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

[Rogue Sloth]

Once everyone was ready to head out, Crow left the room to gather their horses from the stables. He exited the inn and trotted around to the back, feeling energized by the thought of going home soon. He couldn’t wait to be a free man once again. He already knew where he planned to go first when he escaped: the village of Silverpool. If anyone in the outer villages knew how to celebrate, it would be them, and he wanted to enjoy his first night home in the most extravagant way possible. He could already feel his heart race with excitement at the prospect of spending the day with his own people after such a long time being separated from them.

When he arrived at the stables, he performed a quick once-around to make sure he was alone before he collected the staff and bow from their hiding place and hitched them to the stallion’s belly again. Fortunately, the process was quick and no one else showed up while he was there—he suspected the poorer people in this region of Younis didn’t have their own horses—so he came back to Penelope and William in good time.

William stepped up to take his mare from the thief, and climbed onto its back without hesitation. Crow followed suit, propping his foot in the stirrup and hauling himself onto the stallion’s back with a bit more effort. As it had been with putting on his boots that morning, the wound in his chest didn’t hurt nearly as badly today when he went through the motion of mounting the large animal. He was pleased that it seemed to be healing so well.

Once Penelope had climbed up behind him, they took off towards the southern border of Younis.

Crow glanced back at her as she spoke up. “That would be nice,” he agreed with a wistful smile, resting his hand on her leg. “Even if he doesn’t though, one week isn’t too long. We’ll see each other again soon.” He glanced forward at William and then back to Penelope, lowering his voice so the older knight wouldn’t be able to overhear him as he went on: “Speaking of which, when and where should we meet when you come back? We should make sure we know how to find each other when the time comes.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope nodded her head in agreement with Crow's words. As he lowered his voice, she paused thinking it over. Penelope wasn't too familiar with the outer villages so she was tempted to let Crow pick a spot and then figure it out from there. Until she recalled a place they both knew. "Let's meet at the Black Dagger." She told him, lowering her voice as well. "I know how to get to Silverpool and where that tavern is so I'll meet you there after a week."

"As for when... Around sunset?" She suggested with a small shrug. The knight leaned against him and smiled. "Then after that we can travel to Farhill together." The plan sounded good to her. Silverpool was pretty much right past the village that her father and brother work at so saying her goodbyes to them would be along the way of her trip to meet up with Crow rather than out of the way.

She glanced around as they continued to ride, thinking about their upcoming plans. Penelope looked towards William then back to Crow. "Speaking of which, what's your plan for getting away? It'd probably be easiest if you left during the night. William would be asleep and I can just act like something went wrong to fool him." She told him. She figured it would be best if the older knight though Crow merely betrayed her trust rather than catching onto their actual plans.

[Rogue Sloth]

When Penelope suggested that they meet at the tavern, Crow nodded. It sounded like a good spot to him, since she already knew how to get there. Besides that, he was already planning to go to Silverpool first, so it wouldn’t be difficult for him to take refuge with one of the local families for a week and wait for her to return. As long as he stayed away from the knights in the area and kept his head down for a while, it wouldn’t be too difficult to stay hidden.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” he said with a grin. “Farhill is about three days’ walk from Silverpool, so we could easily reach it within a few nights.” He ran his hand down her leg, glad that they finally had something of a plan in place for when they were to meet up again in the outer villages. He couldn’t wait to take her to Farhill and show her the best of what his home had to offer.

When she spoke again, he pondered her question thoughtfully. “I think you’re right that I should leave in the middle of the night, since that will be the easiest way to avoid a conflict with William,” he agreed, turning in the saddle to meet her gaze as another thought came to him. “Actually… Silverpool is really close to the border, so it might even be best for me to go there tonight.” He shifted slightly as he spoke. “I mean, I’d rather spend an extra day with you if I can, love, but if we travel too far inland tomorrow, it will be more difficult for me to get home without running into any night watchmen in the outer villages.” He absently brought a hand to his chest as he thought about how difficult it would be to get away from a patrol of knights while he was still injured. “If I leave from the border, I have better odds of getting home without any conflict.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope hesitated at Crow's words. It made sense for him to slip away at the night but she had been hoping they had one more day together before she left for a week. She gave him a half-hearted smile and nodded her head. "I understand. You should leave tonight then." She agreed. "You can go during my watch and William won't even know what happened." She wanted Crow to have an easy get away, especially considering his wound, and she doubted William would wake up during that.

She just hoped he was able to steer clear of any enemies that were still after them. Penelope rested her chin against his shoulder as she leaned against him. She eyed the side streets as they rode, noticing that the town was becoming less dense as they traveled on.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Alright then,” Crow said, leaning into Penelope a little more. “I’ll go tonight.” He planted a quick kiss on her cheek and sighed, watching the streets and growing forest around them. While he knew it was the best option he had, he was a little disappointed that his time with her was going to be cut short. He supposed they would just have to make the most of their time while they were still together that night.

--

The rest of the ride to the border passed by peacefully. Crow spoke idly with Penelope for most of it, savoring their casual banter and the feeling of closeness that was brought on by the way they were sitting on the horse. Even though they didn’t have much time left before he would take his leave of the knights, he was glad that the remainder of it was being spent in such a relaxing way.

Eventually, William found a spot to make camp just on the inside of the Brerratic side of the border. After all of the troubles they had seen in Younis, Crow found it relieving to finally be back inside his own kingdom. He climbed down from the back of the stallion with Penelope—noting that it would be the last time he rode the animal—and looked around their campsite. It was on the small side, but there was plenty of room for all of them to sleep comfortably.

William was already scouting the area around the clearing in search of any signs of mercenaries. While the knight was busy with that, Crow slid his arm around Penelope’s waist and pressed a kiss to her lips, taking advantage of the short time they had alone. “Gods, I’m going to miss this,” he murmured, holding her close to himself and kissing her once more on the forehead. “Next week can’t come soon enough.”

[BuzzingBee]

The knight was glad that the rest of the day went by peacefully. The last thing they needed was something going wrong right when they were about to reach the border. As they found a spot to stop for the night, she dismounted the stallion and watched William step away from them to go scout around the area. She turned her head to look over at Crow as he slipped his arm around her waist. She leaned in to meet him as he pressed his lips to hers.

She leaned into his side as he held her close, still being careful of his wound. "Me too." She mumbled with a sigh. She leaned up and kissed him again, this time a bit more deeply as she wanted to make the most of their time left together as well. Penelope pulled back and rested her head against him. "It'll go by quick though and then we'll be able to stay together for years." She said trying to be optimistic.

Penelope turned her head as she noticed approaching footsteps. She spotted William returning from his scouting. The older knight looked over at them, narrowing his gaze at their closeness but otherwise remaining silent. "Area appears to be clear for now." He went on to grumble. "Penelope, you can take the first watch."

The female knight nodded her head. "Alright." William moved to settle down across the clearing from the two, clearly tired and ready to relax. Penelope turned back to Crow and gave a small smile. "You should probably try and get a little bit of sleep before you go." She whispered to him. "I can wake you up once it's time."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow leaned into Penelope as they kissed once more, closing his eyes serenely. He continued to hold her by the waist with one hand while he brought the other up to caress her neck. When they parted again, he met her gaze and smiled at her words. “I can’t wait,” he said, keeping his voice low as he heard William approaching. The older knight seemed disgruntled upon catching them in such an intimate moment, but fortunately, he kept his opinion about it to himself. Instead, he merely told Penelope to take the first watch and went to lay down on the other side of the clearing.

