On a broad day, at the outskirts of a dense forest, three guards were talking to one another. The first guard standing with a cane in his hands speaks,
"Did you hear about the night reaper?"
The second guard, sitting on a stone bench gets up and asks,
"Who?"
The first guard explains,
"The night reaper; they say that he looks like a shadow, he cannot be seen even in broad daylight. He just comes, kills and leaves, all without leaving any traces or without making any noise."
The guard three was already sweating and the fear was visible on his face. Both the other guards realised it and started exaggerating things.
The second guard says,
"Yeah, I did hear of him, isn't he the one who was found responsible for murder on 32 street?"
The first guard speaks,
"Yes, he is the one."
They both look at the fear growing in third guard's eyes. The second guard asks,
"Hey Edward don't you live at 32 street?"
The third guard shakes up and gets confused. He answers with a fumbling tongue,
"Ye-ye-ye-yes."
The first guard speaks again,
"I have heard is very fond of killing government officials."
The third guard screams,
"NO!!!"
And the other two looked at him and started laughing. They were teasing the guard when suddenly the bushes behind them moved. They all got attentive. They turn towards the bush and looked carefully. They were slowly heading towards the bush when suddenly a boy jumps out of it. They all got scared of the boy and the boy got scared of the guards. They were screaming together. Then the guards stopped screaming and realised that it was just a boy. They were angry over boy's actions. They thought he did it all on purpose. They moved forward while showing their canes to the boy. The boy got scared and thought the best idea to get himself saved was to run into the dense forest and so he did. He ran into the forest. The thorns were ripping his already damaged clothes apart and were piercing through the skin. But he knew it was the only way to save himself from the guards so he kept on running. He was crying and suddenly saw a light in that dense forest. It was blurry because of those watery eyes but he was sure the light was of hope. He didn't think of anything else and with his full power he jumped into that light.
The next thing he saw was a blurry image of a horse stopping almost at his head, with a cart at it's back. He saw it and fainted. He was already exhausted by the run and had lost a lot of blood too.
The cart stops and the horse falls off. The guards came out running from the forest. The first guard says,
"Nice work stopping the law breacher."
They all take a moment to catch their breathes. They were getting it all together when the curtain of the cart moves and Robin walks out it. Robin looks at the situation and asks,
"Can I ask what the boy did?"
The Guard replied in a rude and arrogant way,
"I don't think that's any of your business."
Robin looks at them and smiles,
"So, is that how we getting it done?"
The guards stood up straight. Suddenly Richard came out too and stood beside Robin. The guards looked at him and smiles. The guard speaks,
"If you want, we can shave some weight off you too."
Robin knew they were talking about Richard. He looked at them and with a confident smile said,
"Go ahead and- and give it a shot."
The guard smiled and nodded. He took a firm hold of is can and rushed towards Richard. Robin grabbed his swords handle and the very next moment guards face was sliced in half. The guard fell to ground. Other two saw it happen. They looked at Robin, looking at them with the deadly calm look and no smile at all. The fear was visible on their faces. The guards turned back and ran off screaming,
"You will pay for this!"
Robin ignores them and looks at the poor boy fainted on ground. He approaches him and picks him up. Richard asks out of curiosity,
"So, what are we going to do with the boy?"
Robin looks at Richard and replies,
"I don't know but first we need to give him some medication and later, let's try to find where he came from and- hopefully find him his family."
Richard looks up with a cheerful face and nods.
"Sorry sir but-the cart won't be able to move any further, the horse has broken a leg."
Says the cart driver.
Robin exhales heavy and says,
"I guess we will need to walk."
And they start their journey on foot.
While walking through that jungle Robin noticed something far away. He stopped the movement and spoke,
"let's just take a little rest here. You take care of this boy and I'll be back in sometime."
Richard nodded. Robin put down the boy and left.
