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.

Penelope rolled her eyes, returning a similar look of annoyance with the thief. She didn't respond and instead fixed her gaze elsewhere but always kept him in the corner of her eye. Seeing as he wouldn't be moving anytime soon, she pulled her legs up to her chest and began to look around. Spotting a fallen stick nearby, she picked it up and began to draw in the dirt around her. The activity was merely a way to pastime and keep her from falling asleep for the time being.

---

Time seemed to tick by slowly. Penelope felt her eyes getting heavier and heavier, threatening to close despite her best efforts. She groaned and slowly forced herself up onto her feet. Her muscles were still sore but the pain had lessen with her time spent relaxing. She walked up to the water's edge and look out over the river. She hoped they hadn't been sent too far down. The sooner they returned, the better after all. The knight rubbed her eyes and let out a small yawn before turning and walking up to Crow.

"Get up. Time to go." She announced. Despite her tired looks that she tried to conceal in vain, the knight sounded rather awake.

“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.

The soreness she had as well made her a tad more patient when he took his time getting up. However, she still gave him an annoyed look but was otherwise silent. Penelope let him take the lead as she walked a few paces behind him as they headed up stream. The knight almost felt like running back at the thought of bed and then breakfast.

Normally, she could easily control such urges but it had been a long day and she had very little to eat before. Her stomach quietly rumbled in regret as she thought of the stew she had left behind. How foolish had she been gettng herself into a situation like this! Letting her emotions get the better of her and then allowing a pety thief to nearly escape. During her self ridicule, Penelope was glaring ahead absently as she paid attention to Crow and the direction they were going.

His humming was soon heard and she swayed slightly as she walked. Penelope began to yawn. "Shut up, would you." she snapped, not caring if he was merely enjoying himself or trying to mess with her. In a very bad mood, that was mainly caused by her own tiredness, made Penelope even more irritable and hostile than usual. It was almost like Crow had gotten stuck with William rather than Penelope. The only thing that was lacking was her awareness but that was simply because of her current condition.

Crow clicked his tongue in mock disappointment when Penelope told him to stop his humming, “What? It’s just a bit of music.” While he enjoyed the fact that he was able to get inside her head so easily, he was a bit surprised to hear the sharpness in her tone. He supposed that in the more nonsensical part of his mind, he had hoped that she would still be at least a little friendly towards him, as she had been before. Instead, she was understandably furious with him for attempting to run away. She would likely never be kind to him again.

He frowned. He wasn’t sure why, but he was somehow upset that she had reverted to treating him like a common criminal. He had only gained her trust to use as a tool for his escape, but he found that he had come to genuinely enjoy her company. Bantering with her had been fun, and it had been nice to have someone on his side when William had been hostile. To lose that was surprisingly upsetting to him.

“Can’t you at least try to look at this from my point of view?” Crow said abruptly, giving Penelope a frustrated look. “I’ve been locked up for an entire year, and then I’m only released find out that the king wants to send me on a ridiculous mission in another kingdom, where I could be wounded or even killed just so he can manipulate the neighboring ruler into merging their lands. If I fail, I may end up dead in some foreign land while he will still get what he wants through other, less convenient methods. If I succeed, I will receive no recognition, and the king will get all the glory for my accomplishments.”

Crow kicked a small rock and watched it bounce into the river, getting swept away by the current as they walked along its bank. He sighed and went on in a quieter tone, “He hasn’t said it yet, but I know he’s planning to send me back to prison when I return. I’m just a tool to him, to be used and thrown away.” He looked up again. “So, yeah… of course I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to get out of this mess. I don’t want to go back to a cell; I want to go home. Can you really say you don’t understand that?”

Penelope's gaze became slightly less hostile as he spoke. She tried to hide any emotion, keeping a neutral expression to the best of abilties. As he finally met her gaze the knight let out a heavy-hearted sigh and looked off to the side. He brought up a topic that she often choose not to dwell on. "I never said I didn't understand..." she muttered quietly. There was a brief hesitation in her words before continuing. "I know all that you have said is true... Why do you think most knights treat you so badly? We try to keep a distinct distance between ourselves and our enemies so we don't gain sympathy... Others are naturally cold and brutal, I will admit that... Either way, it's our job."