As he walked away, Crow let out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. He was glad that William had chosen not to pick another fight. After all, he didn’t want to remember his last night with Penelope ending in another argument with her stubborn comrade. Parting on peaceful terms would be a much better way to go.

He turned to look down at her as she suggested he take the opportunity to sleep while he could. However, he shook his head. “No, I’d rather stay up with you,” he said softly, brushing her hair from her face. “Besides, I’m too excited to sleep even if I wanted to.” He smirked at her teasingly. “Sorry, love, but you’re stuck with me until the moment I leave.”

Crow glanced at William for a moment before taking Penelope’s hand and leading her a little farther away from the knight, so they wouldn’t have to worry about keeping their voices down quite as much. Once he felt content with the distance, he leaned back against a tree and looked up at the night sky. It still felt like a dream, and part of him was afraid he might wake up. He couldn’t believe he was going home after so long, but even more so, he couldn’t believe she was going to come with him.

He lowered his gaze again to meet hers, running his thumb over her hand affectionately. “Thanks,” he said suddenly, breaking the silence between them. “For everything—for seeing past my reputation, for treating me like an equal, for entrusting me with your heart… and for letting me go home.” He smiled at her a bit sheepishly, hesitated for a moment, and then leaned in to wrap his arms around her in a tight embrace. It was still strange to him to lay bare his emotions for someone else, but she deserved to hear how he felt.

“We’ve only been together for three weeks, yet you’ve already given me more than anyone else ever has,” he went on. “I can’t express enough how grateful I am… I love you, Penelope.” Still holding her close, he pulled back just enough to meet her lips once more, kissing her with more passion than he ever had before as he tried to express his feelings to her physically.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked up at Crow when he said he insisted on staying up with her. She was glad that he wanted to spend the time they had left together as well. Even though she did partly believe that he should still try to get some sleep, she was feeling a little selfish and didn't bother to try and argue with him. "Well, that's quite alright with me." She joked quietly before following him as he took her hand to lead them away from William.

As they stopped, she stood closely besides him as he leaned back against the tree. The knight swept her gaze over the quiet forest, enjoying the peaceful moment they had together. Her attention turned back to him as he suddenly broke the silence. There was a small look of confusion that crossed her face as he went onto thank her. However, as he went on she instead became a bit bashful as well at his high words of thanks.

She closed her eyes as their lips met, even a bit caught off guard by the passion he put into the kiss. However, she was quick to match it as she pressed into him, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Eventually she pulled back to catch her breath but stayed close to him, nestling her head against his. "I love you too, Collin." She breathed softly, even though William was asleep and at a distance she was still careful to keep her voice low when using his real name.

Penelope smiled up at him and placed a hand on his cheek. "You know.. You make me happy, more than wealth or any high title ever could." She told him honestly, wanting to make sure he didn't have any lingering guilt about her leaving her home to be with him. She shot him grin. "And I can't wait to see the outer villages with you. Hell, I can't wait to just see you again and you haven't even left yet."

[Rogue Sloth]

When they finally parted form the kiss, Crow panted softly, trying to catch his breath. He continued to remain close to Penelope, not wanting to let her out of his embrace. They only had a little bit more time left together, and he intended to make the most of it. He held her close to himself, leaning his head against hers and closing his eyes blissfully as she pressed into him. As she told him she loved him too, he smiled and squeezed her tightly for a moment, savoring the sound of the words on her lips.

After a moment, he felt her pull back from him slightly and he looked down at her, his heart swelling at what she said next. He was glad to hear that she was so happy with him, and he laughed softly when she said she was already excited to see him again. “I am too,” he grinned back at her, tracing his hand down the length of her spine. He shook his head and chuckled again. “I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have you; you know that? You’re really something else.”

He glanced furtively back at William once more. The knight appeared to have drifted off into a sound slumber. His chest rose and fell steadily and the thief could even hear soft snoring coming from his direction. He turned back to Penelope with a mischievous glint in his eye and leaned in again to press a series of kisses to her neck and jawline, and then whispered in her ear, “There’s still a while before you need to wake him for his shift… How about we make our last night together one to remember?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smiled affectionately at his words. She noticed him look at William and turn back to her with a familiar glint of mischief in his eyes. She closed her eyes serenely as he began to kiss along her neck and jawline, arching her neck slightly to give him better access. At his suggestive words, she lightly bit her lip, feeling a little tempted. It would be a week before they saw each other again but as her gaze drifted down towards where the wound on his chest was located, she reminded herself that it would be a bit risky.

"William's not the only one we have to keep a look out for you know." She mumbled place a hand on his chest. "I don't think we should. Between your wound, William and any possible mercenaries following us, I don't think we can afford the risk." Penelope sound a bit reluctant as she spoke, having to assure herself it was the right decision as well. She leaned in a pressed another kiss to his lips.

"I promise I'll make it up to you when I see you again." She murmured to him, even winking at him flirtatiously.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow sighed as he met Penelope’s lips once more, a little disappointed that she didn’t think it was a good idea, even though her reasoning made sense to him. They didn’t know when or where the mercenaries could strike next, and sleeping together out in the open would leave them both vulnerable to attack. Besides that, it would be difficult to make sure the suturing in his chest didn’t get irritated if they tried. Even though he wanted to spend one more night with her before they parted, he knew she was probably being more reasonable in turning him down.

“I hate that you’re right,” he shook his head and then smirked at her. “Well, I hope you know I’m going to hold you to that.” Leaning in again, he kissed her playfully on the nose. When he pulled back, his gaze wandered up to the night sky again. It wouldn’t be much longer before he had to leave. He wished they had more time together, but it would be better if he left sooner rather than later.

Crow drew Penelope a little closer to himself, suddenly reluctant to let her go. “I should probably leave soon,” he murmured, resting his head against hers. “Just promise me you’ll be safe, okay? I want you to come back to me in one piece.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a soft chuckle. "I know you will." She replied in amusement as he playfully kissed her. She watched as his shift to look up at the night sky and her smile faded into a more serious look. The time for them to part had come much to fast for the knight. It'll just be one week.. Look how fast three weeks went by.. She reminded herself, trying to keep from feeling too much sadness at having to part with him.

She closed her eyes as he held her closer. "I will." She promised him as she closed her eyes, as if hoping that would make the moment last longer. Penelope pulled back to meet his gaze and gave him a soft smile. "You be safe too... Don't go causing too much trouble before I even get there ok?" She joked half-heartedly. The knight leaned up and kissed him softly.

She lingered for a moment before forcing herself to pull back, knowing she had to let him go despite how reluctant she was. Her hand traveled down his arm and took his hand in hers. "I love you and I'll see you in a week, ok? So don't miss me to much." She smiled and gave his hand a small squeeze before finally letting go and taking a step back from him. "Be safe."

