Waking up Just Got a Little Too Weird for Me

Michael sat alone in the camp. Not because he felt sick, like he said, but just because he needed some time alone to think. There were many things on the boys mind, and some that shouldn't be there. Like how he hated his father, for putting him in the current situation he was in. He didn't want to be a spy, he really didn't. At first, he thought it would make his father love him, as a child should be loved, but who was he kidding? His father would never love him, no matter what he did. He would always be looked at as if he were the scum on the bottom of someone’s shoe. That was how everyone in the castle looked at him. And he hated it. At least here he was accepted and it even seemed like they may have loved him. No, not loved. Liked well enough, yes, but not loved. Maybe in time.

He liked everyone here well enough, even the dumb girl, Casey or whatever her name was. Even though she looked at him with disgust in her eyes, he could see the amusement on her face and could tell she didn't truly hate him as his father did. He should have disliked her, yes, because of the nasty things she said to and about him but he couldn't help but find the girl amusing. It was as if she knew nothing of the present time, which made sense as she wasn't from here. He knew he wasn't supposed to know but it was kind of hard to not notice when she was such an idiot and kind of paraded it around. Not really paraded it around so much, but she didn't exactly try to hide it that much either. If she wasn't careful, she was going to get caught by his father and the sheriff.

Now that he thought about it, actually, it seems he could remember something about whoever brings the "weird girl" to them would be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams. They would probably be killed, knowing his father and the sheriff. Not that he was complaining or anything. Bad people that would bring another person to their death for the sake of some money deserved to die. Michael really did like Casey, and he worried about how dumb she acted sometimes. He actually really didn't trust this new kid, Alexander, or whatever. He kinda thought it was dumb to leave Casey with him when they hardly knew him. But as Robin and the others didn't know about the whole reward system, he couldn't really blame them. Getting a little caught up in his thoughts, Michael decided that it would probably be best if he went to check up on them. It couldn't hurt. He grabbed his bow, just in case, and made his way to the river.

* * *

After carrying all the dishes down by to the river, Casey sat hers down and sat with a flourish. Alexander looked at her and she smiled sweetly in response.

"Yes, dear?" she asked in an overly nice way.

"Don't you think we should move up river a little bit? I mean, this is where we bathe," Alexander said.

"Yeah but the water moves down river. It's not the same water," she replied as she pulled out her rag to wash them with.

Wow. She had seemed dumber than that. He paused for a second before coming up with a new excuse.

"Please? Just to make me feel a little better?" he asked politely.

"Fine you big baby," she replied, standing up and grabbing all her dishes.

They walked a little ways up river, Casey trying to stop every five seconds and Alexander urging her on. They finally reached a place where Alexander knew they would not be heard if she was able to let out a scream. He figured it would be over quickly and she wouldn't have a chance. Casey set her dishes down and pulled out her dish rag. She began to bring a few things down to the river and got to work washing her dishes. He pulled the knife from his pocket and crept up slowly behind her. His plan was thrown to the gutter when she turned around.

"Alex. What are you doing?" she asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"Taking care of a little problem and making sure I never have to work again," he smiled sadistically and advanced towards her.

The fear was clear on her face and he knew he had her right where he wanted her. He lunged for her but at the last minute she backed away, now knee deep in water.

"Alex. You better leave me alone. I know Origami!" she shouted.

"Ancient Japanese paper folding?" he asked, slightly confused.

"Oh. I was hoping you wouldn't know what that was," she replied, fear again present in her voice.

He once again took a step towards her and he saw her close her eyes. He knew he had her and lunged for her again when she suddenly kicked her foot out, eyes still closed. Her kick knocked the knife out of his hand. She opened her eyes and they both stared in shock at the knife as it floated to the bottom of the river. Neither of them was actually expecting that to work. In a split second, Casey had moved to go around Alexander when he caught her around the waist. She let out half a scream before her forced her under the water. He felt her struggle against him and felt her hands claw up and down his arms but never did he let go. He felt her body shudder and knew she was dead when he felt a searing pain in his left shoulder. He let go of the girl’s body and let out a howl of pain. He turned and saw Michael standing on the side of the hill. He had a bow pointed directly at him.

"Where is she?" he asked, anger clear on the young boys face.

Alexander merely pointed to her body as it slowly started to float down river.

"Casey!" Michael screamed, slinging the bow on his back as he raced down the hill and into the water when he caught sight of her.

Alexander took this as his opportunity to escape and bolted, leaving the small boy to struggle to bring the young girls lifeless body out of the river.

* * *

"Hurry up Much! We have to hurry!" Robin yelled as they made their way back to the camp.

"I'm hurrying as fast as I can, Master," Much replied as they burst into the camp.

"Casey? Michael?" Robin shouted, searching through the camp.

"They're not here!" Much cried.

"Hurry. They might still be down at the river," Robin said as they ran out of the camp.

They ran in a hurried silence and finally reached the river side.

"Oh dear. Where are they?" Much asked, frantically looking around.

"I don't know," Robin replied, worry evident in his voice.

They stood in silence musing over where they could be when they heard Casey's name screamed from up river.

Without thinking, they bolted towards the scream. While running they almost collided with Alexander.

"Up that way. You have to help her," he panted, his face a slightly paler than usual.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Much asked, grabbing onto Alexander's shoulders.

"I'm fine, just get up and help Casey. You have to get her away from Michael," he cried.

The two older men bolted, leaving Alexander behind. They heard him start running again but they didn't really care. They finally saw Michael out in the river struggling with something and Robin pulled his bow and an arrow out.

"Michael. Stop! Where is she?" Robin asked.

"No! You have to help me! Please!" Michael cried, his voice cracking with raw emotion.

That's when Much noticed what it was that Michael was struggling with.

"No!" he cried, making his way to Michael as fast as the water would allow him.

He reached the pair while Robin stared at Much in pure shock, obviously not seeing the seemingly dead girl. Much grabbed Casey and hooked his arms together across her chest. He began dragging her out of the water, Michael trying to help but not really serving any purpose. Robin finally understood what they were doing and raced out to help them.

The two older men finally got Casey to the shore and kneeled beside her. Robin checked her vitals but she wasn't breathing. He remembered the technique Djaq had used when Marion had stopped breathing and figured it would work here. He began to pound on the girl's chest, hard, while Much and Michael cried beside them. Robin gave a final pound, close to tears himself, when Casey began to respond. She started coughing and sputtering, water coming out of her mouth. Robin sat her up and began to pound her on the back. She finally started gasping for air and shivering so Much and Robin took off their cloaks and wrapped them around her. Robin gently laid her back down and turned to Michael.

"What in the hell happened?" he asked, using some of Casey's oh-so-catchy vocabulary.

"Alexander. He's a spy. I decided to follow him down here and just so happened to bring my bow with me. I saw him doing something to Casey so I shot him. That's when I saw her floating lifelessly. I thought she was dead!" he concluded, bursting into tears again.

"What? It was Alexander? And we let him get away?" Much shouted, standing up and heading in the direction he had last seen Alexander.

"Much. Calm down. We need to make sure Casey is alright and get her back to the camp. Michael, do you think you'll be okay to walk back to the camp?" Robin gently asked the emotional boy.

Michael merely nodded, tears still rolling down his cheeks. Robin stood up and scooped Casey into his arms. They made their way slowly back to the camp.