Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Ouch,” Crow rolled his eyes sarcastically when Penelope said she had common sense. “Way to kick a man when he’s down.” He paused, flexing his right hand. It seemed like some of his mobility was coming back to him already. While it was still difficult for him to make his body move, he felt like he was steadily regaining control of it. So two drops are enough to down someone, but only for a short period of time, he noted, absently rolling his ankles. We should probably add a little bit more when we apply the oil to our weapons.

He looked up at Penelope when she asked if she could help him, blinking to see past the hallucinations brought on by the henbane. “I think it’s already starting to wear off,” he spoke a bit more steadily than before. “But yes. Water would be great, thanks.” Taking a deep breath to calm his upset stomach, he forced himself to sit up and shift so his back was resting against a nearby tree. He closed his eyes, since the world around him still felt like it was moving. Now that he was experiencing the effects of the henbane oil, he almost felt bad for the unknowing knights and staff of the Younisian castle that they were going to use it on. Unfortunately, with so little time to prepare, it was the best option they had to get in and out as quickly as possible.

“At least we can say for sure that this will work now,” Crow stretched his legs out in front of himself as he started to regain feeling in his limbs. Focusing intently, he reached for the pot and poured most of its contents back into the jar. “Take this with you when you get inside the palace,” he said, looking up at Penelope. “It’s strong enough that this should be all we need to take out the entire staff, and then we can use what’s left in the pot to lace our weapons.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I just got home, so I might not get a reply up tonight
Although, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm just not gonna get 8 hours of sleep, so I also might stay up late to write one more xD
Either way, I'm gonna do homework now, so it probably won't be for a couple hours if I do write something

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I hope it's only good news when they get back to you ^^

That'll be my last one for a little bit. I'm leaving to go pick up the squad for a bowling night in half an hour~

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow managed a smile at Penelope’s words. He absently noticed her place a hand on his arm, although her touch felt distant somehow, as if the arm didn’t belong to him, and he was just observing the interaction from somewhere else. It was a strange sensation. He drew back and rested his forearm across his eyes, trying to block out the sight of the trees that seemed to be moving around him. Even though he knew it was just a hallucination, their motion made him feel nauseated.

“Seemed like… a good idea at the time,” he explained to her with a grimace. “Not so much now.” Though he was glad he knew the poison worked, he definitely regretted the method he had used to obtain that knowledge. Lying on his back, focusing on breathing all while trying to ignore strange visions that made him feel sick was not something he planned to do ever again. He just hoped the henbane would wear off quickly so he could move again.

More so than that, he also hoped no knights would find them before the poison was out of his system. It wouldn’t be hard for someone to kill him while he was unable to defend himself. He didn’t like feeling so vulnerable.

“This is the worst,” Crow groaned. “If you ever think… ‘hey, I should test this poison on myself’ just don’t… don’t do it. I’m pretty sure I saw… a deer with wings fly over us just now.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

No prob! Everything all good?

Crow got a little impulsive xD

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“I will,” Crow agreed when Penelope asked him to wake her up when they needed to leave. He sat down next to the fire again with his supplies in hand. After tending to the flames a bit more, he poured the almond oil into the pot and dropped the dried henbane plant in with it. All that was left now was to sit back and wait for the liquid to boil long enough for it to be an effective poison. He leaned back on his palms and sighed, halfheartedly looking around his surroundings for signs of motion. Of course, there was none, so he busied himself by picking up a stick and tracing meaningless patterns in the dirt.

Time passed slowly by as he watched small bubbles begin to rise in the pot. The sun sank lower in the sky, and he yawned as his body habitually prepared to sleep. He quietly stood up and paced around the edge of the small clearing, using the movement to keep himself alert. With nothing else to do, his mind wandered absently to memories of the past. It was strange to think that this moment was the most similar to how he had lived before, yet it felt so much lonelier now. He was so used to Penelope’s warm company that doing anything by himself felt unnatural.

I went so many years without knowing what I was missing out on, he mused, kicking a small rock with his foot. And now that I’ve found it, I can’t imagine going back. His eyes wandered to Penelope who laid sleeping by the fire, and he smiled. Who would have thought that one person could have so much of an impact on another? Despite his arrest and imprisonment, he was glad things had turned out this way. It was all worth it to meet her.