[Rogue Sloth]

“I’ll try my best,” Crow smiled halfheartedly when Penelope told him not to cause too much trouble. As she leaned up to kiss him one more time, he pressed in to meet her halfway, closing his eyes as their lips met. He focused on the sensation of her lips moving against his, her arms around his back, and his around hers. Knowing it would be a week before they saw each other again, he wanted to remember the feeling as vividly as he could.

When she pulled back, it felt too soon to the thief. He squeezed her hand as she placed it in his, nodding solemnly at her words. “No promises there,” he laughed a bit emptily. Even though it wasn’t really a long time, he knew he was going to miss her quite a bit. He had gotten so used to spending his every waking hour with her that to separate for even a week felt like an eternity. He hoped the time would pass by quickly so they could be together again.

“I will,” he promised as she told him to be safe. She stepped back from him and the space between them felt tangible. Not wanting to focus on it, he moved quietly over to the horses and retrieved his bow and quiver from where he had hidden them on the stallion’s body. The weapon had served him well in the short time he had used it, so he wanted to keep it.

Slinging the bow and quiver over his shoulder, Crow turned back to meet Penelope’s eyes again, offering her a weak smile. “I guess this is goodbye for now,” he said, forcing himself not to avert his gaze as he spoke. He hesitated for a moment and then moved in to kiss her one last time, lingering before they finally parted. “I love you, and I’ll see you again soon.”

With that, he turned and ran quietly into the forest towards the outer villages, leaving Penelope behind.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope bit back a frown as she watched him prepare to leave. Her gaze drifted over to William to make sure that the older knight was still fast asleep before she turned to face Crow. "I guess so." She mumbled quietly. As he moved to kiss her one last time, she leaned into meet his lips again, closing her eyes tightly as she savored the moment. When he stepped back, she offered him a small smile and watched him run off towards the outer villages.

She kept her gaze on him until he disappeared from sight and once he did, the forest around her suddenly felt more lonely. The knight sighed to herself and turned to focused back on the older knight that still laid sleeping. Penelope moved to lean back a nearby tree, figuring out the story that she would tell William to make sure he didn't figure out their future plans. She wanted to give Crow enough time to put enough distance between them before she went ahead to awake the older knight as she was sure that he wouldn't let Crow get away too easily.

Once it was nearing early morning, she figured enough time had passed and headed over to William. She stepped fast, as if in a hurry, and shook the older knight with urgency. "William. William!" He sat up with a sudden burst, looking alert as he seemed to detect the urgency in her voice.

"What? What? Mercenaries?" He asked quickly, moving to grab his blade.

"No. I.. I can't find Crow." Penelope admitted with a worried frown.

"What?" William grunted, turning to narrow his gaze at Penelope.

"He said he'd take over my watch for a bit so I could get some sleep before waking you. When I woke up, he wasn't around." Penelope explained. "I tried to wait a little and see if he had just wandered off or something but he hasn't come back. I'm worried the mercenaries got him or something."

Anger quick flared across the older knight's face as he bought her story. "Or he decided to run before he got locked back in his cell." He snorted as he rose up to his feet. "Stay here. I'm going to go look for him."

"I'll go with you. He might be in trouble." Penelope insisted glaring at William for his accusations.

"I think you've done enough." William spat. "Just stay here and keep the staff safe. I'll be back soon."

William hurried to grab his mare and ride off into the forest in search of Crow while Penelope stayed behind. Once William was out of sight, she smirked a little to herself. She felt strangely proud of the lying capabilities that she had learned from Crow. She tried not to use them often but they had certainly came in handy throughout the mission. The female knight sighed, feeling rather drained after spending the whole night up. It was unlikely she'd get a chance to sleep until the end of day now and she prayed she'd be able to push past how tired she felt.

William eventually returned back to camp, still seething upon the discovery of Crow's escape. However, unable to find the thief, he insisted that they not waste anymore daylight and continue on towards the castle, merely hoping the local knights would find the thief. Once William cooled down, he appeared a bit sympathetic to Penelope as she pretended to be heartbroken over the 'betrayal'. He still blamed her but hoped that she would learn from her mistakes. He promised he'd deny any rumor that would possibly be spread by the thief in order to help maintain her good name.

The two set out on the road again. Now in their own kingdom, the two knights noticeably relax a bit more as they head through the outer villages. Penelope hopes that Crow was able to return safely to his home and feels a bit lonely without him by her side.

[Rogue Sloth]

As Crow ran through the trees, his sadness about leaving Penelope behind started to give way to excitement. His heart pounded as it hit him that he was finally free—free from prison, free from responsibilities, free to go home and live his life as he pleased. He would have no more chains or guards to keep him tied down. He was really, truly free for the first time in over a year.

He raced through the forest, picking up speed as he grew more excited about coming home. In fact, he was so caught up in his elation that he could hardly feel the usual burning in his legs and lungs that came from running long distances. In that moment, all he cared about was reaching Silverpool and solidifying his return to the outer villages. He was already getting close, and he couldn’t wait.

--

I’m home.

Crow stared at the quiet village of Silverpool, breathing heavily from sprinting the whole way there. Not a single person could be seen in the streets, since it was late enough that all of the villagers were either sleeping in their homes or drinking in the tavern. However, he preferred it this way. With no one around to question his sudden appearance, he could take a moment to really appreciate the fact that he had made it back as a free man.

After lingering at the edge of the village for a bit, he stepped into its bounds, his eyes wandering over everything that was so familiar, yet had become so distant over the past year. Fields and gardens, run down houses, old chicken coops… everything he looked at brought him a sense of nostalgia. He could hardly believe he was back.

He gazed down one road toward the tavern he knew so well and smiled to himself. Now that he was back, he already knew the first person he wanted to see.

Crow walked down the street that led to Evelyn’s tavern. When he reached the front door, he paused, taking a moment to look up at the building, before he pushed it open and stepped inside. Despite the late hour, there were still villagers in the Black Dagger, enjoying drinks as well as each other’s company. It was exactly the kind of atmosphere the thief had been hoping to find.

He walked over to an empty table and sat down, looking around for the tavern keeper. It wasn’t long before he spotted her taking the orders of a group of rowdy young men at another table nearby. Evelyn wrote down their requests on her pad of paper and turned to approach Crow next. As she got close enough to see him clearly, she quirked a brow in surprise, “Look who’s back.”

“Miss me?” Crow grinned, happy to see the old woman again.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Evelyn chuckled, although the gleam in her eye told him all he needed to know. “What brings you back to this village so soon, Crow?”

“Your charming smile, of course,” the thief teased with a wink. He propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his palm, “If you really must know, I’m meeting a woman here in a few days.”

“Is that so?” Evelyn’s mouth twitched upward in a knowing smirk. “If I recall, you came here with a pretty young thing not too long ago, didn’t you? This wouldn’t happen to be the same girl, would it?”

“It is,” Crow answered, his own grin widening.

“Well, good for you,” the tavern keeper nodded. “I must ask though: If you’re so smitten with this girl, then why isn’t she here now?”

“She had some business to take care of with her family,” Crow shifted his weight as he told the half-truth. “But we agreed to meet here in a week once she’s finished.”

“Hm, I have to say, I’ve never seen you so enamored with a woman before,” Evelyn chuckled again. “She must be something special to have caught your eye.”

