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“Well… That’s pretty much it. Just please, call the Friar, to at least give me the Extreme Unction…”, said the starving bunny, while laying in his bed, consuming his last energies, the very last fumes his failing body was running onto.
With the Sheriff having squeezed almost everything out of them, and now Prince John also being in town and pretending even more, the situation was dire, and many inhabitants were pushed to this point: there was little food, many people could only intermittently find something to eat, and going one day or two without the meagre nourishment available might mean the end; the only one which could give them a fighting chance was Robin Hood, but just him and his friend and ally Little John still weren’t enough: luckily, reinforcement seemed to have arrived…
“Lassie… Are you sure this is going to work?...”, asked Lady Kluck.
“Don’t worry, Klucky – They will surely be heartened up by what I have prepared them”, Maid Marian replied.
“There’s something not convincing me…”
“Oh, I’ve taken lessons in writing and painting illuminations from Friar Tuck since kithood, they will look like the real thing. Now let’s get to work!”
The two ladies entered the miserable hut, carrying some parchment scrolls with them.
“Good morning, Sir”, said Marian, curtsying before the bunny – “How’s going?”
“Very bad… I almost am dead…”, he replied, wheezing with every word, almost having not even the necessary strength to speak.
“Don’t worry, we have carried aid for you.”
“Food?”
“Well… Yes!”, said Marian, while rolling out one of the parchments – “You see? These apples are beautiful!”
“Wh-Wh-Where are them?...”
“Just raise your head, Sir, and you’ll see them!”
“I can’t raise my head… I’m too weak even for that… My body needs food, and I haven’t eaten in days…”
“Oh, well… That’s good. Klucky, can I have a help? We need to hang this to the wall…”
Lady Kluck was still puzzled by her friend’s plan, but for the moment by went along with it: they took the hammer and nails they carried with them, and soon the scroll was attached to the wall.
“And… These are the apples?...”, asked the bunny.
“Yes, they are. Aren’t they beautiful?”
“Beautiful? Beautiful?!? I need something to eat, not some stupid drawing to look at!”, shouted the bunny, almost like a sudden last, desperate surge of power discharged through what little was left of his body – “And I now am in such hunger, I’d might even literally eat the drawing!”
The bunny suddenly jumped out of the bed, summoning all the remaining strength he had to drag himself to the painting, and started devouring the parchment: nothing nutritious could have came from it, but at least it might maybe filled his stomach and stopped the hunger pangs.
Marian was in total disbelief, and not just because of the sudden reaction of the bunny – It actually mostly was the state in which he was reduced which had shocked her: his old, worn tunic was completely tattered and full of holes, and she could clearly see all of his ribs through them; she couldn’t even understand how could he has jumped out of the bed, since the limbs just seemed reduced to bones and fur; speaking of whose, it had started detaching in large patches, a clear sign of malnourishment, through whose the bones were painfully sticking out, almost like they were to pierce through his desiccated skin.
Used to the wealth and abundance at court, Marian could have never even understood what hunger and starvation were: but now, she was having the clear, horrifying imagine of them before her eyes, in the skeletal bunny desperately devouring her own parchment in a last attempt at surviving.
“W-W-Was your situation actually THIS bad?”, she shily tried to ask him.
“It is! And it is for the Sheriff’s and you uncle John’s fault!”, he shouted – “And all what you can do for us is… Showing us some stupid drawings? Best compliments for having learnt so well using a quill!”
While he was shouting that, a voice could be heard just outside the hut:
“Alms… Alms for the poor…”
Marian immediately recognized who he was, and whispered to him:
“Robin! Why did you came here?” – He was dressed up as a poor beggar, and the disguise wasn’t even that paper-thin; but he made his closest allies knowing about it, and such was the bond between him and Marian, neither of them couldn’t but recognize the other even through the thickest of disguises: just some faint clues were enough for them, and they already knew it was the other one beneath it.
