But, I can't remember his name.

   Let's check on Gremio instead.

   Gremio had checked out of the inn at Kyaro town to start checking for rumors of Young Master McDohl.  To his amazement, people around here had actually heard of a boy fitting McDohl's description in the area just a little while ago!

   But, much to Gremio's disappointment, no one could tell him if the boy had just passed through or was still in the town.  There had been so much activity with the high ranking members of the Highland Army and the royal family visiting Kyaro, that if McDohl WAS here, he'd probably be hiding out.

   Gremio walked down the streets, lost in thought. The likely places Young Master McDohl might be hiding could either be the deserted martial arts dojo in the west part of town, one of the very large mansions in either the north or south, or the fairly empty housing grounds for the Unicorn Brigade.

   The whole town was chanting for blood when the story of the Unicorn Brigade's massacre at the hands of the Jowston City-State in a sneak attack.

   But, even though Gremio didn't think that much of the City-State, something about this didn't seem
right.  Why would the City State attack the Tenzen Pass, only to abandon it later?  If they left troops
there, they could theoretically cut Highland in half.  The Kyaro Town region would be eazily captured without re-enforcements from the capital, and it could put Highland at a serious tactical disadvantage.  The City-States of Jowston may not be the most savory bunch in the world, but they were far from stupid.

   As Gremio walked along, lost in thought, several pairs of eyes watched him intently from a nearby group of bushes.  They spoke in hushed whispers amongst themselves.

   "Do you think that's him?  Could it be?"

   "It's possible.  I mean, he's just like we've been told he'd be."

   "Hurry!  Let's go tell the others."

   Meanwhile, Gremio had taken the long and winding road in the west rural area that lead to the martial arts dojo of someone called Genkaku.  The name seemed oddly familiar to Gremio, but he couldn't place where he had heard it before.

   The Dojo was quiet as Gremio entered.  No one had answered his knocks and he just couldn't wait.  Even though the townsfolk had said Genkaku passed away some time ago, the dojo was still occupied by his two grandchildren.  That was apparent since the dojo was very well kept and quite lived-in.  However, there was a layer of dust on everything that indicated no one had used this house in some time.

   Out back, Gremio came across a hand-dug grave.  The headstone was marked with the name Genkaku.  Gremio felt sad for the two children.  It seemed that they didn't have any parents and Genkaku was all they had.  It was tragic when any child became forced to grow up so quickly, innocence lost in the harsh reality of the world.  It filled him with memories of the Young
Master, forced to become a man so early in life.

   As Gremio turned to leave, he spotted a large tree overlooking a valley near the house.  A figure was watching him, then vanished again.  It was alone and young . . . could it be?

   Gremio dshed out of the house and leapt the fence, heading up the slope towards the large tree, brushing branches of the other trees out of the way and cape flapping in the wind.

   He reached the tree with anticipation in his heart and quickly searched around it.  There was nobody there.  Gremio's heart sank just as quickly as it had leapt.  He must have been just imagining there was someone there, his depression creating illusions in his mind.

   Gremio sat down at the base and turned to look over the horizon.  It really was a breathtaking sight, the valley of trees stretched out below appearing to be a carpet of green.  A blue, cloudless sky above and a warm sunlight that wasn't harsh at all filling that sky.  Gremio watched the sky so intently that he was that much more shocked when the arrow imbedded itself inches from his face in the tree.

   "What the . . . ?!"

   Gremio jumped to his feet and pulled his hatchet from where he kept it, twirling around, trying to
locate the sniper.  Realizing how exposed he was, Gremio ran for the nearest bit of cover he could, only to run into something that certainly wasn't a shrub.

   "YIKES!"

   "WHOA!"

   Gremio tripped and went sprawling, taking the four small children with him.  After rolling a bit, they
all came to a stop near another tree.  After shaking his head, Gremio managed to stand up a bit.

   The four children were dressed in odd garb that could have been forestry outfits from some kind of
fairy tale.  They were flashy but hardly effective in real life.  They all carried some wooden weapons, but the one on the end had a bow with a quiver of arrows.

   Gremio hoisted the child, who couldn't have been a boy of more than 10 years, up and snatched the bow from his hands.

   "What do you think you're doing?!  You could hurt someone with this.  Do your parents know you're playing with such dangerous things?"

   Instead of either fear of reprisal or resentment on the child's face, a look of happiness was there
instead.  The same look was on the faces of the other children, one boy and one girl of the same age, when they got up.  Everyone just crowded around Gremio, who put the boy down and looked very surprised.  They all chattered about at the same time, very quickly, making it hard to make out what they were saying.

   "Ohmygoshcanyoubelieveitisreallyreallyhim . . ."

   "WowthisissocoolIcannotwaittotellmomanddad . . ."

   "Thinkhewillletusjoinhimwehavevebeentraininghard .. ."

   Gremio just blinked a few times, frozen in place.  These children seemed rather excited and knew who he was . . . he thought.  Something seemed very strange in how they were acting.

   "Pardon me, I don't know what you are all talking about.  Please, slow down and speak one at a time.  Do you know me from somewhere?"

   "It's you!  I mean, you know you're you!  I mean ... wow!  You're Robin Hood!"

