[IC] Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

[Rogue Sloth]

“You’re learning,” Crow said with a grin as Penelope told him she wouldn’t trust him again. “Looks like I’ll just have to come up with some new tactics.” Setting his bags aside, he drew the dagger in his own boot and circled around to stand across from her. However, instead of coming at her right away, he hesitated. Having never been the first to attack in a fight, he was unsure how to get past her defense.

Maybe I can unbalance her somehow, he thought as his eyes roved over her body. Realizing he had been waiting for a while, he raised his blade in an offensive stance. Stop thinking so much, he silently chided himself. If this was a real fight, you’d be dead right now. Stop second guessing yourself and attack her already!

In a burst of defiance, Crow sprinted at Penelope with his dagger lowered, preparing to swing the blade upwards at her left side. It was a simple move with no hidden tricks to it. He just hoped that the force of the attack would be enough to throw her off balance so he could follow it up with a second strike to whatever opening would make itself apparent to him when her stance changed.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope watched as Crow hesitated in attacking her. He was taking quite a bit of time in trying to figure out how to attack her. He’s thinking too much.. She thought as she watched him look for an opening. When he finally moved, the knight didn’t miss a beat. Metal clashed as she swung her dagger to meet his half way. The force of his attack caused her to step back slightly. “Finally. I thought the day would end before you’d move.” She teased him as she pressed back against his weapon for a moment.

Knowing she wouldn’t be able to overpower him, Penelope drew back her dagger and slipped to the right to avoid his attack. What the knight lacked in strength, she made up for with her swiftness. However, she was nearly tempted to hold back on her attacks as she wanted Crow to get a little more familiar with attacking rather than defending. The knights at the castle won’t hold back so neither can I. He’s just going to have to keep up..

Reminded of their limited time, the knight moved in for an attack. Now on the right, she attempted to slip past his defense with a slick swipe of her dagger at his shoulder. The move wasn’t complicated but she hoped that her speed would at least catch him somewhat off guard.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow gritted his teeth as their daggers clashed and Penelope danced just out of the range of his second attack. Fighting offensively in close quarters was a lot more difficult than he had expected it would be. Her swiftness didn’t make things easier on him either. He considered himself to have faster than average reflexes, but she kept pace with him easily. In fact, she seemed to be even a little bit quicker than him. He wouldn’t be able to rely on his speed to win in this matchup.

“Sorry,” he said in response to her gibe about how long he had taken to attack. “I guess I’ll just have to make it up to you, huh?” His eyes followed her movement as she came at him on the right, aiming for his shoulder. He stepped back and to the left, meeting her blade with his own and forcing her hand farther right so that it passed across her body.

Immediately, he felt himself start thinking of ways to get through her defense, and he had to make himself stop. There’s no time to consider every option, he thought. Just do something.

Fighting the instinct to put distance between them, he rocked on the ball of his right foot and leaned in again to bring his weapon around towards her right side while stepping out of the reach of her dagger. He hoped to take advantage of the awkward position he had put her in by pushing her right arm across her chest and catching her before she could recover.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smirked a little as his blade met her’s again. For someone who usually looked for a way to escape a fight, she thought he was doing rather well. Though she could still tell his biggest weakness was how he had the tendency to over think his next move. Her expression became more serious as she realized the position she was in.

Unable to get out of it in time, the knight had to twist her torso in order to block his attack. She flinched slightly as their blades scrapped against each other as she put a bit more of her strength to knock his blade away from her. He’s getting faster.. She thought to herself. Realizing she was still off balanced by his attack, she began to look for a way to put some distance between them in order to get her proper footing back.

The knight attempted to jump back from him slightly and begin to turn herself out of the position she was in. Penelope swiped her dagger upward towards him. She hoped the movement would buy her enough time to twist out of the position she had been forced into.

[Rogue Sloth]

Too slow, Crow clicked his tongue as his dagger was stopped by hers yet again. He noticed he had gotten closer this time, although he wasn’t sure if it was because he had sped up or she had slowed down. He wanted to believe he was getting better, and that she had reacted at the last second because she’d had no other option, but in the heat of the fight, it was too hard to say for sure. He would just have to try to get past her defense again.

He pulled back his blade, preparing to follow up with another attack before she could fully recover, but she moved first. Quickly raising his weapon, he diverted her dagger as she struck at him again. However, during that time she had already shifted far enough away from him that he couldn’t swing at her again.

