Penelope began to stir as the noise William was making slowly woke her. She finally opened her eyes as Hartley took it upon himself to full awaken the knight. She leaned away from the thief as she rose, muttering a reluctant ‘morning’ to him in return. Hartley smiled, cheerful as usual, and quickly began to help Penelope with packing up their stuff. Penelope occasionally seemed annoyed by the overly invasive thief but held her tongue as he did prove to be somewhat helpful. 

“Are we ready to head out already?” Penelope asked as she walked over to join William and Abraxas. She didn’t bother with addressing Crow at the moment. 

William looked up from the map he had been looking over and nodded as he looked around the now empty clearing. “Yes. So let’s get moving. I’ll ride with Penelope up front this time. Abraxas, you’ll stay with those thieves in the cart.” He ordered sending a glare towards Hartley and Crow. 

Penelope held back a sigh. Of course he wouldn’t assign her to the back just yet but she remained hopeful that William would rotate their positions now, which with any luck, meant she would be in the back next time. “Alright.” She told William with an obedient nod before moving to take her position. 

Once everyone was ready and inside, they set off at a steady speed back down the main road. Penelope found that being up front with William was just as terrible as she thought it would be. The two knights let a heavy silence fall between them, both fixating their hard gazes on the road ahead. Until William began to break the silence. 

“Good see you’re focusing back on the mission.” William grumbled. 

“I never wasn’t.” Penelope countered, side-glancing at him. “I might have been a bit soft but it’s not like I forgot the reason we’re out here.” Penelope paused before smirking slightly. “Hey, I’m the one who took the time to learn the accent, aren’t I?” She said switching on her Younisian accent. 

William gave a small huff and shrugged his shoulders. The two fell silent again but Penelope hoped their small chat would keep the grumpy knight satisfied. She sighed softly and snuck a small glance back towards the cart. At least Crow didn’t have to deal with William back there today.