"I don't completely hate you. There are much worse crimes than stealing. Though you are quite frustrating at times." She admitted with a small shrug. Penelope looked over at him and crossed her arms. "Plus, I have a bit of personal gain in this mission... You said I was lucky to have a family before and I agree. I also want to keep it that way. If you're able to complete this mission then that means a war can be avoided. If we can avoid that war, then I don't have to worry about loosing the only family I have. Not being with them at the kingdom's border is hard enough." The knight frowned as she recalled her father's quickness to deny her working with them and the lack of communication over their time apart.

"I'm sorry that it comes at the expense of your freedom." She finished with a very serious tone.

Crow averted his gaze from Penelope after he had finished speaking. He wondered why he had opened up to her like that. She was a knight. What difference did it make if she saw him as a mere criminal? He didn’t need her compassion. Sure, it was nice to have company on their journey, but it wasn’t real. They were enemies by trade; she was the law, and he was a lawbreaker. She would never understand him.

As she went on to speak back to him, he said nothing. He found himself coming to inadvertently understand her point of view, even though he had been trying to win her to his side. He also knew now that he would be unable to convince her to let him go without completing the assignment, no matter what he said or did. She cared too strongly about her family to spare one petty thief from a dangerous mission. He sighed. It seemed like he would have to go through with stealing the staff, after all.

Still, every fiber of his being protested against going back to prison. After tasting freedom for the first time in a year, there was no way he would be able to give it up again. He glanced back at Penelope. Maybe there was a way that they could come to a compromise. He had nothing to offer her in return for his freedom, so he would just have to hope she would be merciful… Although, a little bit of acting wouldn’t hurt his chances. If he could rekindle her friendliness towards him—even just a little bit—he might have a shot at getting her to come to an agreement.

“Fine,” Crow said reluctantly. “I suppose I can understand. The last thing I want to do is throw the kingdom into chaos—not because of the nobles, mind you, but because of the peasants.” He kicked another rock into the river. “They always come off the worst after a war. There are already so many dangers that come from simply living on the border—fatal diseases, rogue criminals, wild animals—so… if going to Younis means I can spare some families the strife that comes along with a war, then I guess that’s what I have to do. But,” Crow stopped walking and held Penelope’s gaze. “What about after? When I get the staff, the king will have what he wants from me. He can stop the war, and you won’t have to worry about your family. If I went home after the assignment no one would suffer, right?” He took on a slightly desperate tone. “Couldn’t you at least let me have that?”

'What about after?' Penelope gazed at him thoughtfully. If the war was prevented and the staff was taken, then it seemed everyone would get what they wanted. Except for Crow, that is. The knight still held some sympathy for him and as stated before, she had nothing against him. She was a bit reluctant to agree, feeling it was against her own standards to just simply let him go.

"If and when we return with the staff," She began meeting his gaze again, "I'll allow you to get away. I'm sure the king will merely brush off your absence once we return." She agreed to his suggestion. It would be simply enough, at least she figured it would be. Her comrades wouldn't have to know about it either and since she was usually with him, Penelope could provide plenty of opportunities for him to escape.

"However," Penlope began taking a step forward so she was closer to him as she held his gaze. "Should you try to get away before then, the deal is off. Fair enough?" she question as she held out her hand to him.

I’m going home, Crow’s head was swimming. He could hear Penelope continue to speak as she justified the reason for her decision, but he couldn’t understand a word of it. She had said she would give him his freedom after they returned, and that was all that mattered. Of course, staying with the knights would mean that he had to go through with the king’s assignment, but at least he wouldn’t have to return to a prison cell afterwards. That was all he wanted.

“However.” He managed to catch the last of her words. “Should you try to get away before then, the deal is off. Fair enough?” She held out her hand.

