[IC] Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

[Rogue Sloth]

Once Penelope was standing, Crow let go of her hand. She seemed a bit shaky on her feet, but not incapable of walking back to the inn without his assistance. He peered around the corner of the alley while she went to collect her dagger. The main road was quiet. He was a bit surprised that they hadn’t seen any local knights come to see what all the commotion was about, but just because they hadn’t appeared so far didn’t mean they weren’t on their way.

He suddenly remembered his earlier theory about a trap set by the mercenary. His eyes wandered to the far side of the alley; the side that had looked clear earlier. If there really was something there, the Younisian knights might walk right into it without knowing. Normally he wouldn’t have cared—perhaps it was because he wanted to take one last spiteful act of revenge against the killer—but he didn’t like the idea of knowingly leaving the mercenary’s trap set.

Crow stepped over to the mercenary’s body and crouched down to search it for weapons, being careful to avoid looking at his bloodied head. After a moment, he found a dagger hidden in the dead man’s pocket. He drew it and stood back up, eyeing the far side of the alley intently. It was faint, but he could see a glint of what looked to be some sort of tripwire near the end of the path.

He cocked the dagger back, closed one eye as he took aim, and then threw it at the string. The blade spun in rapid circles as it flew before striking the tripwire with its hilt. As soon as it hit, a concealed sword swung from the wall, clattering down where the mercenary’s victim would have been standing, had the string been tripped by a person instead of a dagger.

Feeling satisfied, Crow walked out of the alley with Penelope, eager to leave the disturbing scene behind. When she pointed out an inn up ahead, he let out his breath in relief, “Thank gods. I could use a good night’s sleep after all that madness.” He hastened his pace slightly, wanting to get to the place as soon as he could.

“They must not get many travelers through here…” Penelope said, drawing his attention to the small size of the inn.

“It is a little strange, isn’t it?” Crow agreed. “Maybe Younis’s borders are closed off to other kingdoms besides just Brerra. The people here are so well off that I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t feel the need to have dealings with their neighbors.”

Crow opened the door for them to walk inside when they reached the entrance, and stepped up to the counter, where the innkeeper was reading a book of some sort. The man looked up at the two and quirked a brow, “What can I do for you?”

“Evening,” Crow offered a friendly smile, taking on his Younisian accent. “We’d like to stay here for the night if you have any spare rooms.”

“I have one left,” the innkeeper glanced between them and smiled amusedly. “But I hope you two are close because the bed isn’t very big.”

“There’s only one bed?” Crow shifted his weight. “We were hoping for a room with two.”

“Sorry,” the innkeeper shrugged in disinterest. “Most of the people who stay here travel alone to see the king, so I only cater to individuals. I have one room left. Take it or leave it.”

Crow hesitated for a moment, thinking it over. They could try to find another inn, but it didn’t seem likely that there was anything else nearby. He didn’t want to risk sleeping out in the open after being attacked, either. He met the innkeeper’s gaze and nodded decisively, “We’ll take it.”

“That’ll be one hundred Tael.”

“Isn’t that a little pricey for a room with only one bed?” Crow frowned.

“Yes, but you don’t want to sleep in the dirt, do you?” the man smirked.

“Fine,” Crow glared at him, but paid the full price anyway.

“Room seven,” the innkeeper tossed him a key. “A pleasure doing business with you.”

“Uh huh,” Crow rolled his eyes and walked towards the hallway with Penelope. Once they were out of the man’s earshot, he turned to her. “Don’t worry, I’ll take the floor so you can have the bed.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope nodded her head as Crow pointed out it was likely that Younis had it’s border closed off to more than just Brerra. Upon thinking about it, she did doubt there were many travelers from other lands. It made Penelope think about her kingdom’s own borders and how the outer villages often had travelers coming through. It was strange to think a kingdom like Younis could close it’s self off from the rest of the world.

She stepped into the small inn and stood back while Crow talked with the innkeeper. She shifted slightly upon hearing that they only had one room and that it had only a single bed. It wasn’t completely surprising to hear for such a little inn but that didn’t make it any less awkward for them.

She turned to follow Crow to the room. She shook her head at his words. Even if the thought of sleeping in the same bed as him did leave the knight a bit flustered, there was no way she was going to make him sleep on the floor. Not only that but she did desire to have him that close to her, especially after the madness the day had brought. The thought of having him sleeping right besides her was comforting, even though it made her blush. “No, you’re not sleeping on the floor.” She said firmly despite the light blush on her cheeks. “I mean, for gods sake Crow, I’ve slept in your arms before, surely we can share the bed.” Her words were a lot bolder than the flustered expression she wore as she averted her gaze away.