“She is,” Crow sighed a bit dreamily. He blushed and shuffled his feet beneath the table as he went on, “When she comes back, I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

“Well, well, well,” Evelyn raised her brows in amusement. “I never thought I’d hear those words come out of your mouth, you rascal.”

“Well, I never thought I’d meet a woman like her,” Crow replied with a shrug, though the flush in his cheeks refused to fade.

The old woman’s features softened as she gazed down at him, “In all seriousness, I’m glad you found someone, Crow. I was always hoping you would.” She rested a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll bring you a honey mead on the house.”

“Thanks,” the thief smiled back at her as she turned to get him his drink.

Now sitting alone at the table, he sat back and watched the other peasants in the tavern chatting and laughing with each other. He still missed having Penelope by his side, but it also felt nice to be around other villagers again with no weight or responsibilities hanging over his head. For the first time in so long, he could finally relax and be with his own people.

It was good to be home.

[BuzzingBee]

The rest of the journey seemed to go smoothly as the knights traveled through the outer villages. As expected, William made them leave the horses at the border though so now the two were forced to walk the rest of the way, making the last part of the trip home a bit longer. As they neared the inner kingdom after a couple days of travel, the knights began to let their guard down a bit and that was when the mercenaries attacked again. This time the attack was much more well planned and William was injured right away, leaving Penelope to fight desperately to keep her comrade alive as well as keep the staff out of the hands of the mercenaries.

A flash of silver crossed the knight's vision. Time seemed to slow down as pain engulfed her and she glanced down to see drips of scarlet staining her clothes from the long gash that was in inflicted. Vaguely aware, she noticed her enemy, a man that stood tall and muscular like the mercenary that she had once killed, was raising his sword to deliver a finishing blow. Penelope staggered, already feeling herself about to pass out from the amount of pain she was in despite the adrenaline that was pumping through her body. This is it.. She thought with a wince. After all the fights she had been in, this would be the one to take her down. She was scared and wanted desperately to fight back but the wound he had already given her kept her from doing so.

Her legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground, defenseless as the man moved to kill her. She was already blacking out, numbing the pain of wound and making her aware of a different ache, the one in her heart. She'd never be able to meet up with Crow. Never be able to have that life together that she had promised him. Of all the times to die, it just had to be right when she thought they had secured a future together didn't it? I'm sorry Collin... I don't think I'm going to make it back to you.. She thought her heart swelling with a mixture of grief and regret.

"Penelope!" Came the older knight's fading voice as Penelope drifted off into darkness.

---
It's not your time yet, sweet-heart...

Penelope jumped slightly, finally coming out of the darkness she had fallen into. Where am I.. She wondered as she began to come through her unconsciousness. The knight slowly opened her eyes, wincing at the sharp light that came from the nearby window. She turned her head away from it as her eyes adjusted to take in the room and where she was at. She was in a bed and across the room a woman sat at a desk with her back facing Penelope. What happened?

It took a moment but as Penelope attempted to sit up, pain erupted from across her torso causing for the memory of the ambush to coming flooding back. The staff! She thought with alarm.

"Oh you're up." The woman mused as she turned to look over at the wounded knight. Her eyes widened when she realized Penelope was trying to get up. She hurried over to the female knight's side and tried to get her to lay back down. "Calm down, calm down. You have to take it easy. That cut nearly killed you."

"Where's William? And the staff? What happened?" Penelope let out a flurry of questions as unease filled the knight.

"Hm? Oh your comrade.. He's alright. You got the worst of it, it seems." The woman told her with a small frown. "Look, I'll grab him for you... I think he'll do a better job explaining everything then me.. So just relax alright?"

Penelope eyed the woman for a moment, almost as if uncertain. She gave a small nod, which seemed to be enough for the physician. The woman turned and disappeared out of the room to retrieve William, leaving Penelope to lie alone in silence with her thoughts. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she recalled her last memories of the fight. The mercenaries attacked... But this time their target wasn't us... it was the staff.. They got passed us and got the staff. I was already injured but I tried to stop the one. She sighed softly as she thought about her reckless and desperate move. William followed. Then.. Her thoughts trailed off for a moment as she finally dared to pull up the shirt she was wearing, eying the long and nasty wound that stretch down the middle of her chest. While not particularly deep, it appeared stitches had still be required to close the wound.

The knight felt a bit faint at the sight and laid her head back down in the bed. Though she wasn't moving, she could still feel a light pain caused by the wound. It would take quite a while to heal from this. She also became aware of a few other smaller injuries she had sustained. A cut on her arm and a bruise on her side from being hit also caused for a small bit of pain whenever she moved those areas.

Suddenly the door open and the familiar form of William stepped into the room, limping due to an injury he had received on his leg. His gaze flickered over to Penelope. "Good, you're awake." He muttered with a small sigh.

"William... What happened?" Penelope asked quietly. "Where's the staff? You got the staff still right?"

William grew silent and a hint of frustration crossed his gaze. Panic began to well up in the female knight as he comrade didn't answer he right away. There was no way that they lost the staff. There couldn't be. They were so close to returning to the castle. She was so close to returning back to Crow. "William!" She snapped finally.

"It's gone." He growled looking angry, though not with Penelope but rather with himself. "Those bastards nearly killed you and I couldn't get the staff back from them. I was already too injured."

Her heart dropped at his words. After all the work they had done, after everything she, Crow and even William himself had gone through, they had lost the staff. The one thing that could prevent a war between Brerra and Younis, was gone. And though she didn't want to admit to failure yet, her chances of being with Crow were gone. Her family would need her, she wanted to be there at their side during the fights that were sure to come.

"No. It can't just be over." Penelope said, her voice quiet yet desperate. Determination blazed in her gaze as she formulated a plan. "Ask the king for more time. We'll heal and then track those assholes down and get the staff back."

"We're in no shape to track anyone down right now. You can barely even more." William grumbled.

"We'll take time to heal and then go." Penelope insisted. "I think they're just going back to those nobles from before so it should be easy to track them down! Come on William, we can still stop a war. We can still get the staff back."

William fell silent, seeming to think over her words for a moment. Penelope winced as she forced herself to sit up, meeting his gaze pleadingly. "Come on. Just one more try. That's all we need." The older knight groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine. I'll travel ahead to speak with the king soon. But we're taking time to heal first."
----

Around a Month Later

"How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad." William grunted as he pressed a bandages against the wound on Penelope's face trying to slow the bleeding from the cut.

The two had taken time to heal from their past injuries and then requested for the king to let them try and track down the mercenaries that had stolen the staff. The king hadn't given them much longer, seeming to grow impatient of waiting to take over Younis. The two knights had a difficult time finding leads and most that they did find ended up as dead ends. They eventually ended up finding a mercenary who spoke the same language as the mercenaries from before. It ended up going badly as they tried to get information out him but only ended up in another brutal fight. The fight finished with Penelope receiving a nasty cut on her face and William killing the mercenary.

Now they sat resting in their room at a nearby, trying to recuperate after another chaotic day.

"I think we got close to something though. If we can just keep pushing-" Penelope began.

"No." William snapped, glaring angrily at his comrade. "Listen Penelope, we're done. We tried but there's no way we're ever going to find that damn staff."

