Crow shook his head at William’s persistence to get them all on the road right away. There was no need to rush. Their enemies were smart, so they wouldn’t jump at the chance to attack them again so soon, especially since they had to deal with the damage to their camp first. In their current state, it would have been a foolish undertaking. But there was no convincing William—there never was—so the thief kept his mouth shut and climbed into the back of the wagon, finding his usual spot next to the blankets. If the knight wanted to keep going without a break, Crow wasn’t going to stop him. He could still nap either way.

Crow stretched and leaned into the blankets, closing his eyes tiredly. Now that the adrenaline of the fight was wearing off, he was beginning to feel the toll it had taken on his body. His burns stung, his bruises ached, and, ironically, it seemed like he actually [i]had[/i] injured his leg at the rebels’ camp. His knee pained him slightly when he bent it. [i]I probably deserved that one,[/i] he thought with melancholic smile. All humor aside, however, he hoped that whatever he did to his leg would heal quickly, since he would need to be in top shape for the king’s mission.

The thief was just about to doze off when he heard the sound of someone rummaging about in the wagon. He opened one eye to see Penelope searching through the medical supplies. After a moment, she turned to him, [color=fff79a][b]“We probably won’t be able to stop for actual medicine for a while… but we do have this ointment that will help a little bit.”[/b][/color] The knight held out a small bottle of white cream.

“Thanks,” Crow said after a brief hesitation. He eyed Penelope curiously and he accepted the ointment. Even though the other knights were focused on escaping, her first thought was to help him. [i]Friendship is so selfless,[/i] he mused as he applied the cream to his burns. [i]It’s so different… but it’s not bad.[/i] After having to watch his own back for so many years, it was nice to know there was someone else watching it for him too. There was something satisfying about helping someone without an ulterior motive, too. They were just two people setting their own needs aside for each other’s benefit because they were friends.