After a moment, Crow came back to himself. He beamed at her and reached for her hand, clasping it in both of his, “I promise I won’t run. You have my word.”

They began the trip back to the village. Even though they were on semi-decent terms again, neither one spoke to the other. He didn’t want to risk upsetting her by saying something brash, and now that he had come to terms with the king’s assignment for him, he had to start planning it out for real. Now was as good a time as any to start.

While he was confident in his thievery skills, he did have to wonder how he was going to pull off this raid. First of all, he had never been beyond the kingdom border before, so he was completely unfamiliar with the land of Younis. He would have a hard time navigating the cities and marking his escape routes. Second, he didn’t know how the Younisian guards operated. He had learned the routines of the knights of Brerra: how often they rotated positions, which areas were patrolled the most, when they were most likely to take a lunch break, et cetera. Learning such things about the Younisian knights would take time and patience: two things the king didn’t have. So, essentially, he would be going on this mission blind.

Crow put the thought aside. With plenty of time to make his plans over the course of their trip, there was no point worrying about that problem now. In the same moment, he noticed something strange up ahead. He narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look. What he saw made him snort in amusement. The river divided into two separate streams that branched out in different directions, which meant that they could have floated down either one.

“What do you think?” Crow turned to Penelope with a playful smirk. “Should we go left or right?”

Penelope wasn't sure how true to his word he would actually be and still held caution towards the thief. This could have easily been a trick to catch her on guard. It would be a while before she could actually put some trust in him. However, she appeared to be in a better mood than before after their conversation. Though her evident tiredness was still very clear to see on her face.

As they came across the two streams, the knight let out a small groan of annoyance. The last thing she wanted was to end up stranded in the forest. "Er.." she paused trying to distinguish one path from the other but to her,it all looked the same. "Right..." She said with uncertainty.

Crow looked first left and then right, trying to determine which direction was the true way back. If he remembered correctly, he had run east when he left the village. The river flowed north so, unless they looped around somewhere, the left stream went south and the right stream went further east. The thief glanced curiously at Penelope as she chose the branch on the right—the one that would take them away from the village. She must have been too focused on chasing him at the time to pay close attention to the direction they had gone.

He shifted his weight, contemplating whether or not he should correct the knight. On one hand, it would be entertaining to wait until they were hopelessly lost and then make her beg him to find the way back; but on the other hand, he was cold and exhausted from their plunge in the river, and he wasn’t sure if he had the energy to walk for much longer. Right now, a nice, soft wooden floor at the inn sounded heavenly. He made his choice.

“Sorry to say, love, but you’re wrong,” Crow yawned and pointed at the left stream. “We’re northeast of the village, so this river will take us back down south. If we go right, we’ll just end up farther east.” He tilted his head slightly at the knight, an amused smile playing on his lip. “Of course, I could be lying. I might be trying to lead you deeper into in the woods where it will be easier for me to get away.” Crow shrugged nonchalantly. He did want to get back to the inn, but he just couldn’t help himself. It was too much fun to toy with Penelope. “It seems like you’ll just have to trust me, now won’t you?”

Penelope shot a glare at him. She paused, glancing from left to right as she debated if she should put such trust in him. The knight gave a small smirk and lifted her tired gaze. "Left it is then. I doubt you'd put such thoughts of you trying to escape in my mind right now. It'd only make it harder for you afterall." she said rolling her eyes at him. She started to walk on before stopping and adding in, "Don't think of it so much as trusting you but more as me making an educated guess. Come on let's get out of this damn place already.." She sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

Penelope continued down the left stream with Crow. She still followed slightly behind him but kept her gaze focus ahead. The thought of getting back to the inn pushed her to pick up her pace slightly. However, after traveling down the stream for a while, she felt a small pang of disappointment. The water had overlapped and it seemed they would be forced to cross the river in order to get back to the village. "Just as I was starting to dry off too." she said with a sigh as she walked ahead towards the water's edge.

