Trash Panda

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow leaned calmly against a tree in the small clearing as he waited for Penelope to arrive. While he wasn’t feeling anxious or desperate to see her right away, he hoped she wouldn’t take too long this time. From what she had said at their last meeting, it sounded like they weren’t going to have much time with each other. If that was the case, he wanted to enjoy every second he could get with her before the next battle, since it would likely be at least five days before they could meet again.

His eyes wandered over the starry sky as he thought about what was to come. The fact that the battle was going to take place near Myrefall unsettled him. With the illness still about and uncured in the village, a fight would leave them in a bad state if it carried over into the town. He hoped Penelope was right that this battle would be the one that would finally give Brerra an edge over Younis. If it did, the people of his home would be safe, and the war might soon come to an end. The thought made a faint smile spread across his lips.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps off to the side, and he looked over to see someone stepping into the clearing with him. His heart raced excitedly as he saw that someone was Penelope. In his enthusiasm, he didn’t notice the distant expression on her face as he hurried over to greet her. “Oh, thank gods,” he sighed, wrapping his arms around her in an embrace. “I was starting to think you’d gotten too busy to show up tonight.”

Pressing a soft kiss to her cheek, he pulled back to meet her gaze, only to falter slightly as he caught sight of the look on her face. “What’s wrong?” he frowned, his mind working as he tried to think of a reason why she would seem so distressed. After a moment, he went on with a tentative guess, “Did your baroness blame you for our raid last night?”

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I've never been to Big Bear, but I just looked up pictures and it looks beautiful ^^
Whenever I visit CA, I mostly go to the LA area. My brother and I always pretended to be locals so the street vendors wouldn't harass us xD
I also spend my spring breaks on Catalina Island every year cx

Sneaky Gavin lol
Crow has no idea what he's about to walk into :'D

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

The next morning, Crow slept in a little later than usual. However, his drowsiness wasn’t caused by his illness this time, but rather because of how late he and the other thieves had stayed out at the tavern the night before. They had dropped off their stolen supplies without any trouble and headed up to Myrefall right after they’d finished. To Crow’s relief, Rikki had ended up spending most of her time with Hazel and Simon instead of flirting with him, so he had been free to drink a little more excessively than he had initially expected. Of course, he still didn’t get drunk, but he did let go enough to have an enjoyable time with Alistair and a few other men from the village whom had come to join them.

Finally awake, he sat up tiredly on his bed and stretched languidly, feeling good after their raid had gone so smoothly the night before. He glanced around to find that Alistair, Rikki, and Hazel were still passed out on their mats. Amongst the five of them, they had gotten the drunkest, and he didn’t doubt they would all be hungover when they did wake up. He shook his head amusedly and got up to head outside, wanting to enjoy the peaceful morning while it lasted.

Outside, he found Simon reading another book in the shade of a tree. The thief glanced up when he saw him walking over. “I’m surprised you’re up,” he mused. “I would have thought you’d sleep until noon like everyone else.”

“I wasn’t drunk last night,” Crow rolled his eyes as he sat down next to the other man.

“Really? You and Alistair were quite rowdy with those villagers,” Simon quirked a brow at him in obvious disbelief.

“We were just having a bit of fun,” Crow smirked. “You should try it sometime.”

“No thank you,” Simon wrinkled his nose. “I wouldn’t call being unnecessarily loud ‘fun.’”

“Suit yourself,” Crow shrugged apathetically. Switching topics, he went on more seriously, “I am glad the raid went so well though. From the looks of it all, we should have just enough food and bandages to get through the rest of the season.”

“Easily so,” Simon agreed. “All that’s left is to sell off the medicines.”

“I’m planning to make the trip to Wheldrake tomorrow,” Crow said, picking up a rock and absently tossing it into the river. “If all goes well, I’ll be able to see everything off at the market and be back in time for the next battle.”

“Why not leave today?” Simon glanced at him curiously. “You would have more time if you go a day in advance.”

“We were all out late last night,” Crow explained nonchalantly. “I’d rather stay here and rest for a day before I leave for such a long trip.” In truth, he wanted to stay because he was planning to meet with Penelope that night, but he wasn’t going to tell Simon that. Assuming they wouldn’t have much time to be together due to the upcoming battle, he didn’t want to waste any of it going over formalities with the knight. So, he intended to keep this rendezvous a secret and sneak out after all of his companions went to bed. Hopefully, they would do so early after getting sick from how much alcohol they had consumed the night before.

“I still think you should leave as soon as possible,” Simon frowned. “But I suppose it won’t matter too much. Even if you don’t sell all of it before the battle, you can always go back when it’s over.”

“Exactly,” Crow grinned at him and hurled another rock into the river, following it with his eyes as it made a satisfying splash. “We don’t need to buy anything until the weather gets colder, so there’s no rush.”

