Crow smirked when Penelope talked about how much damage he had done to William’s massive ego. He might have started making an effort to get along with her, but he still had a strong dislike for the rest of the knights—especially ones that treated him like an unreliable, feral animal. So, it pleased him to learn that the older knight was upset about the situation at the rebel camp.

He was about to make a snide comment about it when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind a cluster of olive trees. They came from the opposite direction as the knights’ campsite, so he doubted it was William or Abraxas. [i]Again?[/i] The thief thought in exasperation. They had just gotten away from the last group of people that wanted to cause them trouble, and now—after they had [i]just[/i] crossed the border—there was already somebody else on their tail? It was getting ridiculous how many people seemed to want them dead.

He tensed, taking a step back in preparation to run, and kept his eyes fixed on the trees as he waited for the stranger to appear. The odd thing was that the footsteps were loud and even. It was almost as if the person they belonged to didn’t care if he or she was heard, and was in no hurry to get to them. He or she must have been very confident. Well, either that or the stranger wasn’t dangerous. But he had been through too much in the last few days to believe that.

Surprisingly enough, it seemed like Crow’s second guess was the accurate one. After a moment, the figure stepped into view. The thief’s eyes widened in shock. It was another female knight, wearing the colors of Brerra. Apparently Penelope knew her as well, because she greeted the new knight as if she were an old friend.

[color=fdc68a][b]“Figured I’d drop in to see how this mission of yours was going,”[/b][/color] the woman, whose name was Olivia, said to Penelope. [color=fdc68a][b]“You don’t exactly keep me up to date on your life, you know.”[/b][/color] Crow eyed her curiously. She seemed friendly enough, even though he couldn’t figure out why she was here—he doubted she travelled all the way to Younis just to visit a friend—and Penelope seemed to trust her, so he relaxed.

Olivia turned to him, [color=fdc68a][b]“Mm... and who’s this?”[/b][/color] Her gaze swept over the thief in a manner that resembled the way a buyer might examine a stock horse at the market. He tilted his chin up, mildly offended that she didn’t know who he was. He had thought his reputation spread all across the kingdom by now, but apparently he had been wrong. [i]Well then, I suppose I’ll just have to introduce myself.[/i]

The thief stepped over to the female knight, bending forward in a garish bow, “My name is Crow Lockton, most renowned thief in all of Brerra.” He looked up at her and grinned mischievously. “A pleasure.”