The prospect of heading outside of Irris had both Arthur and Clark nervous. It seemed funny, in a way, how just a couple of days ago they anxiously smuggled themselves into the city and found themselves in life threatening situation no less than three times. Yet now, with the prospect of returning increasingly uncertain and their journey ahead even more so, the two found themselves walking towards the city gates at a comically slow pace.

Marissa and Morris had sent them off well, with fresh and dried food as well as water and some strawberry wine. Morris had called Arthur over shortly after their conversation with Marissa the night prior, looked the amnesiac up and down and sent him on his way once more. This unusual situation became clearer the following morning when the hulking blacksmith began showing him pieces of armor he had spent all night forging.

"It's not quite enough to make ya a knight but it'll cover what counts, you'd be no good in a full set anyway, too slow, I can tell by lookin' at ya that yer fast." The armor was light but sturdy and it did indeed cover most of the important stuff. Morris did as much as he could with what little time he had, having crafted Arthur a set of arm and leg guards, as well as scalemail that covered his upper body and the waist partially. "Pick any helmet ya like when you leave, most of them'll fit ya just fine." The blacksmith attempted something akin to a pat on the back but instead Arthur found himself clenching his teeth and hoping the man hadn't just dislocated his shoulder.

The gentle clanging of the scales on Arthur's armor was the only thing that filled the silence between him and Clark as they made their way  past the fountain now. The sun was still low and most stalls had only just began to lay out their goods. The cricket didn't need to read Arthur's mind to realise something else was going on, that the nerves weren't just from the ridiculous thing they were trying to accomplish, he was nervous too after all, yet he didn't have the heart to bring it up. They had both spent that morning sombre, as if they were leaving family and the more things Marissa packed for them and the more advice Morris gave them the worse they felt. Both had considered staying, both had considered simply saying "We have two of the keys, we can keep them safe right here and no one will get any use out of them for any reason." but neither of them voiced it to the other. Through all the stress and the overwhelming want to stay put, their goal still managed to win over, as though the direction they were headed in was already decided no matter what.

It wasn't until the gates of Irris were fully in sight and far too close to possibly decide to turn back that the silence between the two was broken properly.