ivy but let go straight away.
“What did you mean you were waiting for the right guy? Were you talking about me?” He asked.
“Ha, you wish mate! I was making it up you prune! But you turned up at just wrong/right time” Ivy said.
“Oh good!” The Doctor said “please say you didn’t kill anyone”
“I didn’t kill anyone, I just diverted them to the castle, get them off our track” Ivy explained.
“I knew you hadn’t, come let’s get you out of here, whatever happens we can’t go and see the Prince!” the Doctor said.
“Where’s Robin and that?” Ivy asked when they started to run into the crowd.
“I don’t know” The Doctor said.

“You can’t just release an army on Nottingham!” Little John said to the Prince or rather ‘King John’.
“I am King and I can do what I like!” King John said.
“Elizabeth didn’t kill anyone Sire” Marion said.
“Marion, we know that she is not Elizabeth” The Sheriff said.
“Her name, as she told me, is Ivy Godber, and she will be hung!” The King said.
“Sire, Ivy is not in the dungeons” A man said running into the room out of breath.
“What? She has escaped, that is it, Sheriff, release my men. Bring Nottingham to its knees and find Ivy Godber!” The King shouted.
Robin and his merry men immediately ran out of the room and out into Nottingham to find Ivy and the Doctor.

Chapter 9

“What do you mean Prince John has started a siege? Why did you peeve him off?” Ivy asked Robin and his men.
“We were trying to stop him from attacking but it failed” Will Scarlet said.
“You think?” Ivy asked. She was starting to panic. Yes her vision had been averted but it still had the same outcome. Why did her vision tell her something that could be changed but it had the same outcome? Why would it do that? Ivy tried to work this out while The Doctor was making a plan.
“Ok, we need to make a base, the people of Nottingham aren’t going to sit back and take this attack, they will fight back. We need a place where they will be safe, a place where the women and children can stay” The Doctor pondered out loud.
“Doctor, there’s an old stable round the side of the castle, it’s never been used and no-one really knows about it anymore” Little John suggested.
“Right, ok Robin, you need to go there and get your arrows ready, Tuck we need to show them that the King isn’t dead, go to the nearest village, there will be a messenger waiting for you with proof” The Doctor said.
“How do you know that there s a messenger there?” Tuck asked.
“Just trust me there will be someone there, not sure who yet but keep saying the word....Ivy think of a word” The Doctor said quickly.
“Erm, TARDIS?” Ivy said confused at the Doctor’s idea.
“Great, keep saying the word TARDIS and you find the messenger in no time! Go!” Tuck grabbed a horse and rode off.
“Doctor what was that all about?” Ivy asked.
“Tell you later, right let’s get this base set up” The Doctor said.

Before Ivy knew it the base was set up but the Doctor wanted to go and help every single woman and child to the shelter. Ivy went with him and they managed to get everyone inside but Prince Johns’ men bombarded them with a wave of arrows. Ivy ran with the Doctor back to the base but the Doctor was hit by an arrow.
Ivy dragged him back to the base and helped him onto a nearby table. Ivy saw Robin terrified out of his mind in the corner. She decided to go over to him and give him a wakeup call.
“You need to stop this! Your men believe in you!” Ivy said to him.
“I can’t! I’m just a fake” The man said.
“Maybe, but now is the time to prove yourself, the Doctor is hurt, again, because of you so you owe it to him and me!” Ivy said getting upset “Now go out there and stop that Prince John from taking Nottingham! Believe in yourself Robin Hood!”
Robin looked at Ivy.
“I can’t shoot straight” Robin said.
“Yes you can, how do you know it was your arrow that killed your friend?” Ivy asked “How can you be sure?” Robin thought about what Ivy was saying. Ivy saw in his eyes, something clicked back into place “You just need to hold the Princes men off until Tuck gets back, I don’t think he will be much longer now”
“Robin I know you can do it” Marion said. All of his men agreed as well. “Do it for me” Marion kissed Robin square on the lips and Ivy looked away.
“OK, come on men” Robin said picking his bow up with his arrows and went out to protect the stables.
Ivy once again pulled the arrow out of the Doctor’s shoulder.
“You really should be more careful” Ivy said to the Doctor.
“Not my fault that I got shot” The Doctor said.
“Please say there is a messenger for Tuck to meet” Ivy said.
“I don’t know, I haven’t sent one yet, I just have to trust myself, my future self that I sent a messenger to the nearest village with a proof that King Richard is still alive” Ivy didn’t understand at first but once she worked it out in her head she just stared at the Doctor.
“Oh you are clever, after this is all over, once we are back in the TARDIS we are going to go back in time and send a messenger to wait for Friar Tuck who will say the secret word ‘TARDIS’ so he can bring back the proof to stop the siege!” Ivy explained.
The Doctor smiled at her.
“Exactly, we just have to wait now and hope”

Chapter 10

“Nottingham! Your King has returned!” Friar Tuck shouted from outside. Ivy and the Doctor ran outside to see. The Doctor grinned from ear to ear once outside. There was the King himself standing in the middle of the crowd.
“My dear people, my brother has lied to you, for I am not dead, I stand here before you to protect you from my brother’s evil plan” King Richard said. Ivy could feel the power in his voice and felt hypnotised by it. He really was the true King of England. “I therefore pardon Robin Hood and his men from their crimes they may or may not have committed. I also legally stop this whole siege that my brother has started. You men will stop this fighting at once and leave my people alone”
The Princes men were stunned but stopped attacking the people of Nottingham and retreated back to the castle.
The King spotted the Doctor and gave a warm smile.
“My dear Doctor, you said that you would beat me home, and so you have. I will sort my brother out in private” he said shaking the Doctors hand.
“Oh I'm always right Sire and thank you for returning so quickly” The Doctor said.
“No, thank you for bringing me home to save my loyal subjects. Ivy is pardoned from the crime she did not commit and therefore is free to leave” Ivy bowed to the King and smiled.
The King also bowed and walked into the castle. Ivy turned to the Doctor and the Doctor turned to Ivy. They both burst into laughter and started jumping up and down together.
“That was King Richard, THE King Richard” Ivy said.
“I know! I Know!” The Doctor said.
“What did you two do?” Robin Hood asked them. They both stopped jumping around and faced Robin.
“Oh nothing” The Doctor said.
“Nothing yet anyway” Ivy smiled.
“Well I suppose I better thank you” Robin said.
“For what?” Ivy asked.
“For helping me get my aim back, now I think about it, the arrow I saw in my friends’ chest I didn’t recognise. Truthfully, I do not think it was me who killed him”.
Ivy smiled.
“No need to thank me” Ivy said.
“Take this” He said giving her a small piece of wood. Carved onto it was an arrow “You are both official part of my group”
“Wow, I'm one of Robin Hoods’ merry men” Ivy laughed.
“We need to leave now” The Doctor holding back a smile.
Ivy nodded and they started to head back into the forest to find the TARDIS.
“Doctor?” Marion shouted.
Both of them turned around.
“Who are you?” She asked.
“No-one, we were never here” The Doctor shouted back.
They headed straight into the forest so they wouldn’t ask any more questions.
“Right, now when we get back to the TARDIS we need to go and get King Richard back here” The Doctor explained.
“You know, I thought time travel would be hard to understand. And I was right, this gets too complicated at times” Ivy giggled.
“Oh you have no idea Ivy Godber” the Doctor said climbing over a hill to the sight of the TARDIS, parked just where they had left it.

What they didn’t see was a very detailed indent in the bark of the trees that surrounded them. It was in old time Gallifreyan and it was a warning. It said; ‘Ivy Godber, three dreams’.