Penelope blinked at William's sudden snap at her. Part of her knew he was right. They didn't have anymore leads and time was running out anyways. But she didn't want to give up. Giving up meant that she'd also be giving up her future with Crow. "We can still-"

"No." William cut her off. "Penelope you need to stop. War is coming whether you like it or not and we're just going to have to accept that. No more running around in circles trying to avoid it. The king is expecting us to return back soon anyways. You have to move on and get ready for it like the rest of us."

His words were harsh but there was an undeniable truth to them. Penelope fell silent, her head hanging as she felt a numbness begin to set over her. After a moment, she finally gave a small nod of agreement, which seemed to be enough for William to relax a bit more. "Good." He sighed and crossed his arms. "I'm going to go inform the local knights about what happened. Keep that bandage pressed on your face. I'll be back." With that said, he stood up abruptly and then walked off towards the door of the room, leaving Penelope alone.

The female knight waited for him to leave before she buried her head in her hands. Her eyes grew watery with tears she was trying to hold back. Oh Crow... I'm so sorry. She thought as she let out a quiet crying gasp. He probably resented her or thought badly of her never showing up anyways. She had been hoping that if they found the staff, she could get him to understand why she had never met up with him. It was a little over a month now and she finally had to accept the fact that war was coming. She'd get swept up in it in order to protect her family and have to leave behind Crow in the process.

She collapsed back into her bed and threw the blanket over herself. She closed her eyes tightly, still feeling tears running down her cheeks. For a moment, she let herself sink deeply into her grief over the future and love she had lost, thinking about the journey they had been through together, his kiss, his smirks, his touch, everything. Penelope let out a shaky exhale, allowing the tears to flow more freely now. Once William returned and their journey back to the castle began, Penelope couldn't afford to let her grief control her like it was now. No one there would understand it. No one there could ever know about Crow and how deeply she had cared for him.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow spent the following week living with Evelyn. While he missed Penelope, he enjoyed being back home so much that the pangs of longing for her were few and far between. He spent most of his time catching up with the villagers and telling stories about his trip to Younis—although he embellished and twisted it quite a bit, leaving out the part where he had been forced to go by the king of Brerra in the first place. Their company was something he had missed, so to have it back was refreshing, and he loved every minute of it.

However, as the days passed and the time grew closer for him to meet up with Penelope, his excitement grew even more. He couldn’t wait to see her again and introduce her to the world he lived in. He was sure she was going to love it. The people were friendly, the culture was lax, and the environment was fulfilling to be a part of. His eagerness to see her again often spilled over into his conversations with Evelyn, who always listened patiently whenever he talked about his love for the knight.

Seven days passed, and as planned, Crow went to the Black Dagger tavern at sunset to meet up with Penelope. He sat at an empty table near the entrance, his gaze transfixed on the door as he waited excitedly to see her again after so long. This was it. Once she walked into the room, they would be free to run off to Farhill to be together. No mission, no chaperones, no status differences looming over their heads. For the first time, they were going to be free to be with each other without any worries.

We’ll get to be together as long as we live, his heart fluttered in his chest with a mixture of nervousness and excitement as he mentally ran through his plan to ask her to marry him. He was going to bring her to his favorite spot by the lake in Farhill—a little clearing on a ledge overlooking the south side of the water—and ask her there. He knew it was soon by noble standards to bring up marriage—peasants got married in less than a week all the time—but she was already giving up her old life to be with him, and he knew he wanted to stay with her, so what was the point in waiting? He swallowed anxiously, hoping she would accept his proposal.

Time passed by slowly and darkness fell as the sun disappeared over the western horizon. Crow drummed his fingers on the table. He hadn’t moved since he got there, wanting to meet Penelope the instant she arrived. However, as it got later and there was still no sign of her, he began to worry that something had happened. He frowned as doubts began to creep into his mind.

What if she changed her mind about being with him after visiting her family? What if she had just gotten caught up in the whirlwind emotions of the mission and didn’t really love him as much as he did her? What if the mercenaries attacked again and something happened to her? His stomach churned as his thoughts began to spiral out of control, and he forced himself to take a calming breath.

It’s probably nothing, he thought, trying to be rational. She probably just underestimated how long it would take to get back, or maybe she just wanted an extra day with her family. Everything is fine. Still, he sat at the table well into the night, hoping she would appear and look at him again with her kind smile, apologizing unnecessarily for making him wait for so long…

--

“Crow.”

The thief lifted his head, blinking dazedly as he looked around. He felt a gentle hand on his back and looked up to see Evelyn gazing down at him with a sympathetic frown. “I need to close up for the night,” she said softly. “I’m sorry, dear, but I need to ask you to go home.”

He nodded and sat up straight, aching his back in a weary stretch. “How long was I asleep?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Not too long,” the tavern keeper assured him. She reached a broom underneath his table to sweep as he stood up. “It’s still the middle of the night.”

“I see…” Crow murmured. His gaze drifted back to the entrance to the tavern and he frowned, wondering what was stalling Penelope.

Evelyn caught his longing stare and offered him a small smile. “Go home and rest, Crow. I’m sure she’s coming as fast as she can.”

He turned back to her and returned her smile, “Thanks. I’ll see you back at the house.” With that, he left the tavern to get some sleep, doing his best to ignore the fears that were trying to bubble up inside of him.

--

Crow continued to return to the Black Dagger tavern every night at sundown for the following week, hoping against hopes that Penelope would show up. However, as the days went by and there continued to be no sight of her, his optimism began to fade. It was starting to look like she had changed her mind about being with him after all.

On the seventh night, Crow sat glumly at his usual table, swirling the remains of a mug of ale that he had been sipping at since sunset. He glanced up at the door occasionally, but of course, there was no sign of Penelope. He sighed and set down his glass, propping his chin in his palm as he stared down at the table. After waiting for so long, he was starting to feel hollow. He wondered if there was even any point to waiting for her anymore.

Who am I kidding? He thought despondently. She’s not coming.

He stood up from the table and walked out of the tavern, leaving his unfinished drink behind.

The sun hadn’t quite disappeared over the horizon as Crow walked down the road towards Evelyn’s house. He looked around in a halfhearted search for Penelope, but there was still no sign of the knight. After a bit, he gave up and lowered his gaze, absently kicking a small rock down the road. Part of him was still clinging to the hope that she was still coming, but it was getting harder and harder to hold onto the belief. He wished he had some way to know what had happened and why she hadn’t come to join him yet. It was painful to keep waiting when he was so clueless about it all.

“Did you hear about that assignment the king sent those palace guards on?” a voice caught Crow’s attention and he looked up to see a pair of knights walking towards him from the other side of the street. He hurriedly ducked behind a nearby house to hide, holding his breath as he strained to hear more of their conversation.

“I heard he sent some knights to guard that thief,” the other knight replied. “But I haven’t heard anything since then. Why?”

“Well, I just spoke to Peter from the inner kingdom. He was traveling through on a messaging errand and told me that the king never got the staff he wanted.”

He never got the staff? Crow’s blood ran cold. But that was impossible! How could Penelope and William have lost it when they were so close to the castle? He leaned a little closer to keep listening as the knights went on.

“Really?” the second knight said. “Did the thief fail to get it?”

