Trash Panda

Messengers of Heaven and Hell

“That’s good to know,” Roman chuckled when Abigail said she liked how unpredictable he was. “I’ll do my best to keep you on your toes.” He shot her a coy wink and then dug into the food she had prepared. Bringing a forkful to his mouth, he chewed slowly as she went on to give him a brief explanation of her parents’ work and her life traveling abroad. He found it interesting that she had been born in Japan and moved to her family’s home country later on, and he wondered offhandedly if she had dual citizenship in both nations. Not being familiar with the laws in Japan, he was curious how that worked.

When she asked him his option of the dinner she had cooked, he nodded enthusiastically. “It’s great. I haven’t had chicken this good in a long time. You’re quite the talented chef, Abby.” As if to prove his point, he popped another bite of food into his mouth. He chased it with the water she had brought and then leaned back in his chair to meet her gaze across the table as he contemplated what to share with her about himself. It wasn’t that he was a particularly reserved person, but he wanted to choose information that would keep her interested so she would want to go on a third date with him.

“You know, it’s funny that you mention you were born in another country,” he said after a moment’s pause. “I’m actually from Brazil, myself, although you might not be able to tell. I’ve been told I don’t have much of an accent anymore.” He smiled proudly, recalling how he had worked hard to master English when he had been younger so American businessmen would take him seriously. Being fluent in the language had come in handy as he rose through the ranks of P.H. Co.

He went on, “I came to this country on a work visa when I was twenty, and applied for my EB-1A after three years of being employed at Precision Horizons—they manufacture and sell security tech to businesses in New York. The EB-1A, if you don’t already know, is a green card for immigrants with ‘extraordinary abilities.’ Basically, it just means I excelled at my field enough to be allowed to stay in the country.” He shrugged casually. “As long as I keep working in marketing and sales, I can’t be deported, and I’ll be able to make a living for myself in America. It’s a pretty sweet deal.”

Roman leaned forward again to take another bite of chicken before going on to ask, “So, how did you end up in the Big Apple if your family travels so much?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It's all good. I get that sometimes too

No prob! Glad you like it ^^
I just like having an excuse to use all this software I paid way too much money for :'D

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow braced himself to take off when Penelope agreed that they should try to outpace the other travelers. As William followed after them, the thief glanced back over his shoulder to see that the two men weren’t giving chase, but had split up to head down opposing streets instead. He frowned concernedly. He knew they hadn’t given up that easily, but he couldn’t tell what they were trying to do. There was no way they could catch up by taking a different street while he and the knights were galloping down a straight road. It didn’t make sense. There had to be another reason.

What if we’re already surrounded? the thought came to him suddenly, and he blanched, hurriedly turning back around in the saddle to look forward. Of course! It was the only thing that made sense. The two men in the rear had split off to cover the exits while their comrades in the front were going to cut off the three from passing. He cursed and turned to tell Penelope his theory, but she and William were caught up in another argument.

Arrogant old fool! Crow thought scathingly, shooting the older knight a glare. “Hey!” he called out, trying to get their attention, but William was too caught up in the moment to notice his urgent tone. He was just about to try again when a sudden flash of movement caught his eye just up ahead. A new rider had appeared in the road, blocking their path.

“Look out!” he shouted to Penelope, but it was too late. They were too close to stop now. He inhaled sharply as the stallion reared up beneath him. In the next moment, he felt Penelope’s weight fall into his chest as she lost her grip on the reins, sending both of them crashing heavily to the ground.

Crow laid on the road in a daze as he tried to catch his breath from the impact. He could see William off to one side, trying to calm his frightened mare. It seemed that he had managed to just barely hold on when his horse had bucked. Off to the other side of the street, the stallion he and Penelope had been riding was bobbing its head and pawing nervously at the ground after having been spooked by the new arrival.

Knowing the danger was far from over, he forced himself to climb back to his feet despite a protest of pain in his lower back. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it and reached to draw the closest weapon he had: the dagger in his right boot. Holding it up in a defensive stance, he took in the rest of the scene around him.

