Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow grinned and followed Penelope out of the diner, ignoring the hostile look she threw at him along the way. He had planned to wait until they reached the outer villages before he made his escape, but she had practically handed him the perfect opportunity to run. There was no way he was going to pass this up. All he had to do now was get close enough to the edge of the village that he could get away without running into any of the local knights. He was already marking the route he would take in his head. He hadn’t been to this area in over a year, but he still remembered the general layout. There was a ridge to the northeast that he could climb, and from there he could find his way to—

“I really wasn’t looking for the company,” Penelope interrupted his thoughts. “But since you’ve weaseled your way out here with me, at least try to not cause trouble or bother me for once.” Her voice sounded oddly somber. Crow wavered. During their short time together, he found that he had come to like the knight, if only just a little bit. It was unsettling to see her look so upset. Somehow, it felt wrong to leave her like this, so maybe he could do one last nice thing for her before he ran. She was helping him escape, after all, even if she didn’t know it yet.

“Don’t take their words so harshly,” Crow said softly, walking alongside Penelope. “Despite what he said, I’m certain that your father loves you. I can tell because he has such high expectations for you. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have asked about your plans for the future; he wouldn’t have wanted to know.” He shrugged and averted his gaze. “Every family has its problems, but I’m sure you will work yours out in the end. You knights are stubborn like that. So, take it from someone who doesn’t have one… You’re lucky to be part of a family.”

He paused thinking something over, and then looked back at Penelope with his eyes narrowed warily. “I’m only going to tell you this once, so listen carefully. It’s a story I’ve never shared with anyone else before, but I think you need to hear it. Just promise me you’ll keep your mouth shut and never speak of this to anyone. Ever. Got it?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow eyed Layth skeptically. It almost seemed as if he was upset about being reunited with his younger sister. The cold look he had flashed her went beyond the typical, petty sibling rivalry. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought Layth actually despised Penelope. But surely that couldn’t be the case. Even nobles, as arrogant and pompous as they were, had to have at least some sense of familial ties. However, as the knights continued to converse their words became less and less friendly until they teetered on the verge of a fight.

Crow stared at them, taken aback. He couldn’t believe how unattached the family of knights seemed to be towards each other. Layth had been belittling his sister rather than congratulating her for her accomplishments, and John was no better. He had shot Penelope down the instant she had even tried to suggest accompanying him in the village. Were they really this shallow? What kind of father was he to push his daughter away like that? It was pathetic. He glared at them from across the table, only looking away when their dinner arrived.

The wench moved slowly around the table, setting down plates of food as she went. When she reached Crow’s seat, he caught hold of her wrist. She flinched and gave him a startled look, but he held a finger to his lips, smiling at her playfully. He snatched a small cloth from the table and dropped some food into it from his own plate, deftly folding it over and slipping the bundle into the girl’s dress pocket. She widened her eyes at him, but he spoke before she could object, “I asked you to bring me your favorite food off the menu, so you should have some, too. Take it home to your family. Ah ah,” he held up a hand when the girl opened her mouth to protest. “I can see right through you, love. You need this more than I do. I’m not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

The wench ducked her chin and smiled softly, “Thank you.” She turned and walked back to the kitchen.

Having completed his good deed for the day, Crow dug into his dinner. The girl had brought him bread, cooked vegetables, and some smoked chicken, along with a pint of mead as per his request. He ate ravenously, finishing his meal before all of the others. Feeling satisfied, he took a swig of his drink and sighed, leaning into his chair and tipping it onto its back legs. Layth shot him a disapproving look, but Crow ignored him. They were in the land of the common folk, so he could act as he pleased.

He glanced at Penelope and frowned. She had hardly touched her food. The fight amongst her family must have affected her more than she let on. Soon, she stood up to excuse herself from the table, “I’m going out for a bit… I’ll return to the inn later.”

“Alright,” William nodded. “But don’t be long. We will arrive in the outer villages tomorrow and begin our preparations to cross into Younis. I want everyone well rested.”

