The following morning, Crow was the last to wake up again. He sat up on his bed and yawned, still a bit tired after having stayed up so late the night before. As the memory of his last meeting with Penelope entered his mind, a small smile crossed his lips. If he hadn’t spent the last three days worrying about what her decision would be, he would have thought it had all been a dream. But it wasn’t. Penelope had really chosen to be with him again, and they were really going to try to make it happen this time. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so happy.

Suddenly, he noticed the smell of cooking food waft into the shelter, and he got up, not wanting to miss out on any leftover breakfast. He stepped outside, blinking against the bright morning sunlight, and walked over to fire pit, where the other three thieves and Hazel had gathered to eat a meal of cooked vegetables and bread. Simon was the first to notice him arrive.

“There you are,” the blonde thief frowned critically. He was already dressed to leave for Younis, with a packed bag sitting at his feet. “I’m not sure I like this new habit of yours.”

“What new habit?” Crow sat down by Rikki and filled at plate with food.

“You’ve been sleeping through the morning almost every day lately,” Simon clarified irritably. “I know you’ve been recovering from the last battle and your run in with those knights, but still... Don’t you think it’s a bit much?”

“I guess I’ve just been tired lately,” Crow shrugged, though his companions words did strike a small cord with him. He hadn’t noticed until now, but the other thief was right. He had been sleeping a lot more than usual, and it wasn’t just on the nights he had stayed out late with Penelope. He lifted a bite of carrots to his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Perhaps it was just because of the fact that his body was still healing from his wounds, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that his excessive weariness was related to the illness. It made sense. After all, the same thing had happened to his mother when she had been sick. Her energy had slowly faded until she grew too weak to get out of bed. It wasn’t too far of a stretch to guess the same thing was starting to happen to him now.

Glancing up from his plate, he felt a chill run down his spine as he caught sight of Hazel staring at him from the other side of the pit. She had a calculating look on her face like she was trying to solve a difficult problem, and in that moment he was certain she was thinking the same thing he was. He averted his gaze, hoping to find something to distract himself from the depressing thought.

Fortunately, Rikki gave him just that. She inched a bit closer and nudged him with her arm, “Alistair and I went out to spy on the knights while you were gone,” she said, eyes glittering with excitement. “We overheard a few of them talking about a supply wagon that’s supposed to come in three days.”

“Really?” Crow turned to her with interest.

“Uh huh,” she grinned. “We’re going to cut them off after they pass through Wellspring.”

“They won’t even get close to dropping off the supplies,” Alistair chimed in.

“That’s great,” Crow smiled, finding their enthusiasm infectious. “Now if Simon and I can just get that lucky in Younis, we should be right on track to delay the next battle.”

“Speaking of which,” Simon interjected, crossing his arms impatiently. “We need to leave here before midday, so would you please hurry?”

“Alright,” Crow rolled his eyes. Having traveled to the Younisian frontline many times to sell off weapons, he knew they still had enough time to get there. However, he also knew there was no arguing with Simon when the thief got anxious, so he said nothing more on the matter.

“Hey,” Hazel spoke up. Crow glanced at her and was confused to see that she was glaring at him. “Before you go, I need to talk to you,” she growled.

“Okay,” he blinked, unsure why she was suddenly acting so hostile. Finishing off the rest of his breakfast quickly, he stood up and walked with her into the shelter, so he could pack up for his trip while she spoke to him. “What did you want to talk about?” he asked, grabbing a travel bag to fill.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she shoved him roughly. “You’re going to [i]Younis[/i]?”

“Yes,” he shot her a glare. “What’s the problem?”

“Gods, I’m dealing with a moron,” Hazel pinched the bridge of her nose before looking up at him again. “Let me ask you this: What do you plan to do if you have another episode while you’re in enemy territory, [i]stealing their weapons[/i]?”

“I’ll figure it out,” he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Right,” she crossed her arms over her chest. “And how well has that been working out for you?”

Crow flushed as he recalled how he had gotten caught by the knights the last time his fatigue struck. “Look,” he sighed. “I can’t just sit around and do nothing because I’m not as well as the others are. They’re depending on me to lead them. I have to go.”

“You’re not just unwell, Crow,” Hazel’s gaze softened slightly. “You’ve got a disease that’s going to kill you if you don’t take it easy and focus on getting better. If you’re not careful, you might even accelerate the illness inside of you and die sooner.”

The thief paled slightly at her words. He hadn’t thought of that.

“You can do whatever you’re going to do,” Hazel said softly, seeming to notice his expression. “But as your healer, I recommend avoiding dangerous situations until we figure this out. Okay?”

“Okay,” he murmured with a nod. A brief silence fell between them, and then he looked up to meet her gaze. “I already told Simon I would go with him on this raid, and I have no good excuse to get out of it, but after this… I’ll try to think of a way to stay near the camp more often.”

“Good,” Hazel said, seeming satisfied. “By the way, how was the medicine I gave you last night?”

“Disgusting,” Crow made a face.

The herbalist snorted, “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I honestly don’t know,” he shook his head. “I don’t feel any different, but then again, I don’t feel sick most of the time, so it’s hard to tell if anything’s changed.”

“Hmm,” Hazel grunted. “We’ll have to figure out a way to test it somehow. I’ll work on that while you’re gone.” She gave him another shove, though this time she was a bit gentler. “You’d better not go and die on me in Younis after you made me go through all the trouble of coming to this hell hole and staying up until the ungodly hours of the night working on your medicine.”

“I won’t,” he smirked.

“Good,” she nodded, stepping towards the entrance to the shelter. “I’ll see you when you get back, snake.”

“Bye, love,” Crow watched as she left before turning back to finish packing his bag. He had kept Simon waiting long enough. Illness or no illness, he was going to raid the Younisians, and they were going to stall the war.