'DeFuk just happen'? Where'd them from? Anyone see?' The hooded man stood up in a hidden cove down the side of the barracks. 'Who's here? Bran? Grain? Corn?'. A few hissed voices acknowledged their presence, but there were more in the small place. 'Silence guys, let's do a recap. Some of you might know me, most of you don't. I have many names, and none of them are true. T'way I see it, the princess is taken, the King is dead, and there's n'word on the twin. Guard's down, Army's vanished, T'is up to us'. He scoured the room, So many face he didn't recognise, they had to head out of the caves underneath the palace, a place he had called home for so many years. 'Anyone here now, I'ma cons'dring as good. Bran here, my man, he's gonna hand a symbol to each. Hold on tight to it, for t'man who took the girl have moved out of here, we gonna need'm hunt down. It's up t'us to save t'family. Them ruled with favours for us. An'now it up to us to repay'm. When we'll split'm here, we meet at Beecham's Corner in...' The man looked at his second in command. 'Bran, t'days? Forty'ght hours, that'nuff?'<br/><br/>Unseen by any of the others in the room, Bran nodded an approval. 'It'd do, Hood'. The hooded man looked around again, doing a quick count, Thirteen men, half of them not even men, but boys, maybe just reached adulthood, Thirteen, to save a Kingdom, against a force that took the princess, killed the King, no word on the Queen, nothing on the twin. Thirteen, including himself, of which most were of the underworld. What would the princess make of them coming after her kidnappers? Scum, half of them, the underworld, almost all, there was one young man, a kid really, he thought to recognise as the son of the Baron of Lainien. He would take that boy with him.<br/><br/>'W'going to travel in troups of three. You there, with the red hair, you travel with me and Bran. T'others, make groups of three, fare you all well, Beecham's in t'days'. The hooded man waited for Bran and the boy to walk up to him, to hold them back and see the others leave. He wasn't sure about two or three of them,  The red haired boy one of them. It was like the saying, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. The hooded man, Hood as he was called by his second in command waited to see four sets of three leave the cove, through underground channels and walkways, while he and Bran and the red-head stood to leave later.<br/><br/>'You, boy, you're a son of Lainien ain't you?'. The boy, from close-up a young man really, nodded. 'Yes.. sir mister Hood, I'm the fourth and youngest, I turned 19 last month'. The hooded man raised an eyebrow, 19, where did time go these days. 'My name is Ancor, sir mister Hood'. The boy actually nodded while making acquaintace. 'Alright Acorn, you're with us, you better be prepared, Bran and I ain't easy men. You either follow or you die, that clear?' The boy started to speak again, 'It's Ancor, sir mister Hood, not Acorn', an I understand, it's dire times with Chr.... the princess taken.We need to save her. We must, sir mister Hood. We must'.<br/><br/>The hooded man smiled at the boy, or so Ancor thought, hard to tell, with a dark hood covering the face of a man he'd only heard rumours of. The hooded man, Hood, going to help him? Hood? The man didn't exist for most people, he was a legend, a boogy-man, A story his father, his late father, dying in battle with the King no doubt, against the kidnappers of Chrystal, Hood was an imaginary man, stealer of children, robber of gold, raper of girls, and this man was going to take Chrystal away from her kidnappers with him? What was true about all  the stories his father had told him? What he could see, he didn't look like the monster his father had told him to be. 'Sir mister Hood, may I ask you a question, before we go, sir misterr?' He was rambling, just the hood made him lose his education and upbringing. 'What is true about the stories, sir mister Hood? Are you a monster?'<br/><br/>What to say, strange times brought strange talks, A monster? He didn't think of himself as one. The hooded man looked to Bran, his friend for longer than he could remember, Almost at the same time, they shook their heads, If there were traitors among the group, this boy wasn't one of them, he'd found himself in a situation nobody could have ever predicted. A Kingdom at peace for such a long time, it wasn't a rich Kingdom, but prosperous, good trades, but no riches to speak of. 'Acorn, what's the word on the twin? Has he been killed as well? W're'suming t'King and t'Queen are dead, princess taken, but the twin?'. He couldn't ask anymore questionns for while they were on their way out, through the sewers underneath the barracks, a small rap on some wood halted them in their strides. The hooded man was the first to react, instantly recognising the man, spitting image from his twin-sister.<br/><br/>Sinking to his knees, his hands out to offer his services, quickly followed by Bran, but Acorn needing some more persuasion. 'Kneel, fool, it's t'Prince. Your Higness, at your service. One calls me Hood. This is Bran. The boy is called Acorn, son of Lainien. We're on our way to Beecham's Corner, to save your sister. Care to join us M'lord?'