As they reached the room and stepped inside, she soon saw what the innkeeper meant by the bed not being very big. It could fit both of them but it certainly wouldn’t leave much space in between. The thought made her heart beat a little faster. I can beat a man with a rock and yet I still get embarrassed over stuff like this. The knight shook her head as she set down her bag. It’s not like anything else is going to happen! That thought didn’t help as with it she pictured sharing the bed a little more intimately. Her face turned red and she quickly tried to focus on anything else. Her hand lightly pressed on the spot where the mercenary had punched her and she winced. “Damn.. I’m going to have bruises all over.” She mumbled. She was glad to see that at least the hit hadn’t broken anything though.

[Rogue Sloth]

“If you say so,” Crow shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure you know I’m alright with it if you’re not comfortable.” He admittedly felt a bit relieved that she wasn’t going to make him sleep on the floor. He hadn’t gotten beaten up nearly as badly as she had, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in pain too. The idea of sleeping in a warm bed was much more appealing than tossing and turning on a cold, hardwood floor after such a long day. Especially since he would be next to her…

He glanced at Penelope and felt his heart beat a little bit faster. He knew he had to take things slow with her, but damn it was hard. Just because we’ll be sleeping together in the same bed doesn’t mean we’re going to sleep together, he reminded himself. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable if she wasn’t ready, and that meant not making a move to be more physical than they already were.

As they stepped into the room, he faltered. Well, this just got a whole lot harder, he thought, nervously eyeing the small bed in the corner. By the look of it, there was barely enough room for both of them to lay down side by side. He chewed on the inside of his lip as he tried, without much success, not to think about being intimate with Penelope. It was just so tempting. They would already be so close to each other. It would be easy to just kiss her a bit, and then move on to something a little more… risqué.

No, he closed his eyes. I love her. I can’t force her to do it if she doesn’t want to yet. I have to be patient. He turned to Penelope as she said that she would have bruises tomorrow, relieved to talk about anything that would stop his mind from wandering to less than tasteful imaginings. Although, by the blush on her face, it looked like she was trying to do the same thing.

Setting down his things, he took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Me too,” he gingerly touched his wrist where the mercenary had grasped him so tightly. “We’re lucky he didn’t do more damage than he did though. If he had actually cut off my arm like he was threatening to, I wouldn’t be able to complete this mission.” He grimaced at the thought. Losing a limb as a thief was practically a death sentence. He needed to be able-bodied, or his enemies would kill him easily.

“I’m just glad it’s over and we’re both still alive,” Crow looked up at her affectionately. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked over at him with a small look of alarm as he mentioned the man threatening to cut off his arm. She hadn’t been able to understand what the two were talking about since they had been talking in a foreign language though she guessed the exchange hadn’t been a kind one. “Screw the mission, who knows if you’d have even survived that.” She mumbled shaking her head at the thought. Losing a limb would could have easily been a death sentence for him, after all she was no healer. She could dress a wound but something more serious like that would leave the knight panicked and unsure what more to do than applying pressure.

She broke away from the thought as Crow spoke again. She let out a small sigh and nodded her head in agreement. Penelope moved over to sit down besides him. She took his good hand in hers and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Well, luckily I’m still here so you don’t have to find out.” She said softly. She looked at him with a warm gaze that had a hint of sadness. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you either though.. I nearly thought I was going to today..” She shook her head at the thought.

Penelope met his gaze for a moment, feeling thankful that they had both made it out alive, before leaning in and kissing him. She closed her eyes and slipped her hand away from his to lightly mess with his hair as she kissed him. Keeping the kiss fairly short, she pulled back slowly and rested her forehead against his. “I really do love you, Collin.” She mumbled softly and gave a small, playful wink as she remembered to call him by his real name.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Yeah, well,” Crow shrugged. “He threatened a lot of different things, but I knew he wouldn’t get the chance to try. He was no match for you, darling.” He smirked at Penelope coyly. Even though he knew she felt bad about bashing the man’s head in with that rock, he was grateful she had worked up the nerve to do it. Despite his confident words, there had been a brief moment when he had been afraid the mercenary would actually take his arm off. If she had waited much longer, he very well may have done it.

He laced his fingers with hers as she sat down on the bed and took his hand. “You know me,” he offered a small smile, hoping to cheer her up. “I’m too stubborn to go down that easily.” As she leaned in, he met her lips in a kiss. He slipped his hand around her waist, drawing her slightly closer to himself before she pulled away.

