BuzzingBee

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

may have written most of it ahead of time again XD

Penelope was surprised to see Hartley cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"O-ok." Hartley gulped.

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

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope's in war mode now xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Since it was a rather large group, the knights were forced to travel at a bit of a slower pace. Penelope walked at the head of it with Gavin and Olivia at her side. For a good while, there was a silence over the three of them. Olivia picked up on the seriousness of this final patrol and clearly didn't want to cause trouble for Penelope at the current time. Gavin was focused as usual. He mentioned nothing more on the lead possibly being fake and judging by his attitude, was willing to take in seriously even if he had doubts.

"So.." Olivia eventually broke the silence with a bit of hesitance as she looked over at Penelope. "Have you figured out what you're going to do after this? With... You know who I mean."

"Olivia, it's only been two days. She probably doesn't want to talk about it." Gavin grumbled warningly.

Penelope glanced between the two and let out a small sigh. "It's fine, Gavin... I actually did figure out what I'm going to." she admitted quietly, keeping her gaze focused on the path ahead as they walked. She felt a hint of pressure as she felt the gaze of both of her friends on her. "If.. If this goes right, then I'll speak with him."

"What?" Gavin frowned.

"So much for being the rebound Gavin." Olivia mused with a small smirk, causing for the male knight to shoot her a glare.

Penelope rolled her eyes at them and let out a sigh. "I'm just going to talk with him. Anything more will be decided after that... But I'd rather not talk about that stuff right now." she glanced towards both of them and stood up a bit straighter. "We have a more pressing issue at hand with handling Jaxon.."

The other two nodded and Penelope managed to switched the subject without resistance, which she was grateful for. She really didn't want to go into detail about how she was feeling towards Crow at the moment. Especially since she was completely certain yet and she doubted her feelings would sit well with Gavin, who hated the thief. The large group walked on and Penelope discussed upcoming plans and how they would handle attacking the camp once they got there.

---

The sun had nearly set by the time that they reached Wheldrake. Penelope had stopped the group just on the outskirts of town for a second break. She wanted to have the cover of the night when they finally went to attack as well as give her comrades a chance to rest before they went rushing into what she could only assume would be a nasty fight. She leaned back against a tree and looked over the clearing that they had settled in, watching as a few of the knights either took naps, ate their dinner or chatted amongst themselves.

She closed her eyes for a moment, steeling herself for what was coming. Pushing herself off of the trunk of the tree, she made her way over to the center of the clearing, giving a sharp whistle to get everyone's attention. It worked easily as the knights move to group around their lieutenant and suddenly she felt a new wave of anxiousness. This was her first time leading such a big group alone, making her a bit hesitant to speak. Swallowing her nervousness down, she stood a little straighter, attempting to gain an air of authority that she always saw in the barons and other lieutenants.

"We're going to travel around Wheldrake and head straight into the forest that lies between it and Aramoor. I don't want the villagers catching wind of us moving in, since there is a chance they could warn the thieves.. or that a few of the thieves are amongst them." She explained with a firm voice as she eyed the crowd. While she was a bit concerned about those points, she also didn't want to disrupt the villagers of Wheldrake by leading what was practically a small battalion through their streets. Luckily her decision to avoid the village all together was easily accepted by her comrades, which gave her a bit more confidence as she went on.

"From there, we just have to head half way to Aramoor and the camp should be right there." she explained then paused before adding with grave seriousness. "These thieves are ruthless killers. They have killed our comrades and taken our supplies. They will be showed no mercy. Keep alert and don't hesitate when we attack."

Murmurs of approval and agreement rose from the crowd and Penelope glanced up at the sky. The sun had fully sunk and now darkness was beginning to fall over them. It was time to move. "We'll leave now. Split off into the groups you were assigned. Those attacking from the west are with me. Those attacking from the east are with Gavin. Remember, travel quietly." The plan was to pinch the thieves in between the knights in hopes it would make it difficult for them to escape as well as win. Penelope waited as they broke off into their perspective groups and then began to lead the way towards where the camp laid, swinging further to the west as the groups broke off. It was time to see if Crow's words had been true and if all her effort to take this murderer down would pay off.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I may have written most of it ahead of time xD Penelope decided she wants to work things out with him and poor Crow's thinking the exact opposite ;-;

Ok! I went ahead and did that c:

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope watched as her comrades hurried around preparing for the ambush on the thief's camp. It was nearly night but with their plans to leave for the camp had just been made and the selected knights were hurrying to get ready so they wouldn't have to waste much time in the morning when they finally set out for the trip. She was glad that everything seemed to be coming together well. The barons had approved to give her a good number of knights and they had even agreed to let her lead it alone. Now it was just a matter of time before they would leave and put an end to the murderous thieves that were threatening them.

