Torin Hood (Toruka)english Version

Chapter 8

"Look what you've done," Brother Tomo scolded his friend. "You desperately need tutoring in conquest. You catch thieves and rogues with a rope, but not your coming singer." Torin stood up with the man in his arms and had become visibly concerned. Had he acted too roughly?

"Do you think ... he holds a grudge?" he asked little Skippy beside him as they made their way to his cave. The little red-haired boy thought for a moment.

"Hmm, ... Master Mori chan pretty well remembers every tiny prank we play on him. Then he always makes us do detention and lots of homework, or pulls our ears, or sometimes he even gives us a slap. So ... I would say ... yeah?" Torin Hood gritted his teeth and made a playfully startled face.

"Uhhh, I'm really in trouble now. Is there anything I can do to appease him again?" he then wanted to know.

"Oh yes, Maid Mori chan likes strawberries, he loves them. All his female admirers gather these red berries at this time of year to score with him. ... And he always sits on a lambskin because he thinks there is nothing warmer than that and ... he likes to sing, very often in fact and also ... quite beautifully," the student said and towards the end, it almost sounded a little admiring. Torin's brain was going at high speed. He could fulfill any of these wishes!

Confidently, he bedded the sleepy one down, put a cooling bandage around Mori chan's injured ankle and asked Little Ryo to keep a guarded eye on their future member. Then he set off with Skippy to search for the coveted fruit.

"I owe you a great thanks. Without your help, I probably would have had to beat him unconscious to get to him." He winked at the little one, who was growing taller with pride.

"That was a small thing for me. And ... if you need my help, I'll be by your side ... even if now Maid Mori ..." The redhead pulled a pout, knowing as a small child he would never be taken as seriously as an adult. Besides, he was not blind. The guiding care that the folk hero gave to his victim could not be overlooked. He glanced up at the tall blond man and saw his satisfied smile. "You ... like him, ... don't you?" Torin's dreamy gaze turned to the blue sky shining through the treetops.

"Oh yes, ... I love ... his voice."

Mori chan yawned. It was dark around him as he heavily forced his eyelids to open. He stretched and winced in pain at the same moment. His right ankle hurt like hell, and he had that rascal to thank for it all. He wanted to pull his legs carefully to him, but was horrified to find that now the left one was tied in a sling.

"Oh no, ... I am almost dead. This cave will be my grave," he wailed, his fingers digging convulsively into the soft ground on which he lay. At least he had been bedded on fur. Sheep, to his great delight, as it smelled of lanolin and wool. "Lord in heaven, please let it pass quickly and painlessly," he pleaded, searching the dark room for Torin Hood. It was silent, only his own agitated breathing could be heard and not the slightest shadow stirred. How much longer would he have. How many minutes remained before the folk hero would finally finish him off. Even if he loosened the rope around his leg with his hands, which were curiously not in shackles, the injured ankle might prevent him from escaping. Or ... should he try? He would have to crawl, at least out of the cave, hide somewhere in the thicket and wait until someone found him, or he would starve to death. No, that option would be the wrong one. There should be another way to escape the clutches of the blond, but in the end the injured man had no choice, because the voices at the entrance of the cave called Mori chan's attention. The low spoken words came from Torin Hood, he was quite sure.

"What are you doing out here? Didn't I specifically ask you to watch him? What if he runs away?" The lying man rolled his eyes.

"What a wooden head that hero is." The person addressed in front of the cave, could not be assigned by the teacher.