Crow could feel Penelope’s eyes on his back as he ran to engage in battle with another Younisian knight. His heart pounded as her shocked face flitted through his mind. He didn’t know what she had been thinking when she had looked at him, but he could take a few guesses. He clashed blades with the knight with a new wave of energy, taking out his frustration on the man in front of him.

[i]Damn it,[/i] he thought, viciously breaking past the Younisian’s defense to leave a gruesome cut down his arm. As the man turned around to retreat, the thief threw the dagger in his right hand. The blade connected, landing squarely between the knight’s shoulders and sending him toppling to the ground.

[i]Why do I still care what she thinks?[/i] Crow frowned as he walked up to the knight’s body and retrieved his weapon. [i]We’re not even friends anymore. It shouldn’t matter this much.[/i] But it did. As much as he tried to convince himself that it was over between them, there was still a part of him that craved her respect and approval. He wished they hadn’t crossed paths in the battle so she wouldn’t have seen this side of him. He never wanted her to find out about it.

As the fighting dragged on, Crow noticed that the knights from his kingdom had managed to push the Younisians back to their side of the border. He looked up from the last enemy he had taken down to see that a second battalion had arrived to reinforce the Brerratic troops. He let out his breath in relief. With the Younisians far outnumbered, it seemed that the village would be safe for now. His part in the battle was over.

He caught sight of Alistair and Simon and signaled to them to fall back to the camp. The three thieves retreated, vanishing into the eastern woods as they left the war-stricken village behind.

--

“Ow, ow, ow,” Crow winced as a peasant woman poured alcohol over the open wound in his arm. He and the others had stopped by to see the villagers for treatment for their injuries before heading back to their hideout.

“Relax, dear,” the woman said calmly, reaching for a roll of bandages. “It stings now, but it will keep that nasty cut from getting infected. You don’t want to lose your arm, now do you?”

“Yeah, Crow,” Alistair snickered from where he at nearby. “Don’t be such a child.”

“Like you’d be any better,” the thief rolled his eyes. He flexed his arm after the woman finished dressing it, testing to make sure the bandages would hold.

“Of course I would,” Alistair snorted haughtily. “I have the highest pain tolerance between the four of us. A little alcohol is noth—” he stopped short, letting out a howl of pain as Simon snuck up behind him and poured alcohol over his wounded shoulder.

“Surprise, surprise,” the blonde thief said dryly. “Seems like you’re nothing but talk.”

“That’s not fair,” Alistair rubbed his watering eyes. “I wasn’t ready.”

Simon just shrugged and walked away to begin packing up their supplies. Having received the least number of injuries among the thieves, he was already finished being treated.

“Come on, Sir Pain-Tolerance,” Crow drawled. “Stop being such a child.”

“Oh, shut up,” Alistair threw a small rock at him.

Once all of his injuries had been dressed, Crow got up to look for Rikki. Having not seen her since the middle of the battle, he wanted to make sure that she was alright. He found her in a tent that the peasants had pitched, sitting up on a bedroll and eating porridge. She looked up when he stepped inside, grinning enthusiastically, “Hey, boss. How’d it go?”

“Better than I expected,” Crow said with a one-shouldered shrug. He moved to sit down at her side and glanced at her bandaged leg. “How are you doing?”

“Better now,” Rikki swallowed another mouthful of porridge. “The villagers left some of their supplies in here with me, including the alcohol they use to treat wounds…” she leaned in a little closer to Crow and lowered her voice. “I’m pretty sure I’m drunk right now.”

Crow laughed, “Oh, are you?” He wasn’t the least bit surprised to learn that the female thief had dipped into the alcohol.

“Yes,” Rikki smirked mischievously and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him to herself to plant a kiss on his lips.

After a moment, Crow drew back from her with a grimace, “Gods, love. Your breath is awful.”

“Maybe,” she winked at him. “But you lingered.”

“Fair enough,” Crow chuckled before going on more seriously. “Do you think you can make the trip back with that wound in your leg?”

“Think so,” she nodded. “Though I don’t think I’ll be leaving the camp for a bit when we get back, if that’s alright.”

“Of course,” he said. “I’ll go tell the others.” He climbed to his feet and exited the tent, heading back to their makeshift camp where Alistair and Simon had just finished packing up the rest of the supplies. The two turned to him as he approached.

“We should get going as soon as we can,” he said. “Rikki says she’s well enough to come with us, but we might need to travel a bit slower to accommodate her leg. Also, I’d like to take a more direct route back to the camp while the knights are still licking their wounds in Whitebridge. There are a lot more of them that need treatment, so we should have enough time to cut near their camp before they start making their way back south.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alistair said in agreement. “As long as we make a quick detour to raid their liquor stock, that is.”

“Of course,” Crow smirked. “You and I can do that while Simon takes Rikki back to the camp.”

“I’ll make sure she gets there safely,” Simon nodded.

With plans having been made, Crow glanced up at the sky. Even though the battle had been long, it looked like it wasn’t even noon yet. If they left soon, they would easily return to the ravine by dusk, which would be perfect since he still needed to meet up with Penelope that night.

At the thought of the knight, Crow’s throat tightened with anxiousness. It had been hard enough to meet with her when things were merely tense between them, but now that she had seen him kill in battle, he dreaded to face her even more. Part of him considered sending one of the other thieves to meet with her in his place, but he didn’t know if he trusted any of them enough to be alone with her. Simon was still openly hostile, Alistair was too reckless, and Rikki was still injured. He sighed. It looked like he would just have to go and pray that she wouldn’t bring up the subject.

[i]I hope it goes by quickly,[/i] he thought, shouldering his bag as he prepared to leave.