“As you say,” Crow said with a lavish bow. He turned and began following the river as it branched off to the left. As they walked, he grew more and more certain that it was the right way to go, but he also had a nagging feeling that he was forgetting something. He frowned and looked down at the rushing water and then faltered slightly. Now he remembered what was bothering him. He and Penelope were on the east side of the river, while the village was on the west side. That could only mean…

“Just as I was starting to dry off, too,” Penelope said, walking towards the water.

Crow stared after Penelope but didn’t follow her. As much as he hated to admit it, rivers unsettled him quite a bit. He had never learned how to swim properly, so he avoided any and all fast-flowing water when he could. Rivers were especially treacherous. They could look calm from the surface, while they could be hiding swift currents below that could easily sweep a man off his feet. Honestly, if the events from earlier hadn’t happened so quickly, he probably would have drowned himself in a panic when Penelope had knocked him into the rapids. He really didn’t want to risk that again.

But he couldn’t let her know that.

“Hang on,” he called to the knight, starting after her. His eyes flicked uncertainly towards the water, but he quickly covered his discomfort with a playful smirk. “The river is a bit wide here, so why don’t we go a little further and see if we can find a shallower place to cross? I wouldn’t want to make a lady go wading into deep water like this.”

Penelope failed to catch the uncertainty in his eyes so she didn't quite pick up on his discomfort right away. She snorted at his words giving him a tired and irritated look. "It'd be quicker to cross here though." she argued shaking her head. The only thing that was driving her forward was the thought of a warm bed at the inn and she was trying to take the fast route there.

"It's likely not even that deep. I've already gotten drenched once today and if doing it again means we get back quicker then so be it." Penelope took another step towards the water before she turned and looked over at him with a challenging smirk. "Not scared of a little bit of water are you?" It was an off hand remark. Penelope didn't actually think that he was and she was merely looking to mess with him.

Crow wavered on the bank when Penelope ignored his suggestion to cross the river somewhere else. Was she really that oblivious? He knew he was a skilled actor, but she didn’t even pause to question why he would want to look for shallower waters. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, reddening slightly when she accused him of being scared of the water. What a ridiculous statement. He wasn’t scared of the river; it just made him a bit uneasy. That was all. Besides, even if he was afraid, it would be perfectly rational. He barely knew how to swim, and the currents in this river were particularly fast…

Okay, maybe he was a little nervous to cross.

“Stop,” Crow said, lowering his gaze and taking a calming breath. He couldn’t believe he was about to admit this to a knight, but what other choice did he have? Pretending he was a confident swimmer and following after her would have been foolish at this point. He would rather live with some embarrassment than die on a prideful endeavor.

“So, I can’t swim, okay?” Crow went on without looking up. “I never learned. It’s not really a skill that’s taught in most of the outer villages, so not many people know how.” He met Penelope’s gaze with a defensive glare. “I know this must be hilarious to you, being an educated noble and all, but some of us don’t get that luxury. Now, can we please look for another way across that doesn’t involve me drowning?”

Penelope eyed him as he lowered his gaze. She took a couple steps back from the water's edge and let out a small sigh as he admitted to not knowing how to swim. She gave a small shrug and took a couple steps towards him. "Guess I should have known that. Swimming isn't a very well known thing to say the least." she said with a calm sigh. Perhaps if she was in a better situation she would have found his uneasiness more amusing. Though the way he acted made her feel more sympathetic about his lacking ability than amused.

She glanced around, clearly thinking about what to do know. They could try to find another way but as stated before, this was the quickest way at the moment. Plus who's to say they'd find a different route at all. The knight seemed to come to a conclusion. "We're still crossing here though." she stated. "Don't worry about drowning. I can swim well enough so all you have to do is keep ahold of me and don't panic." She added.

Penelope moved to hold her hand out to him. "Come on." she said stubbornly.

