The following morning, Crow awoke to the feeling of a hand on his shoulder. He blinked tiredly and looked up to see Simon standing over him with an annoyed expression. “Sorry to wake you,” he said in a voice that clearly indicated that he was not sorry at all. “But it’s almost noon. We need to get going.”

Crow nodded wordlessly, forcing himself to sit up as Simon went back to packing up their supplies. He felt much more tired than usual that morning, both from the excitement of the night before and from being woken up before he had gotten enough sleep. He rubbed his eyes, taking a moment to gather his bearings before attempting to get up. If he didn’t get any of his energy back before they left, it was going to be a long journey back to the ravine. Suddenly tempted to lay back down and take a nap, he stood up to help the other thief cover their camp, hoping his weariness would fade if he started moving around a bit.

Once everything had been packed up and the camp had been thoroughly destroyed, the two thieves gathered their things and headed back to Brerra.

For the most part, they walked in silence as they had on their way to Younis. Crow spent his time anticipating his next meeting with Penelope. Part of him wished he had told her to meet with him in three days, since he and Simon would be back by nightfall, but he knew it would have been too much to expect of himself. They were already spending the entire day traveling, and the route from Younis was a bit strenuous because of all the hills and valleys they had to cross over. If he tried to make the trek to Myrefall right after that, he would probably just end up pushing himself too hard. So, as impatient as he was, it was the wise decision to wait until tomorrow.

“I think you should have Hazel take a look at your wounds,” Simon spoke up a little while after they crossed the border to Brerra. He turned to Crow with a serious expression, “You’ve been sleeping nearly half a day lately, and I’ve never seen you lose your footing on a run before. You haven’t been yourself, Crow. Something is clearly wrong.”

“I know,” Crow sighed. “I’ll ask her tomorrow.” Of course, he already knew what the problem was, but he didn’t want Simon to know that. So, he continued to feign ignorance, “I just hope it’s something she can treat easily.”

“Me too,” Simon nodded. “Fortunately, it looks like we still have a bit of time before the next battle, so she has some leeway to figure out what’s wrong with you.”

“That’s true. At least the timing of all this was good.”

“Yes, you’re quite lucky.”

As they lapsed into silence again, Crow felt a pang of worry. Knowing his symptoms had nothing to do with the wounds on the outside of his body, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep his illness a secret. Once he healed from his cuts and bruises, he would have no more excuse for his unusual behavior. He needed Hazel to find a cure for him fast, or else the others would catch on that he was hiding something from them. He didn’t want them to know what was really wrong. They would just worry if they found out.

The thieves arrived back at their camp just after dusk only to be greeted immediately by Rikki and Alistair. The two hurried over to report their success in raiding the Brerratic knights’ supply wagon. Apparently, the knights hadn’t provided the wagon with much security, so the two thieves had no trouble ambushing them and taking all of its contents. To further boast of their victory, Rikki led Crow over to the spot where she and Alistair had dropped off all the stolen goods.

He whistled as he stared at the massive pile of weapons, medical supplies, food, and various other things the king had provided his army for the war. “When you said you took everything, you really meant [i]everything[/i], didn’t you?” he turned to her with a grin.

“Just like you asked,” she smirked back at him proudly.

“Nice job,” he nodded. “Now we just have to figure out what to do with all of this stuff.”

“Hey,” a new voice spoke up from behind him and he turned around to see Hazel walking up with her usual cold expression. “I need to talk to you.”

“Alright,” Crow said before turning back to Rikki with a shrug. “Sorry, love. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Rikki glanced between the two for a moment before nodding, “Okay.”

Crow stepped away from her to follow Hazel as she led him away from the camp to speak in private. Once they were far enough away that their conversation wouldn’t be overheard, she turned to him with a critical gaze, “Did it happen again?”

He shifted his weight and lowered his gaze to the ground, telling her all she needed to know.