Crow watched her for a moment. She appeared to be quite distracted by everything that had just happened. He stifled a smirk. This could be the opportunity he had been waiting for. He quickly jumped to his feet and took a step towards the knight, “If you’re going, then I am, too.” He looked back at William, “You’re all boring, and she’s supposed to be guarding me anyway, so this won’t be a problem, right?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As the wench walked away with their orders, the knights returned to their boring conversation. Crow let his eyes rove across the room again. There were few other commoners in the restaurant. He suspected the men and women who frequented this place were mostly travelers or wandering merchants, since locals in the outer villages didn’t usually waste money on eating outside of their homes. Many of them grew their own food or bartered for it at a communal market so they could afford to pay their taxes to the king at the end of the season. To eat in a diner such as this one was a luxury to the average peasant.

His green eyes rested on a table of rowdy young men seated at the other end of the room. He felt a pang of envy. Their high spirits and boisterousness reminded him of his life before prison, when he would wander from town to town in search of worthy targets to rob. The thought made him feel nostalgic, so he pushed it away. No point dwelling on what once was when he could work on what was to come. If everything went according to plan, he would be the one sitting at a table with other villagers by the same time tomorrow.

Layth’s reaction to the peasants was much bitterer. He glowered at them in annoyance and muttered under his breath, “Why must commoners be so loud?”

“They’re just having fun,” Crow rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, meeting the knight’s gaze evenly. “You know, laughing is a surprisingly enjoyable activity. You should try it sometime.”

Curse of the Shadow [Jones Sparrow + Summer]

Finally got my post in. Sorry that took so long, I promise I don't usually take 20 days to reply XD
Also, you can decide what the locals are staring at if you want to. Or I could do it. Whatever you prefer :3

Curse of the Shadow [Jones Sparrow + Summer]

“Okay,” Danny nodded. “A souvenir shop, it is.” She made no comment on his attitude about Terry Town because, honestly, she felt the same way. She had been here long enough to know that the locals didn’t mean any harm, but their blank faces and monotone voices were still unnerving. Raymond really hit the nail on the head when he said he was ‘getting looks like he was going to die soon.’ She had gotten the same impression when she first arrived in this place.

“You usually stay a couple days in towns on the road?” Raymond asked. “Or just when you’re too exhausted?”

“No,” Danny said slowly, trying to think of a plausible excuse. ‘I like this town’ didn’t sound very believable at this point, but there was no way she could tell him the truth without sounding like a lunatic. “I was gonna keep going to the next town over, but something came up. I’m just staying here until everything… works itself out.” There. That wasn’t a half bad response. It was vague, but acceptable. She felt quite pleased with herself.

Danny then noticed a commotion on the side of the road. A group of townspeople were gathered in a ring, staring down at the ground. They were murmuring to each other incoherently. Danny slowed to a stop, watching the strange event from a distance. Okay, this was strange; even more so than usual. The locals never took interest in anything, so what had they found that actually caught their attention? She glanced at Raymond, “Maybe there’s a street fight. Want to go check it out?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow looked around when the group arrived at the small restaurant. There were few other people since it was a semi-decent location compared to the rest of the village, but the ones could see were all of the lower class. He felt much more at ease here than he had in the previous diner, where every guest had looked upon him with a critical gaze. He could always cope with the aloof nobles, but he enjoyed being able to relax with members of his own peasant class. Here, he didn’t have to put on an act or assert his pride in order to be treated like a human being—at least, he only had to do that for the knights he was travelling with.

Crow sat down between Penelope and Abraxas—the two least hostile of his companions—when they reached their table. Layth sat across from him. Of course, it didn’t take long for the knight to make another snide comment to his sister, “If you keep treating pests like him so kindly, they’ll get attached, you know.”

“True, true,” Crow nodded sagely. He leaned close to Penelope as if he was going to whisper into her ear, but he spoke loudly enough that her brother would have been able to hear him as well, “You shouldn’t get too close to that one. He might start following you around.”