“That’s assuming the knights don’t come after us again,” Simon muttered pessimistically.

“I doubt they will. We only took the bare minimum of what we needed to get by this time. They would be fools to waste their time hunting us down when they still have more than enough supplies to get through the next battle.”

“You would think, but nobles are fools,” Simon exhaled. “They may be blindsided by their anger and hunt us down regardless of wisdom.”

“Well, even if they do, we’ll be ready for them,” Crow turned to him with a grin. “We’ve learned the routes of the tunnels well enough now to defend them easily if we’re discovered again. If they come to take their supplies back, those knights won’t know what hit them.”

“I suppose so,” Simon turned back to keep reading his book, seeming to lose interest in the conversation.

Crow laid back in the grass and rested his head on his arms, lazily staring up at the blue sky. With Simon’s reclusive side coming out and his other companions still hungover from their night at the tavern, he let his mind roam to pass the time until he could meet with Penelope again.

--

For the rest of the day, Crow spent his time in the company of the other thieves. Since three of them were feeling ill, they didn’t do much aside from lay around by the waterfall. It wasn’t the most entertaining day, but at least it was peaceful. Even Rikki was too weary to chase him as persistently as she usually did, which he was grateful for. For the first time in a while, he was able to enjoy their company without keeping his guard up.

So, when night fell and it came time for him to see Penelope again, Crow was already in a good mood. He laid in his bed with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep while his companions settled down for the night. His heart raced with excitement, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from letting a matching expression cross his face. He didn’t want anyone to know he was meeting with the knight, so he wouldn’t have to bring back any more news for them of the battle.

Eventually, he glanced up to see that all of them were breathing slowly and evenly, indicating that they were asleep. He smiled to himself and silently got up from his bed, only pausing by the entrance of the cavern to put on his boots and cloak and arm himself with his usual set of daggers. Once he was ready, he slipped out into the forest, walking briskly in his eagerness to get to see Penelope again.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

I'm just glad neither of us had to report to insurance tbh ^^;
I got hit by someone else, and the guy my husband rear ended was nice and told him not to worry about it because he understood that he literally couldn't stop his car from skidding on the ice (he doesn't have snow tires yet)

Snow can be dangerous, but I'll take four seasons over two any day cx
Plus, you learn how to deal with it. This is my third winter here, and I've gotten pretty good at driving on icy hills *knock on wood*
I used to live in Phoenix, which is like 120 in the summer and 50 in the winter. The city I moved to is at the same elevation as Denver, CO, so we have spring, summer, fall, and winter, and it's BEAUTIFUL. I'm trying to convince all of my friends from other places to visit because everyone who does loves it here ^^ We have a super unique urban culture and pretty mountains
If you ever want to go on a roadtrip, it's only 6/7 hours from So Cal ;D

Btw, I imagine Jaxon's group would kill the knights by cutting their throats. It's kinda gruesome, but it's the best way to keep them from shouting and alerting the others that there are intruders in the camp

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow crept around the outskirts of the knights’ camp with Alistair following close at his heels. His eyes were fixed on the nearest guard, a man who seemed rather alert for someone who was staying up late to watch a silent forest. Even though he looked to be aware of his surroundings, the two thieves easily slipped past his watchful gaze with well-rehearsed skill. They dipped in and out of the blind spots that Crow and Simon had found the day before, patiently waiting for the guards to look away before they moved from one to the next. All in all, it wasn’t difficult for them to make it to the knights’ weaponry.

Crow ducked down behind the nearest tent with Alistair, studying a single watchman who stood in front of the tent they were trying to get into. He exchanged a quick look with his companion before reaching down to pick up a few small rocks at his feet. Cocking back his arm, he hurled the rocks into the bushes as far from the tent as he could manage. The foliage trembled audibly as the rocks landed, drawing the guard’s attention. The man reached for the hilt of his sword and walked slowly towards the source of the noise, leaving his post behind.

Crow smirked to himself, pleased to see that the simple distraction had worked, and then sprinted out from his hiding place into the now unguarded supply tent with Alistair. With only a limited time before the knight realized there was no one in the woods, the two thieves worked quickly to bag up the swords and arrows they needed to restock their weapons. Once they had what they came for, they slipped back out of the tent and worked their way silently towards the tree line.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Crow turned to Alistair with a grin. “It just gets easier and easier to raid these knights, doesn’t it?” he said quietly.

“You’d think they would’ve learned to set up more guards by now,” Alistair snickered.

“True,” Crow sighed in mock disappointment. “I almost miss the challenge.”

Suddenly, they heard a faint rustling behind them and turned around to see Simon returning with a bag of stolen medical supplies. Crow took a step towards him, “Did you get everything?”