“Damn it, Crow,” she groaned. “I told you it was a bad idea. You’re lucky you made it back alive this time, but you really need to start being more careful.”

“I need to do what I can to help my companions,” he said stubbornly. “I’ll be more careful, but I can’t just abandon them because of this illness.”

“If they need you so much, then stay alive for their sakes,” Hazel shook her head. “I’m sure it would be much worse for them if you go and get yourself killed because you’re too stupid to listen to reason.”

“So, what, should I just stay in the camp and twiddle my thumbs until you find a cure for me?” he spat. “I can’t do that. I need to go out with them, so I can be there for them if they need me.”

“Face the facts, moron,” Hazel glared at him. “In your condition, you can’t help anyone. Honestly, you’ll probably just end up getting in their way. If you pass out in the middle of a fight, you and everyone else could get killed, and it would be all your fault. It’s better for everyone if you just stop trying.”

Crow grimaced. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. He wanted to help the other thieves, but he was powerless to do so. Feeling a sudden burst of anger, he clenched his hand into a fist and swung it into a nearby tree. “Damn it all,” he cursed. “I didn’t ask for this! Why am I the one that had to get sick?”

Hazel flinched slightly at the harshness of his tone. “No one asks for this to happen to them,” she said softly, reaching out to rest a calming hand on his arm. “It just happens sometimes. But luckily for you, you’ve got the best herbalist in the Kingdom of Brerra working every night to find you a cure.” She grinned at him. “I’ll make sure you get better, even if I have to spend my every waking minute figuring out how.”

Crow’s gaze softened slightly, and he nodded. “Thanks, love,” he said quietly. “I’m sure you will.”

Hazel stared at him for a moment before she looked away, biting her lip. “A-anyway, I made you another batch of that medicine I gave you last time,” she said, fumbling to draw another small jar from her pocket. “I want you to take it before you go to bed tonight.”

“The same one?” Crow asked, taking the jar from her curiously. “But it didn’t do anything last time.”

“That’s because you have to take it for a while to tell if it’s working, dumbass,” she rolled her eyes. “Sometimes medicines work right away, which was why I asked you about it the morning after you took it last, but most of the time, you have to wait and see.”

“Oh,” he frowned disappointedly.

“Don’t worry,” she nudged him. “If this one doesn’t work, I’ve already written up two more herbal recipes that we can try next.”

“You’ve gotten quite a bit done, haven’t you?” he eyed her with amusement.

“Of course I have,” she snorted. “This is the whole reason I’m here. I have nothing else to do but work on medicines for you.”

“Well, I appreciate it,” he smiled. Taking the lid off of the jar, he lifted it to his lips and downed the contents. Once it was all gone, he lowered his hand and wrinkled his nose. “Just as awful as last time.”

“Well it’s supposed to help you get better, so you can deal with it,” Hazel chuckled, taking the empty jar back from him.

“I guess so,” he yawned as his exhaustion from the long day finally caught up with him. “Well, if that’s everything you wanted to talk about, then I’m going to get some sleep.”

“Alright,” she stepped back from him. “I’ll check in on you in the morning.”

Crow nodded and turned to leave, but then paused as another thought came to him. “Wait,” he said, turning back to her. “If I don’t wake up with everyone else tomorrow, could you get me up? Simon’s started to notice how much I’ve been sleeping lately, and I don’t want to raise his suspicion.”

“You’re probably sleeping more because you need it,” Hazel crossed her arms. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to do that…”

“Please,” he begged. “I don’t want the others to find out.”

She held his gaze for a moment, pursing her lips in thought, before she finally let out a sigh, “I don’t understand why you’re being so secretive about this, but… fine. I’ll wake you up tomorrow.”

“Thanks, love,” Crow let out his breath in relief. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned and made his way back to the camp, heading into the shelter to get some much needed rest.

Almost as soon as he laid down on his bed, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, looking forward to the following day when he would see Penelope again.