Crow warily eyed Penelope’s outstretched hand. He was surprised at how well she was taking his confession. He would have thought that she would have jumped at the chance to tease him for being unable to swim, but instead she was being understanding towards him. Looking up again, he held her gaze for a moment more, searching for signs of trickery in her eyes. Somehow, he found that he believed her. She wouldn’t have anything to gain from letting him drown, and she seemed confident that she could support both of them in the river. He glanced back at the rushing water. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. After all, he hadn’t died the first time he went under, and he had been on his own then.

After a moment of hesitation, Crow swallowed and stepped forward, reluctantly taking Penelope’s hand, “Fine, but make no mistake: I’m not doing this because you told me to. I just want to go back to the inn and go to sleep. I’ve had enough running around for one day.”

He turned back to the river, watching the water flow by. Was it his imagination or was the current moving faster than it had been before? For a moment, he even thought he saw white water reflected in the moonlight. He suddenly realized he was holding onto Penelope’s hand rather tightly, and he forced himself to relax his grip. He really needed to calm down. His anxiety about crossing the river was humiliating.

“Let’s hurry up and go before I change my mind,” Crow muttered.

"Well that makes two of us then." Penelope retorted, rolling her eyes at his words. She felt his hand tight around her's but made no remark. "Alright." she grumbled in return. She began to move on into the water stepping with care since the last thing she wanted to do was slip right now. A few steps in and it was already past knee high and gradually becoming deeper. The water felt freezing and made her feel stiff. The knight gave a small shudder before taking another cautious step forward.

She seemed to be trying to take it slowly for his sake though, glancing over her shoulder to make sure he wasn't panicking yet. Penelope kept a firm grip on his hand in case the current cause either of them to fall. "Just keep ahold of me and we'll be over to the other side in no time." she said in a reassuring manner.

Penelope seemed surprisingly patient and understanding at the moment. It was just how she was under such situations. Peel away her usual annoyance or cold attitude towards the thief and her true colors would begin to show much more clearly.

Crow felt his heart pound against his chest as they approached the edge of the river. He was beginning to rethink his decision to let her talk him into doing this, but it was too late to back out now. She guided him carefully into the freezing water, moving slowly either to keep herself from slipping or to keep him from panicking. Perhaps it was both. He wasn’t quite sure, as he was more concerned with finding sure footing on the bottom of the riverbed.

As he had suspected, the current was much swifter beneath the surface, but it was shallower than he had thought. He shivered. The cold water numbed his skin. This was definitely a bad idea. The further they moved towards the center of the river, the more difficult it was for him to keep his footing. He glanced at Penelope, who was considerably calmer about the whole situation, and wondered if she was having as hard of a time as he was. She didn’t look like it.

“Just keep ahold of me and we’ll be over to the other side in no time,” Penelope said. The sound of her confident voice was strangely soothing. He might have been able to relax if the river stopped trying to rip his feet out from under him.

“I’m trying,” he grimaced as another strong current tugged at his legs. By now they were a little more than waist-deep. It was the most difficult point to cross. He sucked in his breath as an especially forceful rush of water caused him to stumble, and, without thinking, he reached out to grasp Penelope in order to keep from falling. He held onto her shoulder for a moment as he recovered from the shock of almost getting pulled under.

“I would apologize,” Crow muttered irritably. “But this is your fault.”

Penelope clenched her teeth together as she struggled to her balance when Crow latched onto her shoulder. Her body waviered slightly before she found proper footing once more. "Says the one who caused this whole issue in the first place." she growled in return sending a glare over her shoulder at him. Ah yes, it seemed she was still holding a grudge towards him for trying to run off... Though she only brought it up due to her current frustration.

The knight moved forward again trying to be careful. But careful isn't enough when it comes to such a force as nature. She misstepped and found that the river had suddenly gotten deeper. With the help of the rushing water, she was knocked over, also causing her to drag Crow down as well. Penelope quickly held her breath as she plunged into the water full on now.

Quickly she made sure to locate the fallen thief. She grabbed him by the arm as she struggled against the current as it began to push them away from their crossing point. Her swimming was sloppy but effective as she pulled them both back up to the surface.