“Not from what I heard,” the first knight answered. “Peter said the knights were attacked and never made it back to the king. Mercenaries, from the sound of it.”

Oh no, Crow paled. He leaned against the side of the house, suddenly feeling faint. No, no, no. His mind reeled as he began to piece everything together. William and Penelope had been attacked by the mercenaries again, and Penelope had never come back to him. She must have… He closed his eyes, trying to block out the morbid image in his head. It couldn’t be true. He didn’t want to believe it, but why else would she have not traveled back to Silverpool to meet up with him?

He waited for the knights to leave before he came out from his hiding place. Stepping back onto the road, he stared blankly ahead. Every part of him felt numb with shock. She was gone. She was really gone this time. He blinked and brought a hand to his face as he realized that his cheeks were moist with fresh tears. Not wanting to be seen by anyone in his current state, he turned and ran into the woods just outside of the village, heading blindly for a place where he could be alone.

Once he was just far enough away that he couldn’t see the village anymore, he slowed to a stop and sat down on a fallen tree. He finally allowed his emotions to boil over and dropped his head into his hands, crying silently by himself. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, but he didn’t move until the pain had faded to a dull ache in his chest. Taking a calming breath, he lifted his hand to his face, wiping away the tears he had let fall freely down his cheeks.

Feeling like he had reigned in his emotions enough to go back to the village, he turned and walked through the forest towards Silverpool again. He had stopped crying, but he still felt raw inside. He didn’t like how his chest felt both tight and empty all at once. He grimaced, bringing a hand up to his chest. He wanted to get rid of the feeling.

As he stepped back into the village, his eyes wandered back to the tavern as he was struck with an unfamiliar temptation. He shifted his weight, but after a moment of hesitation, he walked to the Black Dagger and sat down at the table.

Evelyn was quick to notice him return and moved to his side, knitting her brow concernedly, “You don’t look good. Is everything alright?”

Crow shook his head and looked up at her with a mirthless smile, “Let’s just say I just learned something I’d rather forget tonight. Being me a mug of ale… the strongest you have.”

Evelyn stared at him for a moment, having known him long enough to find his request out of character. However, she didn’t question him and left to bring him the drink he asked for. After a bit, she returned and set the mug down on the table, “Here you go, dear.” She paused for a moment and then added: “Try not to lose sight of yourself… even if it hurts.” With that, she walked away, leaving him alone.

Crow watched the tavern keeper as she walked away. He knew she was right, but at that moment, he was in too much pain to care. Picking up the mug she had brought him, he sighed to himself. Sorry, Evelyn, but I need to let go tonight. He lifted the mug to his lips and tilted his head back as he downed the whole thing, letting the alcohol numb his senses until he lost himself to its inebriating effects.

[BuzzingBee]

After finally giving Crow up and attempting to move on with the life she had planned out before, Penelope found it difficult and regretted having to leave behind the thief just as much as she guessed she would. She blamed herself for the failed mission and that was guilt that has yet to fade. She returned to her regular job as a palace guard, without much issue despite the failed mission. It was there that she ran back into Olivia and the two female knights forged a friendship. Olivia came to be the one person who knew more about what happened between her and Crow than anyone else. Though, Penelope was still careful to not share to much with her unlikely new friend, even building up walls and bottling away the times she grew lonely or sorrowful. The two female knights got along especially well now, mainly due to Penelope's less strict attitude.

At first, Penelope had intended to keep a low profile, losing a bit of her ambition to push her career further. However, that changed when she met Mia Chandler. The baroness was eager to enlist Penelope as a lieutenant. Though she was hesitant at first, she eventually agreed, hoping that focusing more on her career would help fill in the parts of her life that now felt missing. Not to mention that the baroness was rather enjoyable company as she wasn't arrogant or greedy. Though it appeared to Penelope that Mia preferred to ignore the issues of the outer villages rather than playing a hand in making them better or worse.

Things seemed to get back on track. That is, until her brother and father returned home. John was terrified to learn about all that Penelope had been through but his fear of losing his daughter, came out as unbridled rage. He forced her to resign from being a knight with the intent of making her just another noblewoman. Layth was amused and glad to see Penelope forced to step down. It was a rather difficult time for the female knight as she momentarily lost the career she had been focusing on to forget Crow. Penelope didn't fight back against her father's decision though, feeling powerless as the things she loved seemed to continue to be taken from her, and kept her negative emotions bottled away.

Eventually her title as a knight was restored thanks to the influence and power of Mia. Though not without John getting a bit of what he wanted. When Penelope learned she would be forced into a marriage, her frustration with her father grew but once again she kept it to herself and an unspoken distance between them continued to grow. She had low expectations for the marriage and when she finally met Gavin, it was just as bad as she imagined. He didn't seem to care much for her but was at least polite. Penelope mainly kept to herself when spending time with him and rarely makes an effort to talk to him. However, as time goes on, he begins to grow on her. She finds herself just finding respect for his career goals, understanding the desire to help and change the state of the outer villages.

Then, after letting a young thief escape, she finds herself forced to open up to him a bit and surprisingly, he doesn't turn on her or think less of her for her past decisions. Gavin grows from an unwanted suitor to a trustworthy friend and over time, Penelope finds herself slowly developing feelings for him, which surprises her as she didn't think she'd fall for anyone again after Crow. Luckily, it's not one sided either, as she late comes to find out. Their courting becomes a bit more serious as they grow close. It's the first time that Penelope truly begins to have hope for a happy future again, provide they can both survive the upcoming war.

--

It's been two years since I've been this far from the castle.. Penelope thought as she looked around the outer village that her battalion had finally reached. Around her, some knights busied themselves with moving supplies and setting up tends while others relaxed and checked in on their comrades who had already been at the battle front for some time now. Penelope stood away from it all, her mind drifting to a different time.

She had avoided the outer villages, mainly out of the fear of running into Crow. It was unlikely they'd even be in the same village at the same time but the thought of crossing his path, seeing his resentment towards, and having to just ultimately say goodbye to him again was something that still left her with a small sting of grief, despite believing to have moved on. She sighed to herself as she began to think about him more. It had been a while since he had crossed her thoughts. The first year apart, she had thought of him often. The second year, thoughts of him grew less frequent and even farther apart until she had a couple months where he finally didn't cross her mind. That streak was quickly broken though now that she was back at the border. She supposed it was only natural, considering it was where she had last seen him.

"Penelope," Murmured a concerned voice. "Are you ok?"

Penelope blinked, a little startled by Gavin's sudden appearance as she hadn't heard him approach her. "Oh, yeah.. I'm fine.. Just a little nervous I guess." She mumbled with a shrug.

Gavin moved to take her hand in his, giving it a comforting squeeze before letting go. "Yeah, me too. But we'll be ok." He assured her, his gaze shifting away from her to look over towards the distant border. "I've been eying the campside over and it seems like we haven't lost too many. I'd have to speak with one of the barons to confirm, but it seems like we've got the numbers right now."

"That's good." Penelope mused crossing her arms. She flashed him a small smile and then turned to head towards one of the wagons filled with the supplies. "Come on, we should go help set up."