Leaning his forehead against hers, he exhaled slowly, trying to calm his racing heart. “I love you too, Penelope,” he said breathily, chuckling softly at the way she winked at him. He slid his hand around her torso, resting it on her thigh. Gods, she was beautiful. He wanted to be with her so badly. We’re going to be alone all night… a devilish voice whispered in the back of his mind. It’s a perfect opportunity to—

“W-we should go to bed,” Crow cleared his throat awkwardly, averting his gaze. He withdrew his hand from her leg, dropping it into his own lap. “It’s late, and we both need to recover after what happened.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope shifted away as Crow drew back from her. She noticed the sudden awkwardness that took over him and had a clear guess as to why. She felt her face beginning to heat up at the thought. With everything they had gone through, part of her was tempted to push for more with him despite the fact that she had never even been with a man before. However, she was nervous still and not to mention it just didn’t feel like the right time. Maybe on a better day than this.. She thought. The last thing she wanted was to remember her first time with Crow, or anyone for that matter, being on the same day she brutally killed a man. The knight paused before giving a small nod of agreement.

“Yeah. I’m tired.” She said stretching slightly as she rose up to her feet. She moved over to the other side of the bed, kicked off her boots and lied down. Penelope kept close to the edge of her side, trying to giving him enough room, and laid with her back facing him. Her heart still raced at them being in such close quarters. This is ridiculous. She thought, wondering how she’d ever get to sleep with the pounding of her own heart keeping her awake. She just hoped he couldn’t hear it as well.

“Good night.” She mumbled softly, attempting to close her eyes and sleep.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow felt the tension between them as Penelope shifted away from him. By her reaction, he knew she didn’t want to move farther with him yet, so he needed to respect her boundaries. He got ready to go to bed along with her, taking off his boots and putting out the lantern that was glowing dimly on the bedside table. He laid down and threw the blanket over himself, rolling over to face away from her.

Despite how tired he was and how much his body ached, he found that he was unable to fall asleep with her lying beside him. Even though they had technically slept next to each other one other time, it hadn’t been intentional. To knowingly sleep in the same bed as her made it difficult for him to relax. He stared at the wall on the other side of the room, trying not to think about it. However, in spite of his best efforts, he couldn’t ignore her close proximity.

He also found it uncomfortable how they were trying to stay as far away from each other as possible. They were acting like strangers who had been forced to share a bed rather than two people who claimed to love each other. He didn’t like it.

This is ridiculous, Crow huffed quietly under his breath. In a somewhat defiant move, he rolled over to face Penelope and slid his arm around her middle, pulling her close so that her back was pressed to his chest. Settling down more comfortably, he let out his breath in a long sigh and closed his eyes. He felt at ease with her in his arms and finally began to drift off to sleep.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope didn’t find much luck in trying to sleep at first. She tried to relax but her mind was still buzzing, both from the day’s events and the closeness of Crow. The knight opened her eyes, looking annoyed as she stared blankly at the wall ahead of her. She jumped slightly as she felt Crow slip his arm around her and pull her close. She was caught off guard at first but quickly relaxed in his arms.

She let out a content sigh and closed her eyes again, trying to sleep once again. This time being much more successful.

---

The knight had remained curled up besides Crow throughout most, if not all, of the night. Once morning came, she was turned facing him,still pressed against him, with one arm draped over him. Penelope slowly began to stir from a rather peaceful sleep. The first thing she was aware of was how stiff she felt, which didn’t surprise her. She gave a soft groan and shifted away to stretch out her limbs.

She felt tempted to keep sleeping, especially after such a deep slumber. She sighed and forced her eyes open, staring up at the ceiling as she tried to wake herself up. She rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn. “Morning..” She mumbled.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow slept soundly through the night. Between the softness of the bed and the warmth of Penelope’s body pressed up against him, he found himself in a deeper slumber than he had managed in years. So, when she stirred in the morning, it took him a while to wake up. He blinked and lifted his head groggily, letting out a long yawn.

“Morning,” he smiled tiredly at Penelope when she greeted him. Noticing that she had moved away from him when she had woken up, he shifted closer, gathering her into his arms and nestling his head against hers. “I could get used to this,” he sighed contentedly and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Though he was still half-asleep, Crow slowly became aware that he had let his guard down completely for the first time since his mother had died. It was a nice feeling, to be so relaxed—to not have to worry about how he was perceived by Penelope. He didn’t need to put up a front with her because she had won his full trust. He could finally just be himself.

As much as he wanted to fall back asleep, he knew they needed to keep moving. After lying next to Penelope for a brief time, he forced himself to break away from her and sit up. He groaned, raising his arms over his head in a long stretch. The motion caused a deep pain in his chest, and he knew he had been bruised. However, he also knew that as sore as he felt, Penelope had to be feeling ten times worse, so he kept his mouth shut about the discomfort.