“Of course,” Simon shrugged airily.

“No trouble?” Crow queried, hoping the blonde thief had been smart enough not to draw any attention to himself while Rikki had yet to return.

“There was a physician inside the medical tent working on something, but I knocked him out easily enough,” Simon answered with another shrug. “There were no other guards about.”

“Good,” Crow nodded. “Let’s just hope Rikki has the same luck.”

Almost as if on cue, a fourth figure rounded a tree and stepped into view. Rikki walked up to them with a proud smirk as she held up her bag of stolen food. “Who’s excited to eat chicken again?” she said in a soft, sing-song voice.

“Gods bless you,” Alistair sighed exaggeratedly. “I’m so sick of stale bread and carrots.”

“Me too,” Crow grimaced and then gestured to the others to leave. “Now that everyone’s here, we should head back to camp. The sooner we drop all of this off, the sooner we can go to the Ivory Hatchet.”

“No complaints here,” Alistair grinned.

The four thieves headed back to the tunnels, so caught up in the success of their raid that they didn’t notice the shadowy figures lurking behind the trees around them.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Sorry it's taking me a while to get a reply up. It's been a crazy morning ^^; Both my husband and I were in separate mild car accidents because the roads are so icy. It's like freaking bumper cars up here lmao
No one got hurt and our cars are only a little dented. It's just been wild xD
Oh, the joys of winter

I'll get started in a few minutes!

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

It'll be a twist when Crow's offered the job as ambassador by his father xD
I'm curious to see how Penelope will react

It's about to begin

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

On the day of the raid, Crow and the other thieves spent most of their time relaxing together by the riverbank. They wanted to save their energy for when they would have to sneak into the knights’ camp and sneak back out without being detected. For that to happen, all of them needed to be in good condition to run and sharp enough to be fully aware of their surroundings. They couldn’t afford to get caught up in an unnecessary fight when they were depending on this raid to go well in order to make it through the rest of the summer. Everything had to go exactly according to plan.

Crow laid back in the grass with his head propped on one forearm, absently tossing a small rock in the air with his free hand. It was mid evening, and he felt a little lazy after spending most of the day doing nothing. He had taken a short walk in the morning just to keep his energy up a bit, but aside from that, he had been lounging around with the other thieves, conversing idly and finishing off what remained of their food stock in preparation of the night to come.

His mind wandered back to the request he had made of Penelope, and he wondered if she had found someone to cover her guard shift. At this point, he didn’t care who she asked—he would even risk having to slip past her ex suitor—as long as he knew she would stay out of trouble.

She probably found someone, he thought, tossing the rock again with a flick of his wrist and catching it as it fell back down into his open palm. There are quite a few knights in that camp. Surely one of them was willing to take over for her. The thought was reassuring to him, so he decided not to worry over it.

As day turned to night, the thieves began their preparations to leave for the raid. Crow armed himself with a number of light weapons—his daggers, a sling, a spare knife in his right boot, and even a short sword—just in case he would find himself in a fight during the heist. His companions did the same until they were all armed to the teeth with various short and long ranged weapons. He could tell they were all preparing for the worst, which was relieving to him. Knowing they had their guards up as well, he wouldn’t have to stress about their safety when they all split up to steal from different parts of the nobles’ camp.

Once everyone was ready to go, Hazel said her goodbyes to them, making sure to remark that Crow had better bring her husband back alive, and the thieves headed out.

They traveled quietly through the forest, treading with light-footed steps in case there were any knights nearby. Crow felt a rush of excitement as they neared the target camp. It was the first time in a while that all four of them had gone out on a raid together. He had missed the feeling of working with a team of such skilled bandits. All of them had different talents and fields of expertise—Alistair was the best swordsman, Simon was the best lock pick, Rikki was the best at slight-of-hand using distractions, and Crow was the best at escaping capture—so together, they made a frightening group of criminals.

Eventually, the knights’ camp became visible through the tree line, and Crow’s heartbeat quickened. He signaled to his companions to stop while they were still far enough away to speak without being overheard. “Alright, everyone, stick to the plan,” he said in a hushed voice, looking over each of them in turn. “You’ve all raided these knights before, so I’m sure you remember where they keep their supplies. Just take what you’ve been assigned and meet up again here when you’ve finished.” The others nodded in understanding, and he grinned. “Good luck out there, guys. I’ll see you all back here soon.”

Having finished his short speech, Crow fanned out with his companions to surround the camp as they each made their way towards the supplies they were going to steal.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Yeah, I don't know which ones would fit her. I think her biggest struggles are with her insecurities, since she seems to blame herself for a lot. I don't think I'd peg her with any of the seven if I was judging.