[Rogue Sloth]

The following two months were a low point in Crow’s life. Unable and unwilling to deal with the complex emotions that came from losing Penelope, he spent most of his time in and out of the tavern in Silverpool, getting drunk to cope with the pain. Evelyn continued to take care of him during this time, making sure he didn’t cause trouble enough to draw the attention of the local knights, who, by this point, were on the lookout for the runaway thief. Even though she didn’t know why he was so distraught—he refused to tell anyone what had happened—she made it her goal to help him move forward and remember who he was.

Eventually, her efforts paid off. After he had grieved for two months, the pain Crow felt faded into a tolerable numbness. He finally came to terms with the fact that he was never going to see Penelope again and thus attempted to take the first steps towards moving on: He sobered up and went back to stealing from the knights in the outer villages. In returning to his old life, he found solace and began to come back to who he had been before.

However, as winter approached, he started to realize that he wasn’t quite the same as he had been a year ago. He missed having company and found it lonely to be traveling alone. So, when he encountered a rogue band of thieves in the inner kingdom, he was quick to accept the leader’s invitation to join. He spent the following two seasons with them, until he had a fallout with the leader that made him realize how degraded the other thieves were and that they were not the kind of people he wanted to associate with.

Fortunately for Crow, he wasn’t the only one in the group who disliked the decisions made by the other thieves. Three other members went with him when he left: Simon, Alistair, and Rikki. They abandoned the thieves with him in the hopes that he would be a better leader, and over the course of their following travels around the inner kingdom, became close companions of Crow.

After spending such a long time away from the outer villages, Crow and the others return to see what had happened to the peasants in their absence, only to discover that the war with Younis had begun. They choose to stay in the hopes that they would be able to do something to help the villagers who were getting caught up in the battles. During this time, Crow wrestles with his trauma from his childhood until he manages to overcome it for the most part. Able to fight without freezing up for the first time, he masters duel wielding daggers and starts to defend himself along with the peasants in the village with the new weapons. It is also during this time that his hatred for knights grows. He becomes unafraid to kill in self-defense, no matter which kingdom the attacking knights come from.

As the war becomes more intense, the thieves come to admit that there is nothing they can do to save the villagers from the war, so they leave. For a short time, they take refuge with Evelyn and Hazel Ansgot before they move on to Crow’s home village, Myrefall. This is where they remain for the following two seasons, including one especially brutal winter in which Crow contracts a chronic cough that he keeps secret from the others. As the battles rage on between Brerra and Younis, the thieves continue to do their best to help the villagers survive the onslaught.

--

“Did you see the looks on their faces?” Alistair snickered. “Absolute horror.”

The band of thieves made their way through the woods as they headed back to Myrefall after a successful day of raiding Brerratic knights. They had just stolen a sack full of weapons that the new king had delivered to reinforce the frontline. Of course, their goal wasn’t to sabotage the forces of their kingdom, so they would return the weapons… for a price. Simon, the only semi-literate one of the bunch, had left a small, empty satchel along with a hastily scrawled note attached to a tree in the knights’ camp: IF YOU WANT YOR SORDS BACK, BREENG THIS TO THE TAVERN IN NORCREST VILLAJ FILD WITH GOLD. All they had to do now was sit back and wait for the knights to get desperate enough to comply with their demands. As previous experience had proven, it was only a matter of time.

“What did you expect?” Simon rolled his eyes. “They just lost a third of all their new weaponry in the middle of a war. Of course they’re going to be frightened.”

“You have no sense of fun,” Alistair snorted and then turned towards the others. “We should celebrate! These weapons are going to make us rich when the knights pay our ransom. Let’s go to the Ivory Hatchet tavern tonight.”

“A mug of ale does sound good right about now,” Rikki grinned, turning to the fourth thief in the group with a playful nudge. “What do you say, boss?”

Crow adjusted his hold on the bag of weapons he had slung over his shoulder and returned the female thief’s look with a smirk of his own, “Sounds great to me. You three go on ahead. I’ll drop these off at the camp and meet up with you later.”

“Alright!” Alistair pumped his fist in the air excitedly and slung an arm over Simon’s shoulder. “Come on, you big grump. We’re going to get wasted.”

“Please don’t,” Simon groaned as the energetic thief led him forcefully towards the village, leaving the others behind.

Rikki didn’t follow after them right away. Now alone with Crow, she looked up at him with a mischievous glint in her dark eyes and then flung her arms around his neck, leaning up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. He met her sudden advance with equal enthusiasm, slipping his arms around the small of her back. After a moment, he pulled back and laughed, “What was that for?”

“Nothing,” Rikki shrugged, breaking away from his grasp and casting him a flirtatious wink. “Just felt like it. That’s all.” With that, she turned and trotted after the other two thieves, leaving Crow to watch her saunter off from behind.

He shook his head at her blatant teasing and kept walking through the trees to drop off the stolen weapons at their hideout. Even though he didn’t intend to get drunk with Alistair and Rikki—he knew Simon wasn’t going to get intoxicated either, since the other thief was too uptight to let himself go—a mug of ale at the Ivory Hatchet did sound good to him. It would be nice to celebrate the successful raid with his companions, so he wanted to catch up with them as soon as he could.

It didn’t take long before he arrived at the edge of the camp, but when he got there, something felt off. It had been faint, but he could have sworn he heard the snap of a twig coming from the small ravine that he and the others had made into their home. He frowned, setting down the sack of weapons behind a tree and drawing his daggers from a belt around his waist. He crouched down and moved silently towards the source of the noise, moving with precision that he had remastered since his escape two years prior.

Once he was close enough to see who or what was in their hideout, he stopped behind another tree and peered out to take a look. To his annoyance, there was, in fact, a person invading his home—and not just any person: A knight, wearing the colors of Brerra. They had been discovered.

Crow tightened his grip on his weapons, narrowing his eyes coldly at the knight as he tried to decide what to do. There was only one intruder, so easiest course of action would be to simply kill him before he could spread word to his comrades. However, the thief was hesitant to do that. The knight wasn’t directly threatening anyone, so to take his life felt wrong. No, he couldn’t just kill him in cold blood. He had to think of something else.

Having decided on a plan, Crow slowly and quietly rose to stand up straight. He cocked back the dagger in his right hand, took aim, and then hurled it towards the knight. The blade flew through the air and embedded itself in a tree just next to the intruder’s head. The knight let out a startled yelp and spun around to defend himself. However, the thief was faster. Before the intruder had a chance to draw his own weapon, Crow slammed him back against the tree and held his second dagger up to his throat, glaring icily as he held him pinned.

Now up close and personal with the knight, two things made the thief falter. The first was that the knight wasn’t a man at all: it was a woman. The second was that this woman was someone he knew.

“Olivia?” Crow said, wide eyed with surprise.

As he said her name, Olivia stopped struggling against his grip and looked up to meet his gaze. She stared at him for a moment before her own eyes widened with recognition. “Wait… Crow? Is that you?”

Crow nodded wordlessly, still reeling from the unexpected encounter. He hesitated for a moment and then released the female knight, retrieving his dagger from the tree as he stepped back from her. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” she said, her brown eyes sweeping slowly over him. “You do know there’s a war going on here, don’t you?”

“No,” Crow drawled with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. “I just thought everyone was dropping dead of their own accord.”