“Well, I slept great,” Crow said. He turned to her with a sly grin, “I’m ready to steal an archer’s bow today.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smiled as Crow wrapped his arms back around her and kissed her cheek. She moved to caress his cheek with her hand, brushing back a strand of his hair as she did so. “Yeah, me too.” She said with a soft laugh. As he moved away from her to get up, Penelope hesitated and stayed where she was for another brief second. Finally she slid to the edge of her side of the bed and sat, wincing as the bruise on her stomach gave a pang of pain due to the motion. She paused for a moment, giving herself a small chance to adjust, before she grabbed her boots and slid them on.

She glanced over at Crow and returned his sly grin with a smirk. “Right. Guess we’ll be looking for knights today rather than trying to avoid them.” She said with a small chuckle. The knight stood up, trying her best to simply ignore the soreness her body felt. She just hoped that this day would have much less fighting. Though she’d be there if Crow got himself in a sticky situation, Penelope had high hopes to just stand back while he did what he knew best.

She grabbed her bag from it’s spot on the floor swung it over her shoulder like usual. She turned to look over at Crow as they prepared to head out for the day. “Any plan for how your going to track one down today?” She asked curiously. From what she knew and could tell as a knight, most armed themselves with swords rather than bows since it was more sensible when patrolling the town. Archers usually worked as outside guards or were specifically put in a group of knights that were going after a criminal. Not to mention Penelope doubted they’d be able to find an archer who wasn’t a knight. Though she knew some people used bows for hunting, she hadn’t seen or ran into very many of them who weren’t already knights.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Exactly,” Crow winked when Penelope said they would be looking for knights instead of hiding from them. “The hunters will become the hunted, and they’d better watch out because I never miss my target.” He put his boots back on and stood up from the bed, turning around to watch Penelope do the same with a bit more trouble. He wished he could do something more to help her, but the best he could do at this point was make sure she didn’t need to get involve with his heist.

“It’s simple,” he shrugged as she asked how he planned to track down an archer. “I don’t need to do any tracking if they come to me.” He smirked mischievously. “You’re a lucky knight, love. You get to see how the infamous Crow got his name.” Shouldering his own bags, he headed for the door and held it open for her to pass through first. It wasn’t much, but he still wanted to help her when he could. Aside from his concern for her wellbeing, he also needed her to be mobile when they reached the palace, so she wouldn’t be a danger to herself.

As they walked down the road again, Crow was much quieter than usual. His green eyes swept observantly over his surroundings while he plotted how to lay his trap. Of all the differently skilled knights, archers were the most difficult to take down because they stayed far away from danger. He needed to set it up in such a way that they would either have to come out of hiding, or they wouldn’t be able to see him approach, neither of which was an easy task.

His gaze landed on a busy marketplace up ahead. There were a lot of nobles milling about, along with a few Younisian knights standing guard near the edges. He slowed to a stop as an idea formed in his head. It was risky—one wrong move, and he could end up severely injured—but what was thievery without a little gambling?

“Wait here,” Crow said to Penelope. “I’m going to cause a commotion.” He met her gaze seriously for a moment. “Don’t move until I say ‘run’—no matter what you see. Alright?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope raised an eyebrow at him as smirked at her. “Alright.” She said with a small shrug. She followed him to the door, stepping out first as he held the door open for her and mumbling a small thanks as she passed him. She walked quietly besides him, watching their surroundings much more closely than she had been the day before.

Part of her still worried that the mercenary might not have been dead or that he wasn’t the only one hired. She wasn’t letting her guard down easily today and was even still feeling a bit foolish for having noticed the mercenary so late despite the likelihood that he had been following them for quite a while. The knight remained silent as she swept her gaze over the nearby buildings and alleys. There didn’t seem to be any sign of someone following them so she relaxed slightly and focused her gaze back ahead.

She barely even noticed how quiet Crow was due to her own surveying of the area so when he finally spoke again, she snapped out of her thoughts. Penelope looked over at him as he instructed her to stay put. “Alright..” She agreed with a hint of hesitance. His phrasing made her question what exactly he had planned, causing for a small bit of worry of how risky it might be. After yesterday, the knight was hoping they could get by without anymore close calls. But she had to trust him. It was what he was known for after all and after reminding herself that, she able to let her worry die down a bit. “I’ll stay here then.” She said with a bit more firmness as she stopped to wait for him.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow held Penelope’s gaze for a moment longer before he finally nodded, satisfied with her answer. Part of him still worried that she wouldn’t keep her word after she saw what he was about to do, but he also didn’t want to tell her beforehand, in case she thought his plan was too dangerous and didn’t want him to go through with it. He just hoped she trusted him enough to stay back no matter what.

