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Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Get up. Time to go.”

Crow let out an exaggerated groan as he forced himself to sit up. His sporadic naps hadn’t lasted nearly long enough, and he was still feeling bruised. He also wanted to stall for as much time as he could get before they returned to the other knights. It was petty, but he wanted to get back at Penelope for capturing him in any way he could. Wasting her time was the easiest way to do so.

He raised his arms over his head in a long stretch and then slowly rose to his feet, wincing as if the effort pained him. Technically, it did hurt to stand up, but his soreness had faded to a dull throb. He looked around, trying to think of other ways to delay her. Pretending to be wounded would only get him so far. He needed another tactic. He glanced back at the river, following its winding path with his eyes. From what he could remember about this area, they hadn’t been swept terribly far from where they had started. His gaze drifted up towards the darkening sky and then back to Penelope. Despite her tough act, he could tell that she could barely stand on her feet without swaying. It wasn’t much, but at least now he had something to work with.

“I hope you’re feeling well-rested,” he taunted. “Because you shouldn’t keep William waiting.” He turned and began walking upstream, back in the direction they had come from. If he had been with a less observant knight, he might have tried going downstream to send them in the wrong direction, but he knew Penelope would never fall for such a simple trick. It would have been pointless to even bother.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to have a little fun with her.

As they walked, Crow began to hum a simple, lilting melody. He glanced discreetly at Penelope and then looked away again, pretending to observe their surroundings as he quietly carried the tune in the hopes of lulling the already tired knight into an even less wakeful state.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Of course, Penelope’s answer to the thief’s question was an instant ‘no.’ Crow shrugged. He hadn’t expected anything more. He had only been trying to be disagreeable by asking since he was still frustrated about getting caught. He had been so close to freedom, but she just had to go and ruin everything. Now, he would have to go back to the other knights and complete the king’s ridiculous quest. Penelope and the others weren’t going to let their guards down again after this last stunt, so he knew he would have no more chances to escape. Naturally, he was going to be bitter about it for a while.

He followed Penelope with his eyes as she reclaimed her sword. He tensed as the knight drew the blade, but it seemed she was only doing so in order to drain the river water from its sheath, so he relaxed again. Right. She was still under orders from the king, so she couldn’t kill him. He just hoped she wouldn’t get the urge to give him any warning cuts for causing trouble.

He watched as Penelope walked unstably over to a nearby tree to sit down and told him to rest. Crow had no complaints with that order, so he moved a bit farther from the river’s edge and laid down again. He cast Penelope an annoyed glance, “I would suggest the same to you, but you have to stay awake to keep an eye on me. Can’t have your captive running while you nod off, now can you?” With that, he rolled onto his side so that he was facing away from the knight, silently indicating that he was done with their conversation.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow woke up sore and dazed on the edge of the riverbank. He groaned and attempted to sit up, but his muscles burned in protest. The effort was too straining, so he gave up and closed his eyes, laying still. Well, that plan had been a complete and utter failure. He had never expected that Penelope would be able to keep up with him in the thick of a forest. For that, he blamed his year in prison. He had been locked up for so long that he was out of practice.

But how had he ended up in a river? He struggled to remember the chase. He had been running through a valley in the forest, and then he had come across the water… Then something had pushed him over the edge. Only one option came to mind as he pondered what the ‘something’ had been. He opened his eyes again and saw Penelope lying unconscious a little farther downstream. She must have fallen into the river after him.

He made another attempt to get up. This could be his chance. If he took off now, he could put some distance between himself and the knight before she woke up. But the effort was so tiring. He glanced at Penelope again. She looked like she was out cold. He still had some time, so a little extra sleep wouldn’t hurt, right? If he just took a quick nap, he could get some of his energy back and run away before she knew what happened. He laid down again and closed his eyes, letting out his breath slowly. He would just sleep for a few more minutes, and then he would be on his way…

--

Crow grimaced as he felt a sharp prod in his side. He lazily opened one eye, and then startled when he saw Penelope standing over him.

“Still alive?” she said coldly.

He opened his mouth, but found that he couldn’t reply. What was she doing awake already? Had he overslept? He sat up hurriedly, an action which he quickly regretted as a fresh wave of pain washed over his body. He was feeling slightly better since the last time he had woken up, but he was still quite battered from the river rapids, and the sudden movement didn’t help anything. There was no way he was strong enough to get away from Penelope now. He was at her mercy.

Crow looked up at her and offered a halfhearted smile, “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to just let me go, would you?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow’s eyes darted to Penelope’s hand as she began to reach for her sword. She had caught onto his plan faster than he had expected, which unfortunately meant that he would have to cut short his grandiose speech. He took a step back. She reached out to grab hold of his tunic, but he was much quicker. In one sharp movement, he pivoted on his heel and sprinted into the forest, using the trees as cover in case she tried to throw her sword at him.

As he weaved his way through the foliage, Crow glanced back over his shoulder to see that Penelope was giving chase. He snorted. Fine, if she wanted to waste her time pursuing him, he wasn’t going to object. He made an abrupt turn to the east and climbed down into a steep valley. The bottom was thick with trees, which he hoped to use to his advantage. If he could just get far enough ahead of the knight, he could easily find a place to hide down here.

He looked back again to find that Penelope was still keeping up with him. In fact, she had even gained back some ground. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and picked up his pace, narrowly avoiding a low-hanging tree branch. She could be such a pain. After everything he had done to comfort her, she couldn’t even do him the courtesy of turning a blind eye when he ran away? It was completely inconsiderate.

Crow turned his attention back to where he was going and then gasped, coming to an abrupt halt. In his momentary distraction, he had almost run straight into a fast-flowing river. He cursed under his breath and hurriedly searched for an exit point. However, before he could take a single step, he felt something crash into his side, the force of it knocking him off his feet. He let out a startled yelp as he fell into the rapids.