“Hm,” Olivia smirked. “I missed that feisty attitude of yours.” Her eyes swept over him once more. “And my, my... You’ve changed quite a bit, haven’t you? I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“I should hope so,” Crow grinned, crossing his arms over his muscular chest. “The last time you saw me, I had just gotten out of prison.”

“I see,” Olivia licked her lips and met his gaze again. “Well, you look good, Crow.”

“Thanks,” he took a step closer to the knight, deciding to test her a bit as he recalled how she had been interested in him before. “You look pretty good, yourself, love,” he said in a murmur, lowering his gaze to her lips. “You know… I think I owe you for last time, wouldn’t you say?”

“Tempting,” the knight smiled coyly. “But are you really willing to do that to Penelope?”

At the mention of her name, Crow’s gaze darkened and he recoiled from the knight. “That isn’t funny,” he curled his lip at her scathingly.

“What are you talking about?” Olivia blinked, seeming confused by his reaction.

Crow wavered, caught off guard by her casual behavior. He would have expected Olivia to be more serious when speaking about her dead comrade, even if they had been rivals. Recovering quickly, he went on, “You know what I’m talking about. It’s true that I loved her long ago, but she’s gone now. I heard the news from the knights in the outer villages.”

“What news?” Olivia’s innocent tone was beginning to annoy him.

“The news that she and William got attacked,” he spat. “Don’t play dumb with me. I know that she’s dead.”

Olivia stared at him for a moment before a bemused smirk crossed her lips, “Oh, Crow… You poor, misinformed thing.” She stepped closer to him and went on in a whisper: “Penelope isn’t dead.”

Crow felt his heart skip a beat. “W-what?” he leaned against a nearby tree, suddenly dizzy.

“That’s right,” Olivia continued cheerily. “Penelope’s alive. In fact, she’s in the outer villages right now. We’re part of the same battalion…”

Crow missed the rest of Olivia’s words as she chatted carelessly on. He couldn’t believe it. For the last two years, he had believed Penelope was gone, but she wasn’t. She was alive—and she was nearby. His heart pounded excitedly in his chest. He had to go find her. He needed to see her again. It had been so long…

But what if she doesn’t want to see me? The thought appeared in his mind, casting a shadow of doubt over his excitement. If she hadn’t been killed, then why didn’t she come to be with him in the outer villages? He felt a pang of sadness. She must have changed her mind about being with him after all.

“Crow.”

The thief snapped back to attention as he felt Olivia prod him, “Sorry. What?”

“I said,” the knight smirked. “What do you say? Do you want me to tell you where she is?”

Crow hesitated at the question. His heart screamed at him to say yes. He missed her so much. However, his head told him no. She had chosen her life, and it wasn’t with him. He didn’t know if he could handle running back to her, only to be rejected and sent away. But at least I would know for sure, he argued with himself. Even if it hurt, he had to talk to her one more time. He had to find out why she had left him. He needed the closure.

“Yes,” he said after a long pause, meeting Olivia’s gaze determinedly. “Tell me where she is.”

[BuzzingBee]

As Penelope and Gavin stepped over to help with unloading the supplies, the female knight spotted her brother pacing angrily nearby. She exchanged a glance with Gavin and then moved to walk over to her brother. "Something wrong Layth?" She asked curiously. He looked over at her and snorted, as if her question was ridiculous.

"Is something wrong! Of course something is wrong! We were stolen from." He growled.

"What?" Gavin blinked.

Layth then held up the ransom note to the two so they could read it. "Some barely literate bastard took a bunch of weapons from us and now they're expecting us to pay to get them back." He explained, fury burning in his gaze. "There's been a problem with thieves in this area. I hope she finds them. I'll personally lead a patrol to go finish them off! Don't they know we're at war here?"

"It is.. an unfortunate situation." Gavin agreed with a small sigh. His gaze shifted over to the female knight besides him.

"We should just pay them." Penelope mumbled. "We have enough fighting going on at the battlefront... Why risk knights just to get a few weapons back."

"Coward." Layth spat venomously.

"She has a point, Layth." Gavin mused, narrowing his gaze at the other male knight. "Besides it's not our place to decide. Have you even alerted the barons yet?"

Layth glared at Gavin. "I was just on my way to." he grumbled before shoving past Gavin and stalking off towards the larger tents.

Gavin watched him go before shaking his head in disapproval. "Are you sure that's your brother?" He sighed. When Penelope didn't reply, he turned his head to look over at her with concern. Penelope eyed the supplies. Though her expression was stoic, worry and nervousness began to bubble inside her. It's not Crow.. I'm just being paranoid.. She told herself, trying to relax once more.

"You think it's your friend?" Gavin asked quietly, guessing her concerns.

Penelope looked over at him and hesitated before answering. "No. He's illiterate so he couldn't have written that note..." She turned and continued over towards the supplies that were let and began to help unload them as planned. "Come on. There's still work to do."

The two went on to help unpack the wagon. It didn't take long since they had the help of a few other knights around. As it grew later, some of the knights that weren't on guard began to relax, eating, drinking or just simply going straight to bed wanting to get as much sleep as they possibly could. Penelope sat besides Gavin away from most of the crowd, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Well I'm not looking forward to the coming days... Or rather the coming battles." Gavin mumbled to her as he looked out at the camp.

"Me neither..." Penelope agreed somberly. The two enjoyed a moment of content silence until Penelope heard footsteps approaching from behind her. She sat up and turned her head to see Olivia approaching them. "Oh, hey. Where have you been?" She greeted her as she stepped up besides them.

"Oh, just scouting around the area." Olivia told her with a shrug. She smirked at Penelope. "It's actually pretty nice here with some, interesting places." Gavin raised an eyebrow at her but Olivia continued to ignore his presence. "Anyways, I'm tired and I was wondering-"

"You want me to take your guard shift." Penelope guessed, giving her friend a slightly annoyed look. It clearly wasn't the first time Olivia had pulled such a stunt. Olivia gave a bright, pleading smile.

"I'll make it up to you! I promise." Olivia told her with a small, mischievous gleam in her gaze.

"I say don't do it." Gavin snorted, making Olivia shoot a glare his way. Penelope shook her head at the two. "It's fine. I'll do it. I wasn't scheduled a guard shift until tomorrow night anyways."

"Great! It starts right after Millicent's shift ends... Which is in a little while." Olivia exclaimed cheerfully. "Well now that that's settled. I'm heading off to bed. Thanks Penelope!"

She shot Gavin a victorious smirk before turning and walking off towards her tent. Gavin gave an annoyed look before turning to look over at Penelope as she stood up. "Guess you're off to get ready for your guard shift huh?" He asked as he stood up as well, taking her hand in his for a moment.

Penelope nodded her head. "Yeah. I've got to get my armor on." She told him. "You heading to bed?"

"Probably.. Or I'll go see what Alan's up to." Gavin said and shrugged. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. He pulled back and gave her a small smile. "Goodnight, Penelope."

"Goodnight, Gavin." She said returning his smile. She parted from him and then walked off towards her small tent on the right side of camp. She rolled her shoulders, trying to fight off the drowsiness she felt from the day in order to be ready for the guard shift she now had. Penelope let out a small yawn as she stepped into her tent and began to place on her armor, readying herself to take Millicent off her guard shift.