He looked up as a young wench stepped over to take the group’s orders, starting with William and John. The girl moved and spoke with hints of nervousness when addressing the knights. She was likely afraid of them for their authority to punish lowly peasants such as herself when they made trivial mistakes, and for that, he pitied her. After living in the outer villages for so long, he had seen many instances of knights who had abused their power to take advantage of poor commoners, so when the wench came around to his side of the table, he flashed her a friendly smile.

The girl returned his gesture with a faintly upturned lip, “What would you like, sir?”

“Whatever you think is best, love,” Crow winked at her. “Just bring me a lot of it, if you would. I’m quite famished. Oh, and some mead would be wonderful, as well. Thank you.” The girl nodded without writing anything down. He guessed she was illiterate as well. It wasn’t surprising. Most peasants didn’t know how to read or write. There were no schools or scholars willing to teach them.

She turned to Penelope to take her order next, “And for you…” she trailed off, seeming unsure of how she should address a female knight. “Miss?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow frowned when John agreed to eat dinner with them. There were many things about this decision that he didn’t like. For one, he hated Layth as much as the knight hated him, and the thought of spending any more time with him turned his stomach; however, their father was an even bigger problem. Crow was relying on his ability to trick Penelope into trusting him in order to escape, but if he tried to get friendly with her while John was watching, he would be practically begging to get killed. As long as the family of knights stayed with them, he would have to put his plans on standby. He didn’t have time to wait. They would reach the outer villages tomorrow, so he couldn’t afford to sit around until her father left. He would just have to find a way to steal some moments alone with Penelope when John and Layth weren’t looking.

William led the way as the group began walking towards the inn. He struck up a conversation with John while Abraxas listened and occasionally interjected with a question or two, but they only spoke about uninteresting things like crime rates and food supplies in the village, so Crow tuned them out. He glanced at Layth. The knight was also listening quietly to his father’s description of the village welfare, but he occasionally looked back at Crow. He was likely still mad about how the thief had spoken to him earlier; or he didn’t trust him because he was a criminal; or perhaps both.

“I think your brother doesn’t like me,” Crow said quietly to Penelope. He gestured discreetly at Layth, “Is he always this ill-tempered towards the men in your life or am I just special?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Careful,” Crow curled his lip at the knight. “Dogs can bite, too.” Usually he prided himself on staying above petty arguments, but this guy was really rubbing him the wrong way. He reminded him of his old prison guards, but with even less of a filter. Everything about him was annoying. Crow shifted his weight, ready to run if the knight made a move towards him, but Penelope stepped in first, tentatively reminding her brother that the king wanted the thief to remain unharmed.

“John, Layth,” another voice spoke up. Crow looked up to see William approaching the group with Abraxas.

As Layth turned away from him to acknowledge the other knights, Crow took the opportunity to put some distance between them. He stepped around to Penelope’s other side and glowered at him. He knew it wasn’t particularly ‘manly’ to stand behind a woman, but he was also aware that if it came down to brute strength, he was painfully outmatched at the moment. Besides, Penelope had already proven that she would stop her brother if he attempted to attack him again.

If William had noticed the tension between Layth and Crow, he didn’t care. He gazed upon Penelope’s father with a mixture of curiosity and reverence. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“We were just stopping by to see how your mission has been progressing,” John replied noncommittally. Crow stared at him. He wasn’t even going to mention his daughter? He glanced at Penelope again. She was taking everything surprisingly well. But, then again, this was all probably normal to her. He sighed softly. It was no wonder she didn’t know how stop and take a moment to relax. With a father as businesslike as hers, he doubted she had had much of a childhood.

Crow leaned over to whisper to the female knight, “Quite a family you have here.”

“I know you both must be very busy,” William went on. “But if you can find the time, we would be honored if you would join us for dinner tonight.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Okay, cool! :3 Can't wait to see it

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

What is Penelope's father's name? I might need it in my next post :P