--

After a while of waiting, Crow sat down by the pot again to see if it was done. By this point, the sun had almost reached the horizon, and the fire would be visible to anyone who happened to pass nearby. He swirled a stick in the oil, but having never tried to make a poison out of henbane before, he wasn’t sure how to tell if it needed more time. He drummed his fingers on his knee, trying to remember what Hazel had taught him about herbs.

Mix the plant with a cooking oil and leave it boiling over a fire, he recalled unhelpfully. Damn it, she never said how long to let it sit. He let out his breath and glanced up at the darkening sky. Whether the solution was done or not, he couldn’t let the fire burn any longer or he would risk getting spotted by a knight. Setting the pot aside, he threw dirt over the flames to put them out, covering any trace that they had been there.

Once that was done, he sat back and looked at Penelope again. It was getting dark out, but there was still some time to spare before they needed to leave, so he didn’t want to wake her up just yet. He glanced back at the pot of henbane oil. He still didn’t know if it had cooked long enough to work, and he didn’t like the idea of leaving his plan up to chance either. Maybe I can test it, he thought, tapping his index finger on the ground. It’s poison, but I only threw in one plant. It can’t be that potent, right?

Crow picked up the stick he had been using to draw in the dirt and dipped the tip in the pot. When he pulled it back out, it was slick with golden oil. He held it still for a moment before, succumbing to his curiosity, he brought it to his mouth and let a couple of drops fall on his tongue.

At first, he felt nothing but a slight tingling sensation from the warmth of the liquid, and he worried it hadn’t boiled long enough after all. However, after a few seconds, he started to feel light headed. He blinked in surprise. The unusual feeling continued to spread, until he became disconnected from both his surroundings and his own body. He tried to raise a hand to his head, but his arm wouldn’t comply. Suddenly lethargic, he laid down on the ground, staring up at the dark blue sky as the henbane took its course through his body.

At least… I know it works now, he thought sluggishly, his breaths coming to him in the form of soft panting. For a moment, he worried he might have made it too potent after all, but he quickly put the fear to rest. Even though he found it difficult to breathe, it didn’t feel like his lungs were seizing up. He would be fine once the poison worked its way out of his system.

He winced, realizing he was in no shape to keep watch anymore. From what he knew about henbane, it wouldn’t be long before he started hallucinating, and once that happened, he wouldn’t be able to tell a knight from a tree. Forcing himself to move, he reached for Penelope’s shoulder to wake her up. “Hey,” he said slowly. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth. “Keep watch for a bit… Henbane works.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow looked up at the castle as they walked. It was much closer now, so much so that he could start to see more details in the stonework of the curtain wall. While he needed to stand next to it to really tell for sure, it looked smoother than the castle back in Brerra. For someone planning to climb up its surface without support, that wasn’t the best sign. He just hoped there would be grips along the wall that were close enough together that he could still make it up to one of the windows in the keep without getting stuck.

I guess I’ll find out tomorrow, he thought, turning to Penelope as she pointed out a thick cluster of trees near the edge of the forest. “It’ll be enough as long as I can put the fire out before dusk,” he said, changing direction to head for the shelter. He glanced back at her and grinned, “Good eye, love.” The spot was far enough from the nearest town that it was unlikely any guards would come to check it out, and they had made good time, so he would be able to finish making the poison for their weapons before darkness fell if he worked fast.

When they were out of sight of the town, Crow set down his bags and began searching for tinder to get the fire started. “Look for old, dry wood,” he said to Penelope and he paced along the base of a tree. “That’ll catch the fastest.” After finding a sufficient amount, he meticulously piled it in a small clearing and went back to his bag to get the flint and steel he had taken from the wagon. He struck them over the tinder nest he had made until it began to glow softly. Then, after fanning the flames until they were of self-sustaining proportions, he began to set up the cooking pot he had purchased at the market. He positioned it over the fire, so the flames licked at its base.

Satisfied with the arrangement, he stood back up to get the oil and henbane. “I can keep watch while this is cooking,” he said, turning to Penelope once more. “You should get some sleep. We’ll probably arrive at the castle by daybreak, and you’ll be going in first, so you won’t have much time to rest again until after we get out tomorrow night. I have all day, on the other hand, so I can stay up now.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

-duplicated post-

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I just got back from campus, so I'll write my reply now!

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'll probably get my reply done tomorrow, because I'm getting up early to work out again with my buddy cx