“Just trust me,” he said with conviction, hoping to ease her worries. “I promise; I’ll be back before you know it.” He touched his lips to hers in a quick kiss and then walked into the marketplace.

At first, he did nothing. He pretended to browse the merchants’ wares like the other nobles in the area. However, as he worked his way down one row of vendors, he kept a pair of Younisian knights in the corner of his eye. They were engaged in a conversation with each other, not paying much attention to what was happening around them. He shifted his gaze to another set of knights on the far side of the marketplace, who were doing the same thing. All four had swords hanging in sheaths at their belts, but they appeared to be the only security in the market.

This will be easy, Crow’s lip twitched upward in a smirk, and he turned to hide the expression from the merchant whose cart he was standing by at the moment. He slipped into the crowd of nobles, vanishing from sight as he made his way over to the closest pair of knights. They were still chatting idly, completely unaware of the thief in their midst. Perfect.

Once he had gotten close enough, Crow shot out from the edge of the crowd and sprinted towards the knights. One froze in surprise, while the other reached for the hilt of the sword at his side. However, the thief was quicker. He snatched both of the knights’ weapons right out of their scabbards, one in each hand, and bolted past them into a small orchard behind the market. Spinning around on his heel, he turned back to face the stunned guards. He brandished the blades like oversized dual wielders, grinning wildly.

“What’s the matter?” he taunted. “You two act like you’ve never seen a thief before.”

“Give those back,” one of the knights said, eyeing him warily. “If you don’t surrender, we’ll have no choice but to kill you.” The two spread out, walking around to either side of him but keeping their distance.

“That’s some big talk,” Crow said, though his eyes flicked cautiously between the knights on either side of him. “Forgive me if I’m not afraid of an unarmed tin can.”

“You’re some kind of stupid if you think you’re going to get away with this,” the other knight growled.

“Says the man who just had his sword stolen right out from his sheath,” Crow waggled the blade mockingly. He glanced back at the marketplace to see that the other two knights were finally making their way over to help their comrades. Their swords were drawn and they were moving to fill in the gaps around Crow to surround him. He took a step back, and the two knights that he had robbed tensed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the first one sneered.

Crow stared at him blankly, “If you think I’m going to wait here for your little buddies to join us, then you’re the idiot.” With that, he ran towards the knight and swung the sword in his left hand, forcing the man to jump out of his path. He made a beeline for the closest tree, put the blade of one sword between his teeth, and used his free hand to grab onto the lowest branch. Kicking off of the trunk, he swung up into the tree and clambered higher, just beyond the knights’ reach.

“Look at that,” one of the knights laughed from below. “He trapped himself.”

Crow took the sword out of his mouth and stabbed the blade into the tree just above his head. “Oh no,” he drawled sarcastically, sitting down on a bough and swinging his legs. “What am I going to do now?” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Come on. I could do this all day. You geniuses know you can’t get me without losing a few fingers, don’t you?”

“You have to come down eventually,” another knight said.

“That’s true, but I know I can wait out you four.”

“I don’t have time for this,” a knight spat. “I’m going to get one of the archers.”

“I bet you regret climbing into that tree now, thief,” one of the knights smirked up at him.

“I’m shaking in my boots,” Crow said dryly, leaning against the tree trunk. He bit his tongue to keep from smiling. So far, his plan was going perfectly. He just needed to play the rest of it out without letting them touch him.

After a while, the knight who had said he would get an archer returned. He was alone, but that wasn’t surprising to Crow. More than likely, the bowman was probably setting up somewhere farther away, so he would be safe in case the situation turned ugly.

Crow scanned the buildings around them, trying to figure out where the archer might be hiding. Below him, the knights started jeering again: “Ten Tael says Algernon shoots him in the gut.”

“Twenty on his eye.”

“Twenty-five on his heart!”

The knights laughed cruelly, but Crow just shook his head, Idiots. He looked up as a faint motion off to the left caught his eye. A subtle smile spread over his mouth. Found you.

He stood up on the branch and gazed down at the knights, “I’m starting to grow tired of you jaded halfwits—Catch!” He pulled the sword back out of the tree and threw it down at them, causing them to scatter. As soon as there was an opening, he jumped down from the tree and took off running back towards the market, leaving the weapon behind.