“I heard some commotion and wanted to make sure you were safe – You know, the Sheriff has disseminated the whole town with his lackeys and thugs, he’s likely planning having all of us in the dungeons… If necessary, I wanted to intervene for you.”
“I appreciate you thoughts so much…”, she replied – “But what about Friar Tuck?”
"He still has Little John and Alan a-Dale on his side – Anyway, we were distributing some food for the poor folks, I have one pot under the mantle… It probably is a bit cold, but still should be good."
The bunny rejoiced: “Thank you, Sir Robin – In this situation, it’s even more precious than any money or gold! I have no problems with it, let’s have a meal all together!”
They all started eating from the pot, portioning the pottage on whatever could be used as a dish. The bunny slowly, cautiously nibbled at his portion, his emaciated body being too weak for a fast, sudden intake of food after weeks of undernourishment and days with nothing altogether; but at least he was now having something to eat, and already started feeling a bit better and stronger.
“It’s not bad at all!”, said Lady Kluck.
“Yes, definitely more rustic and savory than anything we ate at court… But how’s it called?”
“Pottage, Marian”, said Robin – “It’s basically a soup or stew of whatever can be found, and almost everyone actually live off of it… If not for the greed of someone else stealing them even it!...”, he rabidly concluded.
"Almost everyone… and I've always been in that 'almost'!", Marian realized – "How out-of-touch have I grown up at court, and how much part of the problem was I becoming? I can't believe I basically had even unlearnt what the actual struggles of whose which should be my people are, and I arrived to the point where I thought showing them drawings of foods would have been enough to solve their straits…"
“Don’t worry, Maid”, told her the bunny – “You are doing your best to relearn how does the world actually work, and to develop a true understanding and sympathy for the others once again. Oh, speaking of which… I’m sorry for how I treated you before.”
“No problems with it”, she replied – “It was a comprehensible reaction to what actually were the actions of a spoiled brat which wanted to make herself looking good despite not even having started understanding the real scope of the problem.”
“Don’t tear yourself apart this bad…”, Robin said – “If it can be solace to you, I don’t think I fare much better: I know how to hide, to fight and if necessary to strike, but all of those poor, innocent people? In a way, as a brigand I think I paradoxically am privileged in my own way… And that’s insulting to those people which lived of hard, honest work before these ogres took over England.”
“Mr. Robin, you’re doing so much for us, don’t feel guilty about that!”, replied the bunny – “Just I want to know how can I make some pottage by myself, if there’s anything I can do…”
"In case of emergency, and we're in an emergency, you can just use any edible herb or mushroom you can find", Robin answered – "Friar Tuck is also secretely spreading the voice about it, he's telling people what's edible and what's not. Oh, speaking of whom…"
"Does he agree?!", asked Marian, in a sudden rush of excitement.
“Yes, he will secretly marry us in his church at Edwinstowe. The official ceremony will be held once things will go better – But for the moment by, he’s perfectly fine this way.”
Marian threw herself onto Robin, squeezing him in her arms: “Oh, Robin… I was dreaming of this moment since ever! Thank you for having dragged my outside of the court, and back to the real world – I promise I’ll be with you in the Sherwood Forest forever, and I’ll always fight for the poor and the innocent alongside with you!”
The bunny finally let a faint smile going: "I hope I'll be in force enough by then to be a Wedding witness for you. Oh, your friends are arriving! I think I'm the last one to receive your visit for today – Thank you again for everything you're doing for us, your love is actually being a sign of hope for us as much as your material aid."
The whole band had reunited at the rabbit’s home, and once Friar Tuck revealed the list of what could be used to make a pottage they were silently back into the forest. Once at the church of Edwinstowe, Robin and Marian were secretly married by the Friar, and were immediately back to their new home together, the outlaws’ camp in the Sherwood Forest: all but a palace; but they were feeling much better that way, living not for the greed and domination upon the others, but instead for their love for each other, and the friendship and connection with the others as well.