With nothing left to do but go home, Crow made his way back to the ravine from Myrefall. Being tired and cold from the late night storm, it wasn’t the most pleasant walk of his life. In fact, the only good thing about it was the fact that there were no knights around to see him. He guessed they were all probably taking shelter until the last of the rain subsided, which was fortunate for him because it meant that he didn’t have to travel as carefully as he normally did. After a while, he returned to the thieves’ hideout to find that the others had already weatherproofed their camp while he had been away. Their supplies had been put up, the fire pit had been covered, and the shelter had even been reinforced with extra animal skins. He was glad they had been so efficient. Now, all he had left to worry about was changing into dry clothes, and then he would have a warm and comfortable night. He wasted no time in doing just that. After digging through a bag of clothes the thieves had stolen a while back, he found a shirt and pants that looked like they would fit him. He changed quickly and headed into the shelter to get out of the sprinkling rain before the new clothes got wet enough to chill his skin. Inside, he made his way over to his bed mat, moving carefully to avoid waking up the others, and laid down for the night. As he reached to draw his blanket over himself, he noticed that there was a second one piled on top of the first, and he smiled to himself. Someone—he guessed it had probably been Rikki—had given him an extra blanket to keep warm during the storm. He closed his eyes, pulling both blankets up to his chin, and let out his breath in a content exhale as he drifted off to sleep. -- The next morning, Crow woke up feeling stiff. He sat up slowly and stretched with a tired yawn. Between his long walk through the cold rain and the fact that his wounds were still healing, he supposed he was going to feel sore for a while. Regardless, he didn’t mind the discomfort too much, because the conversation that he’d had with Penelope the previous night was worth it. His heart beat a little quicker as he thought about everything that had happened between them during the storm. It wouldn’t be much longer before she gave him her answer. Too worked up to sit still any longer, he threw off his blanket and got up to go outside. In the camp, he saw that all three of his companions were sitting by the fire pit, eating dark bread that they had taken from the knights during their last raid. He walked over to join them, tearing off a part of a loaf for himself as he sat down next to Alistair. “How did it go?” Simon asked curtly. “Hm?” Crow blinked, looking up at him with an inquisitive frown. “Your meeting,” Simon bit into his piece of bread. “What did the knight tell you this time?” “Oh, right,” Crow popped some food into his mouth and chewed slowly, stalling for time as he tried to remember what Penelope had told him before the storm had happened. “She said the knights from our kingdom aren’t going to attack Younis again until they get another shipment of supplies for the war. Until then, we still have some time to recover.” “Interesting,” Alistair smirked. “So you’re saying they won’t start another battle until they get new supplies?” “I’m already way ahead of you,” Crow returned his look with a mischievous grin. “I want you all to keep a look out for incoming supply wagons for the next few weeks. If you find one…” he tore off another piece of bread in his hands. “Take everything.” “You got it, boss,” Rikki exchanged an excited look with Alistair. Crow laughed, finding their enthusiasm entertaining. Among the four of them, he was sure that Rikki and Alistair would be the most efficient at sabotaging the knights’ war supplies. They were the wildest and most unpredictable of the thieves, which made them a frightening pair when they worked together on heists. He had no doubts that they would be more than capable of cutting off the knights’ war supplies on their own. “That’s all fine,” Simon spoke up again with a skeptical look. “But that won’t stop the Younisians from attacking first. If we only target the knights from our kingdom, we’re only dealing with half of the problem.” “That’s why you and I will go to the Younisian battlefront and do the same to them,” Crow said simply. “We’ll make the trip in four or five days. By then, I should be feeling well enough to conduct a raid on their supplies without any trouble.” Simon thought over his leader’s words and then nodded, “Alright. I don’t think this plan of yours will work in the long term, but I’m willing to try it and see what happens.” “That’s all I’m asking,” Crow grinned at him. “As long as the Younisians don’t attack within the next week, we should be able to hold off the next battle for a while.” -- After breakfast, Crow spent the rest of his morning pacing the length of the ravine as he took the time to think over his dilemma. Whether Penelope took him back or not, he needed to start seriously looking for a cure for his illness again. After all, the knight wasn’t the only one he was doing this for. The thieves he had committed to lead needed him too. He couldn’t just give up after he had been given a medicine to hide his symptoms. Even though he couldn’t feel the pain of the disease anymore, he couldn’t keep pretending like nothing was wrong. The spells of fatigue had begun. He was clearly getting worse. He stopped by the edge of the river and bent down to pick up a flat rock, tossing it up and down in his hand as he continued to work through his thoughts. The herbalist in Myrefall had been a dead end, but that didn’t necessarily mean there was nothing out there that could heal him. He just wished he knew more about medicinal plants. The extent of his knowledge ran only as far as what was edible and what was poisonous, and even then, he didn’t know everything. He had only learned what Hazel Ansgot had had time to teach him. [i]Hazel.[/i] Crow blinked. [i]Of course! Why didn’t I think of her before?[/i] His heart beat a little quicker in his chest as he started to gain hope again. Hazel was the most talented herbalist in the outer villages. If anyone could find the cure to his illness, it would be her. He just hoped he could find her, since, as the most talented herbalist, she was always traveling to different villages to heal the peasants who couldn’t afford to see a real physician. [i]I have to try.[/i] He tossed the rock in his hand into the air one more time before cocking his arm back and launching it into the river. [i]Even if she’s not there, I can leave a message with Evelyn, so she’ll know I was looking for her.[/i] Having come to a decision, he turned to head back to the camp so he could prepare to leave for Silverpool.