As expected, the knights chased after him in pursuit. He bobbed and weaved through the crowd—fortunately, he had guessed right that the soft-palmed noblemen wouldn’t be as eager to catch him as the peasants on the border had—leaving a confusing trail for the knights to follow. He glanced up at the archer every once in a while. The man had set up on a low rooftop not too far away. His bow was cocked to fire, but he seemed to be waiting for a clear shot.

Now came the risky part.

Crow spotted a small clearing in the sea of people and headed for it. When he was standing in the middle, he turned around to face the four knights, holding up his remaining sword like a barrier between him and his opponents. The knights slowed to a stop, chuckling at him.

“Aw, I think he wants to fight,” one of the men crooned. “How cute.”

“You really think you can take all four of us, punk?” another snorted.

Crow ignored their taunting. His eyes were fixed on the archer, who was staring back down at him intently, the string of his bow held taut. He had a clear shot now, so there was no more reason for him to restrain himself. Come on, Crow challenged silently. Shoot me!

As if on command, he saw the bowman let fly his arrow. The projectile whistled through the air, headed straight for the thief’s chest. He let out a howl of pain and staggered backwards, gripping the shaft of the arrow against his sternum. Falling forward, he dropped heavily to the ground, the shaft snapping beneath his weight.

“Looks like Algernon got him first,” one of the knights sighed.

“Did anyone see if he shot him in the heart?” another knight asked. “I want my twenty-five Tael if he did!”

Crow laid still, his heart pounding furiously. Even though he had managed to catch the arrow before it struck him, the head had come within a hairsbreadth of piercing his chest. Another half a second and his fake cry of pain would have been quite real. He just hoped the knights would keep bickering amongst themselves and forget to check if he was alive.

A short period of time passed, and Crow got his wish. He heard a fifth set of footsteps approach, signaling that the archer had come down from his perch.

Algernon clicked his tongue, “Tch, he broke my arrow…” He crouched down next to Crow’s unmoving body and reached for the splintered shaft that lay nearby. However, before he could pick it up, the thief shot up from the ground and swept out his leg, knocking the bowman to the ground.

“For me?” Crow quickly removed the man’s bow and quiver. “You shouldn’t have.”

Before the other knights had a chance to take in what had just happened, Crow was already sprinting back towards Penelope. “Run!” he shouted to her, peering back over his shoulder to see that the knights were giving chase once again. “Run now!”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope nodded her head as he assured her that he’d be back soon enough. She stood back as she watched him walk off into the marketplace. She crossed her arms and watched as Crow moved through the place rather casually. Seeing as he wasn’t doing much yet, she began to eye around for the security in the place. She counted four knights, though all of them were not paying attention to what was going on around them. Nothing like the knights of Brerra.. She thought, finding herself thankful for their lack of focus.

She watched as Crow suddenly charged at two of the knights. She smirked a little as she was able to see how caught off guard both of the knights were after losing the weapons despite the distance. Penelope shifted a bit as she couldn’t see them as well now that they had entered the orchard behind the market. It wasn’t long before one of the four left the orchard alone. She raised an eyebrow and watched as the man entered a nearby building. Soon he was out again and heading back to were the other knights and Crow likely were.

Penelope noticed a hint of movement in the building after the man left. He got the archer.. She realized, hoping Crow was able to spot which building the bowman was residing in. She continued to stay put as she spotted Crow running back into the market place with the knights in pursuit. At first, she thought he was planning to lose the knights and somehow sneak into the building with the archer. However, she quickly realized that wasn’t the case as he suddenly headed into a clearing amongst the crowd. Penelope raised an eyebrow. What are you doing, Lockton? She wondered with a hint of worry as he turned on the knights.

Then the bowman released his arrow and Penelope felt her heart drop as she heard Crow let out a cry and then saw the thief suddenly drop. The knight paled and held her breath, still just waiting and watching intently. This better be the ’no matter what I see part’.. She thought desperately.

Relief swept over her as he suddenly shot up from the ground to steal the archer’s bow and arrow. She didn’t have much time to react as he suddenly came sprinting towards her, shouting for her to run. Penelope turned quickly and took off running as instructed. She glanced over her shoulder at the knights and looked back ahead, scanning for a way to go and how to lose them. Lucky for them it seemed the nobles weren’t like the peasants. Most moved out of the way, looking confused or shocked, as they raced by.

Penelope dropped back to run closer to Crow, her gaze focusing ahead. “So what’s the plan?” She panted as she eyed for an exit route. Unfortunately, escaping from the law was something she still need more practice with.

