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Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As they walked into the marketplace, Crow took a moment to make sure none of the local knights had noticed them step out of the woods. Fortunately, it seemed like they were too busy talking amongst themselves to notice their unusual entrance. He was glad they were so relaxed, thanks to their faith in their goddess. Hopefully they would be just as unaware when he and Penelope returned to the forest after he bought the supplies he needed.

“Just a couple of things,” he answered Penelope’s question absently. His eyes swept slowly over the crowd in search of a vendors that would sell what he was looking for, before finally landing on a short row of merchants by the food vendors. They were exchanging goods with a few young men who appeared to be serfs.

“This way,” he took Penelope’s hand and led her through the crowd as he made his way to the stands. Reaching the closest merchant, he looked over the wares on display until he saw one of the items he had been looking for. He waited for the merchant to finish an exchange with a serf and then stepped up to get his attention. “Excuse me,” he offered a friendly smile. “How much for a jar of almond oil?”

“Ten Tael,” the man replied curtly.

Crow dug in his bag and retrieved two silver coins, setting them down on the table, “I’ll take it.”

“Here you go,” the merchant grabbed a jar and handed it off to the thief.

“Thanks,” Crow nodded and moved on to the next stand where another vendor was selling kitchen wares. He purchased a small cooking pot from the man and stashed it in his bag along with the jar of oil. Leaning a bit closer to Penelope, he explained, “This stuff is to make the poison for our weapons.”

As they stood so close to the food stands, the aroma of cooked meats and vegetables drew his attention. It had been quite a while since they had eaten anything other than the food Penelope a taken from the wagon, and he was hungry after sparring. “We should get something to eat here,” he suggested. “This is a market for nobles and their servants, so the food has to be good. Besides, I can smell venison. Who knows when I’ll get to have that again once this mission is over.” He nudged her pleadingly. “Come on, we can spare a little more time, right?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Perfect x3
Just got my post up

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow met Penelope’s lips as she kissed him and then laughed, “If that’s how you’re going to thank me, then maybe I should be considerate more often.” He stood up with her and nodded in agreement when she said they should keep moving. Gathering his bags, he glanced at the town beyond the trees. It was becoming more visible as they got closer to the castle. The forest was thinning.

He turned back to the large stone building, trying to come up with ways that they could get closer without drawing attention to themselves once they reached the edge of the trees. It was going to be difficult while he carried the knight’s bow. They needed to stay away from both the nobles and the guards in the town, and he could think of only one way to do that.

“We should stop and rest when we reach the tree line,” Crow announced, turning to Penelope. “We need to start travelling after nightfall if we want to reach the castle without being seen. There’s no way to avoid the crowds during the day, but I can get us past the night patrols easily.” He looked back at the town again. There were still a few supplies that he wanted to get before they reached the palace as well. With so little time left before they would infiltrate the castle, this was probably the only day that he could find what he needed.

“Let’s make a quick detour,” Crow said suddenly. “I want to buy some things at the marketplace over there.” He stopped walking and tilted his head back to look up at a tree. Stepping up to the trunk, he climbed up to the lowest branch and took the bow and quiver off of his shoulders, hanging them both on a bough above his head. He jumped back down and drew his dagger, striking a small cut into the tree to mark it so he wouldn’t forget where he had hidden the weapon.

“That should do it,” he said, brushing his hands off on his pants. “Let’s just hope none of the day guards get curious and look up.” Turning back to her again, he grinned. “Ready?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Okay! I just got back, so I'll be available until the bonfire starts tonight if you're around ^^

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Can't wait ^^
I'll have more time tomorrow, because we have a long break between our morning and evening events
I think it's like 12-5:30 or something like that

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As Crow drove his dagger into Penelope’s, he put as much force into it as he could muster. His efforts paid off, as she was unable to keep her balance and fell down. He stood over her with his blade poised threateningly to solidify his victory. I won, he realized with a rush of excitement. No tricks this time, he had defeated her by skill alone. Perhaps he was better at fighting than he had expected himself to be.

“I learned from the best,” he said with a wink, stepping aside so she could get up from the ground. He noticed her pause to check her arm and felt the color drain from his face at the sight of the blood soaking through her bandage. Reflexively averting his gaze, he swallowed uncomfortably.

Stop being so weak, he rebuked himself silently. If this had been a real fight, there would have been a lot more blood than this. Forcing himself to return his gaze to Penelope, he leaned over and offered her a hand to stand up, “Come on, we should take care of that before we keep going.”

Guiding her over to where they had dropped off their bags, Crow crouched down and rummaged through the supplies in search of clean bandages and the henbane he had collected earlier. He reached for her hand again and gave it a soft tug, directing her to sit down in the grass with him.

“Even though I can’t stand blood, I do know a bit about dressing wounds,” he said as he began unraveling the bandage from her injured arm. His heart beat a bit quicker at the sight of the cut, but he ignored it. “I had to do this for myself when I was on my own,” he went on in an attempt to distract himself. Setting the old wrap aside and taking the henbane, he pulled one of the leaves off of the stalk—it had become quite dry over the course of the last two days—and crushed it in his hand. He held his fist over her arm and dropped the pieces onto her wound.

“That should help numb the pain,” he explained as he rewrapped her arm with a fresh bandage. Checking over his work to make sure it would hold, he looked up at her and smiled, “Consider this payment for the times you’ve helped me dress my wounds lately.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Thanks! I'm almost done now. We just have to call a bunch of freshmen to invite them to a bonfire tomorrow
It's gonna take like 3 hours :'D

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Okay! I'm pretty wiped, so I'll probably reply tomorrow after I get done with my 13 hour long training ^^

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

That's a good one too! I just listened to it again, and it definitely fits them cx

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow’s heartbeat quickened in excitement as his attack successfully threw her off balance. He was finally starting to get the hang of fighting. After he had stopped trying to think through all of his movements, he was beginning to develop some of his own techniques by letting his natural reflexes do the work for him. All that was left was for him to come up with some way to end the fight before she could find a way to recover and overtake him again.

With the turn of the tide also came a feeling Crow hadn’t experienced before. He felt genuinely powerful; like he could influence someone else by the force of his hand. It was simultaneously exhilarating and frightening to him. He enjoyed having such control, but he also didn’t like playing with a fire that had the potential to unleash something dark from within himself. If such a side existed, he wanted to keep it locked up deep inside.

I won’t let myself become like those tyrannous nobles, he thought determinedly. I won’t become my father—using and abusing others simply because I have the power to do so.

Focusing again on the battle at hand, he moved in to take advantage of Penelope’s imbalanced weight. He stepped into her defense and swiped his dagger towards her left side, attempting to end the fight by causing her to fall to the ground so she would have to surrender.