Crow's a little more straightforward xD
I don't know if I would call him a simple man, per say, but he's definitely not as emotionally complex as Penelope is

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Crow nodded as Penelope told him to be safe on his raid. “Well, I was planning to make some risky moves, but for you, I’ll make an exception,” he winked at her jokingly. “Goodnight, love. I’ll see you again soon.”

He watched as she walked into the forest, waiting again for her to disappear from his sight before he headed into his camp to sleep for the night.

--

The next day, Crow and the other thieves worked on refining their plans for the upcoming raid on the knights’ camp. Since they were going to be taking more supplies than usual, they wanted to be as prepared as possible to make sure the heist went smoothly. Crow and Simon went out in the afternoon to scout around the perimeter of the nobles’ camp, noting where the guards were positioned and searching for blind spots that they could use to their advantage.

The thieves planned to bring weapons, but they still wanted to avoid using them if it was at all possible. If a fight broke out, it would draw the attention of the other knights who would be asleep in their tents. Being far outnumbered by them, Crow knew that would mean he and his companions would be forced to retreat. They couldn’t afford to do that when their supplies were dwindling so low. This raid would make or break them coming into the fall season, so it was imperative that everything went according to plan.

As the sun dipped lower in the sky, Crow and Simon finished their scouting and headed back to the waterfall to share their findings with the others. They returned to find Alistair and Rikki sparring on the riverbank, while Hazel was sitting off to the side reading one of Simon’s books. When they noticed the two walking back from the knights’ camp, they stopped what they were doing to hear the news.

“So, what did you find?” Rikki asked, trotting over with Alistair to meet the other thieves halfway.

Simon glanced at Crow in a silent indication that he should be the one to explain. Crow nodded and turned back to Alistair and Rikki, relaying everything they had found to the best of his ability. He described the number and positions of the guards in the camp, as well as where the most useful blind spots were. It was difficult to explain it all, since neither of his companions could see it for themselves, but luckily, his explanation seemed to be good enough for them.

When he was finished talking, Rikki spoke up again. “So, what’s the plan now?” she asked. “We have quite a few things to steal this time.”

“That’s why I’m going to assign everyone individual tasks,” Crow smirked, having already thought ahead about this. “Alistair and I will steal the weapons, you will steal the food, and Simon will steal the medical supplies and the medicines we’re going to sell to the villagers.” He had told them all about his idea to sell medicine in Wheldrake earlier that morning. Initially, there had been some pushback from the others, especially Simon, because they all knew it was more efficient to sell weapons to the Younisians. However, he managed to convince them that his plan was better after he brought up the fact that the knights had come after them after they had sabotaged their weapons last time. None of his companions were eager to repeat that again, so they gave in and agreed to his idea.

“I happened to notice you didn’t mention anything about liquor,” Alistair pointed out with a frown. “Are we not going to drink afterwards? If we’re going to be taking this much, I want to celebrate.”

“Me too,” Rikki crossed her arms.

“You two are ridiculous,” Simon scoffed. “Can’t you go one raid without getting drunk?”

“Staying sober after a successful heist?” Alistair wrinkled his nose. “No way.”

“I have a compromise,” Crow suggested, getting their attention. “I’d rather not steal any more than we absolutely have to from the knights, but we can go to the Ivory Hatchet in Myrefall after we stow all of the supplies away.” He glanced between them, hoping they would be satisfied with the proposal. “They make good mead. What do you say?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve all gone out to a tavern together,” Alistair mused with a grin. “I like it.”

“Good enough for me,” Rikki shrugged and casted him a wink that sent a shiver down Crow’s spine. He made a mental note not to let himself get carried away when they went to the tavern. If she was planning to come onto him after they had all been drinking, he wanted to be clear headed enough to combat her advances.

“You three enjoy losing your senses,” Simon rolled his eyes. “When we get back tomorrow, I’m going to stay here and enjoy the company of my wife.”

“Not if we convince her to come with us,” Rikki smirked at him slyly.

Simon faltered for a moment before regaining his composure. He cleared his throat, “Don’t bother. She wouldn’t come with you anyway.”

“We’ll see about that,” Alistair exchanged a look with Rikki, and the two ran off towards the tree where Hazel was reading her book before Simon could stop them.

“Oh gods,” Simon groaned under his breath before taking off after them.

Crow snorted in amusement as he watched the three thieves race to the herbalist’s side. He doubted Simon would win this one. Hazel may not have been the most sociable woman in the group, but she loved a good drink. It wouldn’t be hard for Rikki and Alistair to convince her to join them at the tavern tomorrow night. He was glad she would be coming too. She got along well with Rikki, so if she came, the female thief wouldn’t cling to him as much.

Suddenly more eager to persuade Hazel to join them as well, he made his way over to join the others in arguing against Simon.