[Rogue Sloth]

“To be honest,” Crow panted. “I haven’t thought this far ahead.” He was beginning to feel the toll of exerting himself so much. His lungs burned, and his heart thudded like a hammer against his chest. However, even though it hurt, he enjoyed the sensation. It made him feel alive. He glanced over his shoulder once more to see that the knights were slowly gaining ground. He didn’t have much time to come up with a plan.

His eyes swept over the buildings around them as he raced to think of a way to lose their pursuers. Suddenly, he saw an alley leading out to a side street. Taking a chance, he gave Penelope’s arm a quick tug to get her attention. He pivoted on his heel and sprinted down the alley with her, listening to the pounding of the knights’ boots behind them. They were closing in fast.

There’s always a way out, he thought calmingly, forcing himself to keep a level head as he searched for an exit. He couldn’t let himself panic or he wouldn’t be able to think straight, and at that moment, he needed to stay focused.

He turned a corner inside the alley instead of heading for the side street, taking Penelope’s hand in his so he wouldn’t lose her as he navigated through the narrow pathways. Up ahead, the alley branched off in two more directions. It looked like a maze. He just hoped they would be able to find their way back to the main street after—

His eyes widened as an idea slowly formed in his mind. “This way,” he said to Penelope, dipping sharply to the right. He proceeded to lead her in a series of fast turns, until the knights’ footsteps began to fade away behind them. He grinned excitedly. It was working. They couldn’t keep up while he and Penelope were switching between different alleyways so quickly.

Crow kept running for a while after the knight’s footsteps disappeared, just to be sure that they were gone. Eventually, he slowed to a stop, doubling over to rest his hands on his knees. “Well, that took a lot more effort than I was expecting,” he said between breaths. “But I’m pretty sure we lost them.” He stood upright again and leaned against a wall, giving her a cocky grin as he held up the bow he had stolen. “So, what do you think? Did I earn my title as the number one thief in Brerra?” He winked. “I’m starting to think I’m going to extend my reputation to Younis by the end of this trip.”

[BuzzingBee]

“Great..” She breathed sarcastically as he admitted he didn’t have a plan of escape yet. Penelope flinched as he gave her arm a tug. She turned sharply to follow him, glancing over her shoulder again to look towards the approaching knights as they headed down the alley way. As the pathway narrowed, Penelope fell behind Crow as he took the lead and continued to turn sharply through the alleyways and followed without question. Soon she began to notice that the knight’s footsteps had disappeared and she felt a bit of relief at the realization, even though they continued onward to make sure they had truly lost them.

Once they finally came to a stop, she moved to lean back against the wall, panting hard as she tried to catch her breath. Her lungs and legs burned from all the sprinting. She looked up at him as he shot her a cocky grin. Between her breaths, she gave a small snort. “I think you’re crazy.” She said leaning her head against the wall. “Who the hell thinks almost getting shot by an arrow like that is a good idea!”

The knight shook her head and let out a long sigh. “At least I get part of the reason why it’s so hard to catch you now. No one would dare think you’d do something like that.” Penelope certainly didn’t approve of such a risky action but she could respect it’s effectiveness. She looked over at him and smirked a little. “Let’s hope not.” She said as he mentioned his reputation spreading.

She pushed herself off the wall and glanced down the alleyway. They had taken so many sharp turns through this maze of backstreets that she hadn’t been keep tracking of which one would lead them back to the main road. Penelope crossed her arms and clicked her tongue before turning to look over at Crow. “Any chance you know which way we should go?” She asked him.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Crazy? Or courageous?” Crow winked at Penelope wryly, standing up a bit straighter as he caught his breath. “I knew I could do it, so it wasn’t really that dangerous.” He left out the fact that it would have been easy for a lot of things to go wrong in his last minute plan—the knights could have called his bluff and climbed the tree to catch him; the archer could have shot him before he had braced himself to catch the arrow; the knights could have realized he wasn’t dead and finished him off… Honestly, looking back on it, it hadn’t been his most well thought out strategy.

He nodded when Penelope said she understood why he was hard to catch. “Looks like you figured out my trade secret,” he grinned. “My tricks work because nobody sees them coming. I’m always thinking one step ahead of my enemies, and I’m willing to try things that most other thieves would never even consider.” He stood a little taller, pleased with his own cleverness. He knew he needed to be careful to keep his pride in check, since that was what had gotten him arrested the last time, but it was difficult to do with Penelope complimenting him—whether she meant it as flattery or not, that was how he took her words. It was nice to hear her acknowledge him.

“Of course,” Crow said when Penelope asked if he knew the way back. “I memorized the route we took as we were running.” He tapped his forehead knowingly and then snorted, unable to keep a straight face. “I’m just kidding. I have no idea which way to go, but… that’s not a bad thing, is it?” His eyes drifted to her lips and he set down the bow and quiver in his arms, stepping closer to her. “I think we can spare a little more time,” he lowered his voice flirtatiously and pressed his hands to her waist, backing her up against the wall and pinning her with his own body.