The water was shockingly cold and powerful. He fought to keep his head above the surface, but it was a difficult task, seeing as he hardly knew how to swim. He struggled against the swift current for a while until, finally, he slipped out of consciousness.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

M'kay! Looking forward to it :)

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I think we should go with your idea. We can take it in a lot of different directions, so it leaves us with more room to develop the relationship between our characters (wherever that may lead, heheh) :3

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

That would be interesting XD
I like that idea, but I think if we do it, it should only take them one night to find their way back at the most. Otherwise, the others might start freaking out lol :3

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

So, I was thinking that here Penelope could either catch on to what Crow is trying to do and stop him before he gets away (he still underestimates her because he looks down on knights). Or she could try to persuade him not to leave (she could trick him, use a guilt trip, bribe him, etc... whatever method you think would be best :P)

I can work with it if Crow gets away, but I think it would be more fun if Penelope ruins his plans XD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow softened a bit at Penelope’s gentle expression. When she thanked him, he flushed slightly and looked away, muttering: “It was nothing…” He still felt strange for trying to comfort the her. Ever since he was a child, he had considered all knights to be his enemies, but he somehow found it difficult to look at Penelope in such a way. Like the other knights he had known, she was strict and distant, but at least she had treated him like a human. He was glad to have met her.

But now, it was nearing time to say goodbye.

After a moment, Penelope spoke up again, “Your situation was unfortunate, to say the least... Nobles are selfish people...They care only for the security of their name and rank.”

“You speak as if you’re not one of them,” Crow said absently. As he spoke, he let his eyes wander discreetly over the houses around them. They were getting close to the edge of the village now, and he couldn’t have hoped for better circumstances. Penelope had completely let her guard down, they were alone, and there wasn’t a single local knight in the area. He swallowed in anticipation, being careful to keep his expression neutral so Penelope wouldn’t suspect anything. Now that he had done his part to help her recover from the fight at dinner, he could leave without any regrets.

As they neared the tree line, Crow glanced back at Penelope. While he wanted to make a clean break for the forest, he couldn’t help but add a little bit of flair to his escape. It was just his nature. He stepped in front of the knight and turned around so that he was walking backwards in front of her, “Do you remember what William said about a knight being able to do the job I was assigned by the king? I don’t believe it for a moment. What about you?” He crossed his arms and smirked at her challengingly. “Do you think you could sneak into the Younisian king’s palace and steal his beloved staff?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow shifted his weight awkwardly. His sudden change in attitude seemed to have confused Penelope. It made sense though. Until now, everything he had said and done to her had been out of his own self-interest. In fact, he wasn’t even sure why he felt the need to open up to her about this particular story. Even if she was helping him escape, it was risky for him to share anything about himself with a knight. Yet here he was, prepared to offer her a piece of his past.

He held her gaze and then nodded, accepting her word when she said she wouldn’t say anything. Heart pounding with nervousness, he exhaled as he readied himself to tell the tale. “I know you must think it’s none of my business, but I can’t stand seeing families fight like that. It’s frustrating when they don’t realize what they have and how fortunate they are.” A smile tugged at the corner of his lip. “Do you remember when you asked me why I became a thief? Well, the answer I gave you was a lie. It is satisfying to rob the wealthy of their excess, but that isn’t the only reason why I do what I do.

“You see, my father… he’s a noble; the viceroy for the king. If you’ve lived in the inner citadel for any length of time, you’ve probably seen him around.” He averted his gaze, suddenly self-conscious. He knew it wasn’t difficult to see the resemblance between himself and his father if one looked closely enough. According to his mother, they had a lot of physical similarities, including their dark, wavy hair, pale green eyes, and sharp jawlines. He had no memories of his father, but he suspected that he had grown up to bear quite a few other features of the man as well.

After a pause, Crow went on, “Anyway, he met my mother when he was stopping in the outer villages on his way to Younis for an assignment. She was young, and he was taken by her beauty, so he charmed her into spending a night with him. After that, he went on his way.

“He spent about three months in Younis performing various tasks for the king, and then returned to Brerra. By that time, my mother already knew she was with child, so when she heard that he had come back, she immediately sought him out to tell him the news.” Crow’s expression turned cold. “But when she told him, he didn’t even do her the justice of taking responsibility. Instead, he claimed she was a harlot who had seduced him, and she was outcast from her society.

“My mother was forced to move to another village and rebuild her life from scratch. She was scarred by my father, so when I was born, she kept an emotional distance from me. I took after my father in my appearance, so every time she looked at me, she saw him. She tried to get past it, but I always knew she never really got over how I look.

“Teaching me to be a thief, while it put food on the table, was also her way of getting revenge against him. It’s disgraceful for a noble to have a criminal for a son. I wouldn’t be surprised if my mother had been hoping I would make a name for myself so my father would find out what I had become.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “I’d give anything to see the look on his face.” He shook his head. “My main point in all this is that you shouldn’t take your family for granted, and they shouldn’t take you for granted either. They may feel like a pain in the ass right now, and not everything will go your way, but you’re lucky you have them. Not everyone does.”

Crow stopped walking and fixed his gaze on the ground. Something must have possessed him, or maybe he was losing his mind. Even if he was trying to help Penelope, it wasn’t like him to share such a personal story. He had never told it to anyone before. The secret of his father’s identity had been kept solely between him and his mother ever since he had been born. Why he was suddenly putting his trust in a knight he had just met, he had no idea.

He shot Penelope a warning glare, “If you tell anyone what I just said, I will murder you in your sleep.”