   If Gremio had a mirror, he probably would havenoticed that most nasty eyebrow twitch.  Come to think of it, those children were wearing costumes that were commonly associated with Robin Hood's band of merry men.  The boy he had been talking to was dressed like Little John, the other boy was dressed like Friar Tuck, and he had no idea who the girl was dressed as, but it was certainly not Maid Marrian.

   Where on earth did they get the idea he was Robin Hood, of all people?  Maybe his pine-green cloak and hood . . . or was it his blond hair . . . or the clothes under his cloak could be a forest man's . . . or maybe it was he walked around town looking like a bandit casing a job.  Gremio groaned to himself.

   "Look, young man, I am not Robin Hood.  Robin Hood was just made up by grownups to entertain children, like Chocobos and eskimos.  My name is Gremio."

   "Gremio?" the boy playing Little John asked.

   "Gremio?" the boy playing Friar Tuck echoed.

   "Hey!" the girl said.  "Gremio must be his secret disguise while he's in Kyaro!  Wow, this is so cool!"

   Gremio look stupified as all the children agreed with her, enthusiastically.

   "Yeah, you're right!  I mean, Gremio is such a stupid name, who will think it's anything but real?"

   "Hey!"  Gremio's face was bright red.  "I'll have you know that Gremio is a real name and it happens to be MY name."

   The children all giggled and Gremio shook his head.  He started to walk back to the road and the three of them followed him like puppies following their mother; all clamoring for his attention.

   Much to Gremio's distress, this made him about as conspicuous as a dwarf with platform shoes.

   The children were strangely quiet as people were around, but if there was a stretch of road without any other pedestrians, they'd start talking again.

   "Mr. Robin Hood!  Mr. Robin Hood!  Can we be members of your Merry Men?" the girl asked.

   "You can't be a merry man!  You're just a girl!" 'Little John' shot at her.

   "I can too!" the girl was fairly steemed.  "I can be anything I want to!"

   "FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M NOT ROBIN HOOD!"

   This went on for a good thirty minutes until Gremio reached the wooded area that led to the Unicorn Brigade fort.  The children surrounded Gremio this time, determined to get his attention.  Sighing to himself, he decided to let them speak their minds, before ignoring them again.

   "Okay, what is it that you all want?"

   "You see, it's like this, Mr. Robin Hood . . . "

   Gremio proceeded to listen as the children described how they and their fourth friend "Will
Scarlet" wanted to strike a blow for freedom against the evil sheriff of Highland (a highland official who regulated taxes in Kyaro) and free a rare creature locked up in his mansion.  They managed to break in last night, but before they could free this thing, "Will" was caught by the guards.  He was being held for the proper authorities (or his parents, whichever showed first).

   What caught Gremio's attention was the description of "Will Scarlet" that the children gave him.  A boy older than they were, wearing a bandanna, who liked playing with staffs, and had gloves on his hands.  It was too much of a coincidence for Gremio to ignore, and he had the children take him to the mansion.

   Watching from the bushes, Gremio noticed a bandanna wearing young man in a second story window, surrounded by rather irate guards.  His back was turned, but the hair WAS brown.

   "Young Master . . . "  Gremio turned to look at the children and nodded.  "Okay, let's rescue . . . uh, 'Will'."

   "Yaaaaay!!" they all cheered.

   With much effort, several gallons of sweat, two dozen feet of rope, and much swearing, the four of
them managed to climb up to the roof of the mansion.

   Catching his breath, Gremio struggled to his feet and waited for the children to follow suit.  They had brought all their toy weapons with them.  Gremio wasn't bogged down too much with his hatchet and watched out for any guards.

   It didn't take long, however, before the mighty forces of chance that keep about 3 million people in
front of me on the expressway intervened and brought a guard to the roof, just as Gremio and the children reached the door to the stairs.

   Oddly enough, the guard's uniform was torn and he was bleeding in several places.  He had a wild look in his eyes, like he just witnessed something horrible.

   Everyone just stared at each other for a few moments in shock.  The guard revived first and pointed his halberd at Gremio and the kids.

   "Who are you and what are you doing here?!" the guard screamed in a shakey voice.

   "Are you blind?" 'Little John' retorted before Gremio could say anything.  "He's Robin Hood!"

   The guard's eyes grew wide and Gremio just moaned inside.

   "Wait 'till the squad commander hears I captured Robin Hood!" the guard said.

   Oh great . . . not again.  The guard seemed to believe what the kid said easily enough.  Was this a
big town for fairy tales or something?

   "Ignore the child.  I am NOT Robin Hood," Gremio pleaded.

   "Look at all the green you wear and how you wear it.  You're either an elf, gay, or Robin Hood."

   "Robin Hood it is, then."

   "Okay, everyone drop your weapons in a pile, right now!" the guard screamed.

   With some hesitation, everyone did as they were told, making a semi-large pile of weapons in front of the guard.  'Friar Tuck' noticed the way some of them were positioned as the guard kept sticking the halbered at Gremio and kicked a staff with his foot.  It swung to the left, catching the guard's leg and making him start to hop in order to regain his balance.  Unfortunately for him that he hopped to the right so much that he hopped off the edge of the mansion.

