As the group moved carefully through the forest, a dim orange glow became visible through the trees and Penelope felt her breath catch in her throat. [i]Campfire.[/i] Crow had told her the truth. The knight nearly felt weak with relief but she couldn't let herself get caught up in those emotions. Not yet. There was still a murderous thief that stood in the way of it all and she had every intention to change that. She gripped the hilt of her sword as they drew closer to the camp and prepared herself to launch the attack. 

However, the knight hesitated as she felt something was off. They were getting closer to the camp but everything was silent. Not a voice could be heard coming from there, which she thought was strange when Crow claimed that there had been so many of them. Surely there would be noise of some sort unless..[i]Unless they already heard us coming.[/i] She felt her blood run cold and her eyes darted around. There was a trap ahead and she needed to figure out what it was before she lead her people straight into it. 

Luckily she had learned a trick or two from Crow and her gaze shifted upward just in time to catch movement in the trees surrounding the camp. She locked gazes with one thief who tensed and readied to strike her. [i]Got you.[/i] "The trees! They're in the trees! Brace yourselves!" she yelled to her comrades as she unsheathed her sword just in time to deflect the attack of the thief that had spotted her. Just like that the forest erupted into battle as the thieves flung out of their hiding spots, which weren't all in the trees as she soon came to find out. At some point, she was aware that Gavin and his group had joined the fray as well. 

Penelope made quick work of the first thief that had attacked her, finding that though he was quick to try to kill her, his skills with a sword were lacking. Her gaze swept over the clearing as she looked for the figure of Jaxon. She may have only seen him once but she remembered him fairly well. Amongst the chaos, she couldn't find him. She spotted Gavin locked in a vicious fight with two thieves, one of them being the man that Jaxon had brought along with him during the meeting. She was about to run to his aid but was cut off as a younger thief swung his sword rather pathetically at her. Penelope curled her lip and blocked the attack with ease. Before she could go in for an attack of her own, her green eyes fell on her attacker and she faltered. It was a face she hadn't seen in two whole years but the curls and boyish face were as recognizable as ever.

"H-Hartley?" she stuttered with shock as she stared at the thief in front of her. He had a scared look on his face and a white-knuckled grip on his weapon. He certainly didn't look like he belonged in the middle of a fight between ruthless criminals and knights. 

He blinked as he recognized her and took a small step back. "P-Penlope? What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that." she responded as she narrowed her gaze at him. Penelope glanced around subtly then aimed an easy strike at his right side. The young thief jumped and quickly blocked it before looking at her with alarm. "Keep fighting. Otherwise someone's going to get suspicious on either your side or mine." she muttered to him. She didn't know why Hartley was there but there still seemed to be a spark of innocence in his gaze and that was enough to keep her from simply dismissing him as another enemy. As he nodded in agreement to her words and swiped at her with his blade, she dodged to the side and glanced around. 

"Where's Crow?" he asked her. "Why are you attacking us?"

"Not here. This is a patrol of knights, I couldn't put him at risk of being caught.. Or worse.. in this mess." she responded and shifted to attack again. She was moving slower than usual, allowing Hartley time to block her. "These thieves are ruthless and they killed some of my comrades."

"But Crow was working for them, wasn't he?"

Penelope flinched at that and frowned slightly. "He was." she slipped away from his blade as he aimed at her shoulder. "But not willingly. They were threatening him... Hartley, why are you here? Where's Kip?" 

Hartley shifted his gaze away for a moment. "She's back in Younis... I-I heard that one of the barons hired the thieves and I..I thought maybe I could use that to my advantage."

There was a hint of shame in his gaze that made Penelope feel a hint of sympathy for him. He must had gotten caught up in Jaxon's band hoping for something better. She guessed that he was simply misguided and that meant that he shouldn't be apart of this mess they were currently in. Hartley didn't seem to have changed much since the last time she had seen him, aside from being a bit taller and looking a bit older. The knight swept her gaze over the battle-filled clearing. She had to get Hartley out of there before one of her comrades attack him and she had to find Jaxon. 

"Wait so are you and Crow still a thing if you're a knight? What's happening?" Hartley asked with newfound curiosity. 

"Now isn't the time to catch up, Hartley. We need to get you out of here before you get killed." Penelope said with urgency in her voice. She gestured subtly to an opening out of the clearing. "When I say go, make a run for the opening and don't stop until you're far from here, understand?"

"O-ok." Hartley gulped. 

"Before that I need to know, where's Jaxon? Do you know?" she asked as she shifted to block another easy strike from Hartley. The thief leader was nowhere to be found in this battle and she was beginning to wonder if he had chosen to run in order to save his own skin. She prayed that he hadn't. After all, Jaxon was the most dangerous one of them all. If he wasn't stopped now, he could easily go after Crow or Gavin or even herself out a need for revenge. Penelope had to find him.