Crow and the other thieves spent the rest of the afternoon lounging together on the riverbank. His companions caught him up on what he had missed which, luckily, wasn’t much. It sounded like things had stayed rather consistent for them despite his disappearance. Normally, that might have bothered him more, but in this case, he was relieved to know that they were capable of getting by without him around to lead them. Plus, now that they had had so much time to get used to his absence, he hoped they would be able to adjust to the change when he left them permanently. It would be reassuring to know that they were still thriving while he was gone.

As day turned to evening, Crow, Alistair, and Rikki headed to Myrefall, since his friends wanted to run one more raid on the local knights with him before he left. He was excited by their suggestion, as it had been quite a while since the last time they had been able to steal together. So, he eagerly pieced a plan together and relayed it to them once they reached the village. Having stolen from the knights here many times before, the simple raid went by without any trouble, and they came away with a rather impressive haul. Their success put all three of them in a good mood as they wandered back to their camp with bags full of stolen goods.

“This is enough weapons to get us through the whole season,” Alistair said proudly, looking through the bag he was carrying. “Those knights sure did get complacent when we stopped stealing from them for a while.”

“I’ll say,” Rikki nodded. “They probably won’t even notice all their weapons are gone until tonight.”

“Maybe not even then,” Crow rolled his eyes. “Local guards hardly ever check their stock. As long as none of them need to replace a sword, I doubt they’ll realize we took all their blades for a long time.”

“Yeah, well they’re definitely going to notice that their liquor is gone,” Alistair snickered as he held up a pot filled with spirits.

“Alright, so they [i]might[/i] notice tonight,” Crow relented with a curt laugh. “Still, we’ll be long gone before then, so it won’t matter anyway.”

“Gods, I’m going to miss going on runs with you, Crow,” Rikki murmured suddenly, lowering her gaze to the ground.

Crow studied her for a moment before speaking, “Hey, things won’t change that much.” He nudged her arm in the hopes of cheering her up. “You’ve both been doing fine since I left before. I’m sure you’ll keep doing just as well after I leave tonight.”

“It’s not about that though,” Rikki looked up to meet his gaze solemnly. “I mean, I am going to miss your leadership and the plans you come up with, but more than that, I’m going to miss [i]you[/i].” She exhaled softly. “Everything won’t be the same once you’re gone.”

Crow fell quiet. “I’m going to miss all of you too,” he said after a pause. “But just because things are changing doesn’t mean they’re going to be worse. We’ll still see each other every once in a while too. I promise.” He offered her a reassuring smile. “Any chance I get, I’ll stop by to visit. You have my word.”

“Thanks,” she smiled halfhearted back at him.

“I’m going to hold that to you too,” Alistair spoke up. When Crow turned to look at him, he shrugged. “Rikki may be the most vocal about not wanting to see you go, but she certainly isn’t the only one… I’m going to miss you, and I know Hazel will too, so you’d better come back to see all of us.”

“I will,” Crow promised with a grin. He glanced up at the darkening sky. “Come on, we’d better hurry up, so we get back in time for supper.”

--

The three thieves returned to their camp behind the waterfall just before sunset. After dropping off the supplies they had stolen, Crow walked with them over to the hearth, where Hazel and Hartley were just finishing filling everyone’s plates for dinner. He took one of the bigger dishes and sat down by Hartley and Rikki. They conversed idly for a while as they ate, until Rikki caught sight of the sky outside, which had grown much darker with the approach of dusk.

“So,” she said in a low voice, avoiding his gaze. “You’re going to be leaving soon, aren’t you?”

Crow glanced at the entrance of the cave and then nodded. “Yeah… I told Penelope I would go to her camp at nightfall.”

“This is going to be the last time I see you too then, huh?” Hartley frowned.

“Maybe not,” Crow shrugged. “The job I took at the castle requires a lot of traveling, from what I know, so I could very well end up in Younis again.” He casted the boy a smile. “If I find myself in your area, we could cross paths.”

“That would be great,” Hartley cheered up right away. “Kip and I moved to Dalry after we got married. It’s right near the border with Brerra. You should come by sometime! Ooh, maybe we could have our stealing competition that we never got around to when Penelope was there to say ‘no’ two years ago!”

“Calm down,” Crow laughed. “Don’t get so far ahead of yourself. I’ll stop by if I can, but let’s not go making any plans that might jeopardize my good standing with my father, alright?”

“Gods, you’ve become just as boring as she has,” the Younisian boy groaned and rested his cheek in his hand.

“It’s called responsibility, dumbass,” Crow smirked. “I have to have at least a little bit if I’m going to be with her.” He glanced back at the cavern entrance. The sky outside was nearly black, which meant it was time for him to leave. Letting out a reluctant sigh, he rose to his feet. “I should get going. Penelope is expecting me soon.”

“Already?” Alistair turned away from his conversation with Hazel.

“Yeah,” Crow scratched the back of his neck. “I need to leave for the castle tomorrow morning, so I can’t stay out too late.”

Rikki looked up at him for a moment before she jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms tightly around him. He blinked in mild surprise, caught off guard by the sudden embrace, but before he had time to react, the others followed her lead. Alistair, Hazel, and even Hartley surrounded him.

“Be safe, and don’t do anything stupid, okay?” Hazel murmured.

“Yeah,” Alistair grinned, though Crow could see a hint of sadness in his eyes. “Show those nobles what it’s like to have power without abusing the lower classes.”

“I will,” Crow smirked back at him.

“We’ll miss you,” Rikki said in a shaky voice. “Please come back sometimes and don’t forget about us.”

“Are you kidding?” Crow smiled at her softly. “I’ll never forget you guys. You’ve been better family to me than my father ever has, so you bet I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

They embraced for a little while longer before Hazel eventually led them all to pull away from him. She offered him one more halfhearted smile and tipped her head towards the entrance. “Go on. Your lover is waiting.”

He nodded, letting his eyes wander over each of them one more time as he thought about how much they all meant to him. “I guess this is it,” he took a steeling breath and then grinned. “Give the knights hell for me.”

“You know we will,” Alistair laughed.

“Well then give them a little extra,” Crow winked. “I’ll see you all whenever I’m able to get away from the castle. Goodbye.” He dipped his head and then turned to head out of the camp, leaving his family of thieves behind as he began the trek to the knights’ camp.