There were now two riders in front of them on large, brown quarter horses. They were big, just like the mercenary who had attacked him and Penelope before. However, the detail he found most off-putting was that the men were armed to the teeth. A number of different weapons hung from belts at their waists and sashes across their chests. Some were familiar to Crow, while others were completely foreign. There was no doubt in his mind now that they were paid killers.

These must be the people Aeklora was warning us about, he thought, his eyes flitting cautiously between the two men in front of him. He slowly edged back from them as he tried to think of a way out of the situation.

“What the hell is this?” William’s furious voice interrupted the brief silence. The knight had managed to regain control of his mare and was now glowering at the strangers with unbridled rage. He was so angry that he hadn’t even bothered to use the Younisian accent he had been rehearsing. A few bystanders cast him looks of surprise and began whispering amongst themselves.

“Not good,” Crow muttered, glancing worriedly at Penelope. They needed to get away before the local knights learned of their position or the situation would become even worse.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Okay! I have a couple big projects I need to finish up by Saturday, but I should have some free time this weekend and/or next week to try and make it work

No worries. I probably won't be on again until 9 tonight anyway

--

EDIT: I finished one of my projects way earlier than I was expecting, so I got around to editing the photo x3

Here ya go

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Maybe not,” Crow said doubtfully when Penelope said the travelers probably wouldn’t attack them in the middle of the town. He wanted to believe it was true, but then again, the last time they had gotten attacked was when they were travelling along the main road, much like they were now. He wasn’t going to put it past them to try something out in the open—not after the boldness of their last assailant. With that thought in mind, he continued to keep the two men in the corner of his eye, watching them carefully for any sudden movements.

What made matters worse was the fact that William seemed completely unaware that they might be in danger. He wanted to alert the knight to the potential threat that the other travelers posed, but he knew he would never listen to him. Casting a glance back towards Penelope, he realized the knight might not listen to her either. William was so caught up in his distaste for their relationship that he seemed to want nothing to do with either of them at the moment. He would probably just write them off as paranoid to keep moving if either of them voiced their concerns.

This could be bad, Crow thought, chewing on the inside of his lip as he returned his gaze to the two men once more. They had fallen farther behind now, but they seemed to be traveling just fast enough to keep the three in their sights at all times. He was beginning to feel more confident that they weren’t normal travelers after all.

At Penelope’s question, he shook his head concernedly, “I’m not sure. If we try to change course, William will probably just accuse us of wasting time and refuse to go along with it.” He shifted slightly to look over Penelope’s shoulder, towards the road ahead of them. It was rather straight, with only a few small bends and curves. Some people milled around the edges of the street at the stands of various merchants, but it was otherwise clear.

“We could just take off,” Crow suggested, meeting her gaze again. “William will have no choice but to chase after us, and we might be able to lose them if they aren’t expecting us to move so quickly. If we can outpace them, we might be able to come up with enough time to think of a better plan.”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I love it~
It's like our characters have minds of their own now x3

Makes sense! I just wanted to update Crow's since it's more effective than just describing his physical changes in the IC
If you want, I could try to photoshop the scar onto the picture you have of her now. I've done it once before for another person's character
Scars can be tricky, so I can't guarantee it'll work, but I can give it a shot when I have some free time if you'd like!

example

Also, I'm about to go to bed, so I'll get my reply done after my class tomorrow

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'm excited to hear it x3
I just finished writing up Crow's timeline today. It actually ended up being more interesting than I was expecting
I love it when characters end up doing their own thing instead of what I was expecting to write about. It low-key happens to me a lot in this RP since we've developed our characters so much lol

Definitely! I'm gonna move over the CSs I made for the Mannering family too once we get there

Also, I found an updated CS picture for Crow after the time skip, since he's going to look a lot different in two years
Right now, he's thinner and paler from being in prison for so long, so I wanted to find an image that will fit him once he's in better shape
Also, I imagine him growing out a beard because guys do that for some reason when they get out of relationships lol
Fortunately, the guy I used as a face claim for him originally did a movie with the exact look I was going for ^^

sneak peek at two-years-from-now Crow

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As the group rode onward, Crow leaned against Penelope’s back, finding himself to be more relaxed in spite of his desire to stay alert. It was difficult for him to remember that they were still in danger while their surroundings were so peaceful. Besides, they had been travelling for a few days now, and no one had attacked them so far. He was beginning to wonder if the threat Aeklora had warned him about had backed off after all. It would be nice to make it all the way back to Brerra without any more hostile encounters.