"Looks like we're nearly ready." Gavin mused as he moved to step up besides her. Penelope had specifically asked to include Gavin and Olivia in her patrol. Both wanted to see the mission through to the end and it was likely safer for Gavin to leave camp than to stay while he still had a target on his back. He swept his gaze over the camp before his dark gaze moved to rest on her with a look of concern. "How are you doing?" he asked in a softer tone.

"I'm alright." Penelope answered, lowering her gaze. That wasn't quite true. She still felt like a mess and the only reason she seemed put together was because she managed to distract herself with the work that needed to be done to capture Jaxon. Now that things were slowing down for the night, she could already feel her mind wandering to the thief and what he had done.

Gavin studied her expression for a moment and frowned slightly. He moved to rest a hand on her back. "You can talk to me about it you know... Why don't we go find a spot to sit down?" he offered.

"No." She mumbled and shook her head. The knight let out a small sigh and stepped away from her friend. "I'm sorry, Gavin. But.. I think I just want to be alone for a little while."

"Alright.. Just come find me if you need me." Gavin said before turning to walk off.

Penelope watched him go for a moment before heading off to her tent. Now that the day was winding down to an end and she had a plan to deal with Jaxon, she needed to start figuring out what to do with Crow. She slipped into her tent and laid back on her bed, silently staring up at the ceiling of it as she thought about all that she had learned and all that the thief had done. It was painful to think about and she already felt her eyes growing tearful again but now that she was alone, she didn't shy away from it.

She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes, causing a couple tears to stray down her cheeks. I just need to figure out what's important and what I want... she thought, reminding herself of what Gavin had told her. The knight considered what she wanted. For a while now it had been the future she had talked about with Crow. At the thought of it, she felt herself still yearn for that life after the war. The very thought that letting him go and giving that future up was on the table made the knight feel a fresh wave of heartache. It made one thing to her clear; she didn't want to give Crow up. She wanted to figure things out with him and hope that he'd be on her side from here on out.

But she wasn't sure if she could afford to do that. Penelope loved him but there were other people she cared about that she wanted to protect too. If something like this occurred again, trusting Crow could put everyone else at risk. She ran a hand through her hair as she thought of how he was the night before, how hurt he had seemed at her unwillingness to trust him again. What if it was just a bad mistake? The knight shifted a bit at that thought. He had lied to her before, that was true, but it had never been anything to this damaging extent. He had kept secrets, a couple had hurt like how she had found out about him kissing Rikki, but they had never been this big.

She had forgiven him for all of those. Perhaps she could forgive him just one more time. If it had just been him trying to protect her, even if it was in a way that she didn't approve of, she didn't want to let him over it. Once they caught Jaxon, she'd know that he was telling the truth and from there, she might be able to talk things out with him. It sparked a small flame of hope in the knight and put her a bit at ease now that she had figured out what would come next. A bit of unease still lingered about the lead he had given her, as there was still a chance he could be lying, but for now, she decided not to focus on it. After all, she'd find out soon enough.

----

The next day came quick and Penelope didn't even remember when she had fallen asleep. It must have been some time after she had made her decision about Crow. As she stepped out of her tent, she felt her heart beat anxiously. The time had come for the knights to begin their journey to Wheldrake where they would, hopefully, ambush the murderous thieves. She grabbed a quick breakfast, barely eating any of it, before she moved to wait for her patrol to gather.

It wasn't long before the other knights joined her and among them were Gavin and Olivia. Her two friends kept near the front. Olivia looked tired but didn't complain like usual and Gavin stepped up besides Penelope with a half-hearted smile.

"Ready for this?" he asked quietly.

"As I'll ever be I suppose.. Are you?" she replied as she studied his gaze.

"Yeah. I just hope you're right about trusting this.." Gavin mumbled as he shifted his gaze back ahead.

"Me too." Penelope sighed as she felt her stomach churn at his words. Without waiting any longer, she signaled for the patrol to begin its departure and lead the way out of camp and towards Wheldrake.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Same xD

Yeah I might do that c:

And ok! sounds good :D

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Aww ;-;

Cool c:
And I think I might just save her for something else. I don't see her fitting well into the story right now so I'll probably just have her pop up later.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

"What's this meeting about? It better be important." grumbled Edward.

It was the afternoon now. Penelope had spent most of her morning in the company of Gavin and Olivia, going over how she was going to convince the barons that they needed to send a large patrol down near Wheldrake. The work and constant discussion helped to keep her mind off of Crow but she did notice Gavin and Olivia both treated her with a bit more care than usual. She wasn't sure if she was grateful or a little frustrated by it but she said nothing to them anyways. They were both likely just trying to look out for her in her current state and that wasn't something she could hold against them.