   A sickening crunch later, everyone gathered their gear together.

   "My goodness . . . you children shouldn't be exposed to this kind of violence at such a young age."

   "Don't worry, Robin!" 'Little John' chimed in. "This is pretty mild for us on a weekend."

   With that grim little detail firmly in mind, Gremio let the children down the stairwell to the second
floor.  It was strangely quiet and there were signs of a struggle.

   Everyone kept quiet as they passed a door that had been broken through by something powerful.  They passed unconscious and battered guards, spralled out on the floor.  The rooms were in massive disarray and no trace of either the boy or the person who lived in this house could be found.  It was odd, since it only took 12 minutes to get to the roof and get down here.  What could have happened in such a short amount of time?

   "Maybe it's that rare monster!" The young girl said aloud, trying to figure out the damage.

   It was certainly possible, Gremio thought to himself.  Anything rare or hard to catch would
probably be that way for a reason.  And incredibly strong would be a reason.

   Creeping down the hallway, a loud scream reverberated in the halls.  Clutching his hatchet,
Gremio raced towards the voice, praying he wasn't too late.  If the monster got loose, it could wreak havoc in the town of Kyaro, putting all those innocent people at risk.

   Busting down the door to the library, Gremio ran inside, prepared to do battle with whatever foul beast had broken free.  He noticed the Highland noble and a young boy behind a desk, hiding from a monster that had lay waste to at least a dozen guards in the room.  Gremio couldn't see the monster from his angle, but went on the defensive, trying not to make himself an easy target.

   "Help us!" the Highland Official screamed.  "That thing is going to kill us all!"

   A quick glance at the boy near the official told Gremio that it wasn't the Young Master, much to his disappointment.  But the resemblance was strong and Gremio would not have been surprised if the child was distantly related to the McDohl family.

   "Robin Hood!  Robin Hood!" the children called to Gremio as they finally found him, coming close to the room.

   "STAY OUTSIDE!" Gremio yelled.  He didn't want to put any of them in harm's path.

   "The legendary Robin Hood?!" the official said, shocked.  "You're Robin Hood, the king of theives?"

   "ROBIN HOOD IS MAKE-BELIEVE!!!"  Gremio yelled, too frustrated for his own blood pressure's good.

   Realizing he still had a monster on his hands, Gremio started to circle the debris and guards, trying
to get a good look at what he was up against.

   What he found made his blood run cold.

   It was a rabbit.

   And not just any rabbit, but a rabbit wearing a red baseball cap.  In fact, upon closer inspection, it was the same red cap that the boy he paid to catch the rabbit back home wore . . . oh no.  It CAN'T be!

   It was that same adorable brown rabbit from home. But, how could that be?!

   "It's a rare mythical creature I paid for back in Gregminster," the official said, as if reading
Gremio's mind and making the obligatory explanation for the folks at home.

   "It's a cross breed so rare, that it's only a rumor.  As luck would have it, a maniac battled a baby
of the species back home and I bought it from this really scratched up child and his mouse.  I thought I was lucky, until it broke loose . . . "

   At the same time, the rabbit shook it's head a little and the hat fell off, revealing some strange
stubs on it's head, near the ears.

   "It's maturing to the point where you can see it's growing antlers!  IT'S A JACKALOPE!"

   Gremio nearly collapsed.  A . . . jackalope?  Could he be serious?  A mixture of a jack rabbit and an antelope?  But . . . that's stupid!  Just then, the . . . whatever it was, turned to Gremio, actually opened it's mouth, and said . . .

   "Fast as fast can be, you'll never catch me!"

   It ran under Gremio's legs, past the children, and down the hallway, all at mach speed.  Much to the kids' surprise, Gremio's face turned bright red as hepicked up his hatchet and ran after the rabbit.

   "COME BACK HERE, DAMMIT!!!!"

   The jackalope led Gremio on a merry chase through the halls of the mansion, from the second floor to the basement, mocking him with the same sentence as Gremio continuely missed it with his hatchet swings.  It was like a sick road runner cartoon, but infintely more pathetic and demeaning on the part of the coyote.

   The children tried to keep up, but gave up soon, since the jackalope was fast and Gremio seemed to have strength in his anger.  The jackalope leapt out an open window onto the grounds outside and Gremio crashed through it after him.

   All of the children, now reunited, watched him from the balcony on the second floor and waved as their hero raced off towards the rising sun.

   The next day, Gremio wandered down the streets in Kyaro Town, about ready to move on since the Young Master was no longer anywhere in the area.  He also lost that rabbit and was forced to call off the search for it.  Someday . . . someday . . .

   However, everywhere he went, he was greated with smiles by all the townsfolk.  Word had spread (mostly by the children) and everyone addressed him as Robin Hood.  Some of the people even praised him for beating up the tax collector and his guards.  Gremio turned beet red from all the undeserved and unwanted attention.

   His trip out of the town was much faster, since most of Highland's royal guard came out to try and bag the infamous king of theives for a reward.  Not that any of them realized Robin Hood is make-believe, but Gremio ran just as much harder for it.