We should be alright for now, he thought, stifling a yawn. Whoever is after us has had plenty of opportunities to strike, and yet there’s been nothing. What are the odds they’ll choose to ambush us now, in the middle of a town? Against his better judgement, he closed his eyes to relax as he pressed up to Penelope’s pleasantly warm body.

He didn’t move again until he noticed a change in the stallion’s stride. Blinking his eyes open, he saw that they had been slowed by a couple of travelers on horseback that were blocking most of the road ahead of them. Of course, William, being in a hurry, managed to make a path around them, passing the slow group with an irritated look.

As Crow and Penelope passed them as well to follow after their impatient comrade, the thief glanced subtly at the men. Both of them looked rather large, with muscular arms that were uncovered by sleeveless brown shirts and solid torsos that bulged beneath the fabric of their clothing. However, what unnerved him most about the two was how quiet they were. Neither one said anything to the three travelers passing them by, and they also refrained from speaking with each other.

He felt a wary chill creep up his spine as he recalled the mercenary that had attacked them before. What if these guys are paid killers too? He frowned. Maybe they aren’t talking because they speak that same foreign language and don’t want to give themselves away? His fears gave way slightly to confusion as the men fell slowly behind them. Even though they were suspicious looking, they weren’t making any moves to attack him or his companions. Perhaps they were just harmless travelers after all?

“Does something seem… off?” Penelope’s hushed voice caught his attention. He turned to her, a bit more unnerved now that he knew she shared his discomfort.

“Yeah,” Crow nodded, speaking under his breath as he cast another furtive glance over his shoulder at the pair of strangers. “I don’t like how quiet they are. It’s almost as if they’re waiting for us to get out of earshot before they speak.” His hand inched down towards the bow that was hidden beneath the saddlebags on their horse. “I’ll feel better when they’re long behind us…”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Nice x3
I'm still tossing around two or three ideas for Crow's perspective at that point, so I don't have it written yet lol

I'd be super down to hear it~
I could give you Crow's side too, although not too many big events will happen because he's pretty much just going back to his old life
Also, I was thinking we should update their CSs with all the background info once we get to that point ^^

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

As Crow approached the knights, he could tell that there was a clear tension between them. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at William, his gut reaction being to assume the older knight had done something to set her off. However, as he took in the scene a bit more, it didn’t look like there had been a fight between them. Even though they seemed annoyed with each other, he didn’t detect any malicious glares as there usually were whenever William was around. The thief relaxed again.

“I had to dodge around a few noblemen,” he shrugged at Penelope’s question. “But other than that, there was no trouble at all.” He passed off the reins of the stallion to her as he spoke.

“Let’s keep moving,” William cut in grumpily as he took his mare from Crow and climbed onto the animal’s back. “We still have a lot of ground to cover, so we can’t afford to waste time idly talking.”

Crow shot him a cold look, biting back a sharp retort. What ‘idle talking’? He had only answered Penelope’s question. It was frustrating how the knight criticized every little thing he did, but he forced himself to take a calming breath and keep his irritation to himself. After all, he had promised Penelope that he would try to stop letting William get under his skin so much, and he intended to keep his word to her.

Standing back for her to mount the horse first, he cast a quick look around the street. Everything seemed peaceful, but he didn’t want to let himself forget Aeklora’s warning: Someone was still after them. If that someone was anything like the mercenary who had attacked him and Penelope before, he or she could strike from anywhere at any time. It was an unnerving thought.

Once Penelope was settled down in the saddle, Crow climbed up and took his seat behind her. He wrapped his arms around her middle as they continued on down the road, letting out his breath contentedly, “Hopefully this day will go by more smoothly than the last.”