Once they had formulated a solid plan, she went to Mia and requested her to get a meeting together. Luckily the baroness listened to her and didn't refuse her request. It took a bit to gather everyone together due to how busy the camp still was but eventually, all the barons and lieutenants had made their way to the main tent in the middle of camp and were all looking to her to explain her reasoning for it.

"It is, I assure you." Penelope said as she glanced around the group. She felt a twinge of nervousness, worried that they might not listen to her. "It's about the thieves we've been after... I've learned new information and this time it's not just a small lead, I know where their camp is."

"What?" Layth questioned as he narrowed his gaze on her. "How could you possibly know that! You haven't even been on a patrol in a week and the last one you were on was a failure!"

"I'm aware." Penelope muttered with an edge of bitterness before she shifted her gaze to meet Mia's. The baroness eyed her with interest but said nothing as she waited for her lieutenant to explain further. "I've kept in contact with the herbalist in Myrefall just in case she or her apprentice managed to hear anything more on the thieves. It turns out they did. I.. I met with her yesterday and she told me that a few peasants from Wheldrake had discovered that their camp is located between there and Aramoor."

"Between Wheldrake and Aramoor?" Edward snorted and eyed her critically. "Both of your patrols were right around there and you didn't managed to catch a trace of them. Why would you believe the words of this peasant woman?"

"The thieves likely threatened the peasants to throw us off track. My patrols were close and this woman has confirmed it." Penelope stated firmly as she held her uncle's gaze.

"You truly trust that this woman is telling the truth?" Mia asked as she looked over at Penelope.

The young lieutenant felt her stomach churn slightly as she thought of Crow. She still couldn't let go of the small chance that this lead was fake like the others and if she convinced her barons, only to find that it was a dead end, she wasn't sure she'd be able to recover from it. Mia might lose all faith in her. It was a risk she was going to have to take though. They had no other leads and Gavin's life was on the line. I'm putting my trust in you, Crow.. Please don't let me down again..

"I do." she replied to Mia with a certainty that she didn't actually feel. "I've worked with her before and I know she wouldn't be lying about this."

"I see... Then we might actually be close to ending this." Mia mused with a pleased tone.

"We'll make sure those bastards pay for what they took from us." Bennet spoke up now with a victorious gleam in his gaze.

"Yes... But it won't be easy." Penelope warned, glad that her words seemed to be accepted by the others. "She also told me that there are around thirty of them. This group is bigger than what we originally thought and it's going to take more than just a small patrol to bring them down."

"Thirty?" Edward scoffed. "We've only seen a few at the most. How can you be so certain about this lead?"

"Because there's no reason for me not to." Penelope said crossing her arms and met his gaze challengingly. "Do you really want to risk the thieves getting away just because you're afraid to trust a peasant woman's words?"

"Watch it. " Edward growled warningly.

"Penelope." Mia mumbled. Penelope blinked, realizing that she had gotten a bit too heated with Edward, who was of a higher rank than her. She lowered her gaze, slightly feeling a hint of shame for not being able to reign in her emotions very well. Luckily, Mia didn't seem to dwell on her lack of control and merely moved on with the meeting. "We have to take this risk to end them for what they have done." Mia agreed and looked over at Edward. "I say we send out a large patrol to Wheldrake to put an end to this madness before they strike again."

"I agree." Bennet jumped in quickly. "Any chance to get vengeance for our supplies and guards is worth it."

"I'll lead the patrol." Layth pitched in.

"You're still injured." Penelope pointed out shaking her head. She looked back to the barons with determination in her gaze. "If you approve, I'd like to lead it."

"I see no reason why you shouldn't." Mia agreed and glanced at the other two barons. Bennet gave an easy nod of agreement while Edward curled his lip before finally giving in and agreeing as well. With that settled, the meeting continued on as Penelope began to discuss the specifics of how big of a patrol and how soon they would leave. She wanted to leave as soon as possible but since already the afternoon, it looked like she'd have to wait until the following day before they could depart.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Penelope's just trying to focus on her work now xc

Nice c:
That sounds good to me xD It'll be interesting to see how that works since he probably won't be able to escape for a while and Penelope will be struggling to hold off the others(especially Layth) from just killing him
We could also potentially use it as a way to bring in John after a few days of Crow being stuck with the knights, if you want. I'm not sure if you had any other plans or wanted to wait longer before that but I could see him coming in with the supplies and planning to ask around about any sightings of Crow only to find out that he's right there in camp xD