Meeting her gaze for a brief moment, he leaned in and kissed her passionately. He ran his fingers through her hair and down her back, losing himself in the moment. Her touch was electrifying, and he never wanted it to end. He slid away from her mouth to kiss her neck, exhaling contentedly against her skin.

After a while—he lost track of time somewhere along the line—Crow pulled back and smiled at her, breathing heavily, “Alright, I think I’m good to go now.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope rolled her eyes as he joked about knowing the way. She blinked as he stepped closer and spoke flirtatiously. The knight felt her heart flutter a little as he pinned her against the wall and she smiled at him as he met her gaze. As their lips met in a passionate kiss, she wrapped her arms around him, enjoying his touch. Just like him, she lost herself in the moment. She arched her neck slightly as he moved away from her lips.

As he pulled back, Penelope gave a small laugh at his words. She smiled back at him and gave him one more quick kiss before moving away. “Me too. Now if you’re done distracting me, we should probably get going.” She teased giving him an affectionate look before looking down the system of alleyways.

The knight glanced up at the sky. They still seemed to have a good amount of daylight left despite all the action they had already gone through that morning. She was at least grateful for the extra time to figure their way out of the systems of alleys which she thought and hoped wouldn’t be too difficult. She fell in step besides Crow and took his hand in hers as they headed off. She looked over at the bow that he had managed to steal. “Guess we’ll have to give that thing a try sometime today. Though preferably away from the area where an archer is missing his bow.” She mused.

[Rogue Sloth]

“You think I’m distracting now,” Crow laughed softly, meeting her lips as she moved in to kiss him one more time. “But I’ve been holding back. Trust me, love; you’ll know when I’m really trying to distract you.” He winked at her coyly and stepped back so she could move away from the wall.

Picking up the bow and quiver again, he took a moment to examine the weapon had stolen. The bow was made of finely crafted ash wood, and the string smelled like it was made of hemp. He knew very little about the quality of bows, but from his experience stealing them from Brerratic knights, he could guess that this one was on the higher end.

He absently plucked the string, listening to the soft twang it made in response. It was still strange to think that he would be intentionally learning how to use a weapon like this. In the past, he had only learned how to use weapons by coincidence—usually when he was attacked and just picked up the first thing he could find to defend himself. When it came to swords and daggers and the like, he honestly knew next to nothing. He had always just let his instinct drive him when he found himself in a position that required their use. To actually study the proper use of a weapon was both intimidating, because of his lack of experience, and comforting, because he would finally have a means to fight that didn’t rely on guesswork.

Crow slung the leather strap of the quiver over his head so it fell comfortably across his chest. He eyed the bow for a moment, trying to remember how he had seen archers carry them, and then did the same thing again. He positioned the weapon so the string fell against his chest and the wood laid against his back.

“I feel like a pack mule,” he muttered, shaking his head. Between the bag, bedroll, quiver, and bow, he was quite weighed down. He much preferred to travel light since, as a thief, he often needed to be quick on his feet at a moments’ notice. At least it’s only for a few more days, he thought irritably, adjusting the supplies and following Penelope down the alleyway.

“It’s probably going to make it more difficult to travel,” Crow said thoughtfully when Penelope spoke up about the bow. “We already stand out because of our bandages, and now I’m walking around with a knight’s longbow strapped to my back.” He sighed. “I don’t think we could get more conspicuous unless we were shouting that we were going to raid the castle.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked over at Crow as he complained about the amount he carried. She gave an amused look and then fell back besides him. “Well let me carry something else. We can at least even out being pack mules.” She said grabbing for the bag that hung on his shoulder. As he brought up how much they stuck out, Penelope pursed her lips together as she thought it over.

His words were true. They’d easily stick out with both bandages and a bow. “That’s true..” She mumbled, “Maybe we should try keeping off the main street then. Maybe we should even consider traveling through the forest rather than the towns.” It wasn’t the best idea. Traveling off the main road had the possibility of getting them lost without a map and it would still be difficult to travel off the main road without raising some suspicion. The knight sighed as she thought about it.

“Guess we should have dressed you up like a knight as well.” She said shaking her head. Though, she wasn’t sure how well a disguise would work, especially after seeing what happened with William and Abraxas. Even though Crow was able to pull of the accent, she was certain that there’d still be plenty of questioning that might get them caught. “I wish we still had the cart... Then this would be a lot simpler.”