Richard was sleeping next to the boy when he woke up. He looked at Richard and starts crying. Richard wakes up in an instant and looks at the crying boy. He tries to calm him down. Richard holds his hand speaks,
"Calm down, calm down, relax, you are safe here. No one's hunting you anymore."
The boy heard it and he calmed down. As the boy stopped crying, Richard asks,
"Now, tell me what's your name? and, what are you doing here?"
The boy looks at Richard and speaks,
"My name is Jayden. I am a transhumant."
Richard as curiously,
"You are a what?"
Jayden looks at Richard and explains,
"Transhumant are the people who doesn't settle at one place. We move from uphill to lower grounds in winters and goes back to uphill in summers."
Richard nods.
"We are now going to the lower lands. I was with my group but I slept on the way and when I woke up, I was alone. My mom and dad were gone, and so was everyone else."
Jayden adds with a sad expression.
Richard looks at him and hugs him. Suddenly Robin comes there and speaks,
"Oh, so he's awake."
Jayden looks at Robin and hides behind Richard. Richard turns towards him and explains,
"Don't be afraid of him. He is my brother; he is not a bad guy. And also, he is the one who saved you."
Jayden hears this and comes out from behind Richard and greets,
"Hello sir, thank you for saving me."
Robin looks at him, gives a smile and nodes.
Richard suddenly speaks up,
"His name is Jayden, and he is a transhumant. Transhumant are the people who-"
"I know who transhumant are Richard."
Robin adds up. Richard gets a little upset. Robin thought for a moment and said,
"That explains the anonymous number of guards at forest outskirts."
Robin looks at Richard and asks,
"Is he lost?"
Richard nods to Robin.
"I see… so his group must have already crossed the guards post…ok, we will leave at night because It's safer and we will need to go from back of prisons."
Jayden and Richard look at each other and then looks at Robin and nods.
The night falls and all three of them reaches the post. It was glowing with the light of flames. Robin turns towards boys and speaks,
"Now, we need to be quiet and let's just try not to get caught."
They both agreed and then all three of them starts moving along the side walls of the post. They were going away from light, towards the darker area. It was getting quieter. They stop in front of a bamboo gate. It was not a small door made in an area with almost no lights. They went inside and started walking carefully avoiding the guards and using dark as their shield. Soon Robin saw a guard coming their way with a lantern. He quickly looked around and pulled the boys with him behind the big rock wall. They were standing there lying with the wall when Jayden heard a cry. He knew the voice. He turned that way and started running without a second thought.
He reached the place and saw iron bars of prison and behind those bars was his mother and his group. He saw her and he cried,
"Mom!"
The cry was not too loud but the surroundings were very quiet. The guards heard his voice and the guards standing on walls got a look at the boy and an emergency horn was blown. Robin came there rushing and saw Jayden crying there. He ran to pick the boy but, in the run, he barely dodged an arrow. He stops and looks towards the archer. He was too far to attack for Robin. The archer gets ready to shoot another arrow but, as soon as he pulls the string back a high pitch 'swish' sound breaks the tension. A bullet goes right through the archer's brain. Robin takes a deep breath of relax.
Emma shows up on the scene and she picks up Jayden. Robin looks at her and they both nod. Robin picks up Richard too. They both starts running away. A group of guards was waiting for them already. Emma tossed Jayden high in air and takes out his gun. Robin catches Jayden. Emma starts shooting the guards. One after another all of them starts falling down. Blood all over the place. Bullets piercing through heads. Suddenly the gun goes out of ammo. Guards thought it was their turn now but, Emma takes out another magazine full ammo and throws it in air. She takes the old magazine out and turns the gun upside down. The new magazine lands right into its spot. She turns the gun towards left and shoots out every guard in their way.
They finally got out of the place safely and ran into the forest. They reach an open place with tress covering it from all sides. They lay down on the ground and Robin takes a deep breath and speaks,
"I didn't need the help."
Emma listens to him replies,
"I know, I know."
Robin nods. Jayden was already fainted. All three looked at him and then looked at the sky and took a deep breath of relief.