Crow walked quickly as they headed back towards the camp, eager to find out what had become of the other thieves. He hoped Hazel had made it back in time to warn them about the patrols—in fact, he hoped she had made it back to them without running into any, herself. Besides the fact that he needed her help to reach a solution for his illness, he also cared about the herbalist at least somewhat as a person. She was abrasive, yes, but she wasn’t bad. As a thief who was looked down upon by most of the people he met, he knew better than anyone not to judge someone based on just one unappealing characteristic. Hazel was rude, but she was also kind and selfless and empathetic, and she didn’t deserve to get caught up in their trouble.

He glanced back at Penelope as she spoke up, drawing his attention. “I know,” he murmured, not looking forward to what was to come. The thieves had needed to relocate their camp multiple times whenever patrols of knights had accidentally stumbled upon them. It was a big job that usually took most, if not all of a night to complete. They needed to find a new location first, then transfer all of their supplies over without getting caught, and then make a covered shelter to protect themselves from bad weather. It was a lot of work, and none of them enjoyed doing it.

[color=fff79a][b]“Do you think your companions are still near your camp?”[/b][/color] He turned to the knight again as she asked the question.

“That depends on whether or not Hazel got to them in time,” he answered tensely, rounding a tight cluster of trees. “We’ve prepared for situations like this, so if she alerted them, they should have gone to the meeting location we chose to use if we’ve been separated. It’s a valley between Azmar and Farhill.” He frowned, hastening his pace slightly. “I’m hoping that’s where they are, but I want to check the camp first, just in case something went wrong.”

Suddenly, he stiffened as he caught a faint glimpse of movement off to his right and immediately reached for Penelope’s hand, diving to take cover behind a patch of bushes. Peering through the leaves, he saw a patrol of knights walking by. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to have noticed him or Penelope and after a while, they passed out of view again. He let out his breath and stood up again with a concerned look. “I don’t like how close they are to the camp,” he muttered, turning to walk again. “Come on, let’s keep going.”