Unable to come up with another plan, he stepped back as well, lifting his blade defensively in case she tried to come at him first. He watched her for a moment with steely focus, noting how she was still regaining her footing from his last attack, before he moved in on her once more. Attacking her from the side opposite of where her weight was shifted, he hoped to unbalance her again in order to gain the upper hand in the fight.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope was glad she was able to cause him to step back. However, it wasn’t for long enough as he attacked again. She had just begun to shift her balance back when he attacked again. She clenched her teeth and blocked his attack again but at a price as she was thrown off balance.

The knight clenched her teeth as she realized her mistake. I should have just tried to dodge rather than block.. She chided herself for the slip up. Trying to correct herself, Penelope tried to back away from Crow, expecting him to use her slip up to his advantage.

Instead of attacking, she drew back her dagger closer to herself, trying to be prepared with a strong defense for his next attack. While doing so, she also tried to shift her right foot back in a poor attempt to even herself out and put some distance between them once again.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow’s heartbeat quickened in excitement as his attack successfully threw her off balance. He was finally starting to get the hang of fighting. After he had stopped trying to think through all of his movements, he was beginning to develop some of his own techniques by letting his natural reflexes do the work for him. All that was left was for him to come up with some way to end the fight before she could find a way to recover and overtake him again.

With the turn of the tide also came a feeling Crow hadn’t experienced before. He felt genuinely powerful; like he could influence someone else by the force of his hand. It was simultaneously exhilarating and frightening to him. He enjoyed having such control, but he also didn’t like playing with a fire that had the potential to unleash something dark from within himself. If such a side existed, he wanted to keep it locked up deep inside.

I won’t let myself become like those tyrannous nobles, he thought determinedly. I won’t become my father—using and abusing others simply because I have the power to do so.

Focusing again on the battle at hand, he moved in to take advantage of Penelope’s imbalanced weight. He stepped into her defense and swiped his dagger towards her left side, attempting to end the fight by causing her to fall to the ground so she would have to surrender.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope flinched as Crow stepped into her defense and attacked once again. The knight moved to block it and for a brief moment, it nearly seemed like she would be able to do so without losing her balance. However, the knight teetered and felt herself tip as she hadn’t been able to readjust her balance in time.

She fell on her side, less than gracefully. There was a pain in her arm when she hit the ground that caught the knight off guard but she paid it little attention, thinking it was just an awkward landing. Though she wasn’t very dazed from the fall, she knew the fight was over now. The knight felt a hint of frustration at her defeat but more so, she was happy to see how well his fighting skills were coming along. She rolled over onto her back and pushed herself up to lean back on her elbows as she turned to face him again.

“Pretty impressive. You actually managed to beat me without tricks.” She said with a grin. Penelope, still feeling a sharp stinging in her left arm, winced and lifted it to notice that the bandages around her cut from the mercenary had a spot of red. She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she realized the fall must have scrapped it open. “Guess I should have been more careful."

[Rogue Sloth]

As Crow drove his dagger into Penelope’s, he put as much force into it as he could muster. His efforts paid off, as she was unable to keep her balance and fell down. He stood over her with his blade poised threateningly to solidify his victory. I won, he realized with a rush of excitement. No tricks this time, he had defeated her by skill alone. Perhaps he was better at fighting than he had expected himself to be.

“I learned from the best,” he said with a wink, stepping aside so she could get up from the ground. He noticed her pause to check her arm and felt the color drain from his face at the sight of the blood soaking through her bandage. Reflexively averting his gaze, he swallowed uncomfortably.

Stop being so weak, he rebuked himself silently. If this had been a real fight, there would have been a lot more blood than this. Forcing himself to return his gaze to Penelope, he leaned over and offered her a hand to stand up, “Come on, we should take care of that before we keep going.”

Guiding her over to where they had dropped off their bags, Crow crouched down and rummaged through the supplies in search of clean bandages and the henbane he had collected earlier. He reached for her hand again and gave it a soft tug, directing her to sit down in the grass with him.

“Even though I can’t stand blood, I do know a bit about dressing wounds,” he said as he began unraveling the bandage from her injured arm. His heart beat a bit quicker at the sight of the cut, but he ignored it. “I had to do this for myself when I was on my own,” he went on in an attempt to distract himself. Setting the old wrap aside and taking the henbane, he pulled one of the leaves off of the stalk—it had become quite dry over the course of the last two days—and crushed it in his hand. He held his fist over her arm and dropped the pieces onto her wound.

“That should help numb the pain,” he explained as he rewrapped her arm with a fresh bandage. Checking over his work to make sure it would hold, he looked up at her and smiled, “Consider this payment for the times you’ve helped me dress my wounds lately.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope noticed how he paled at the sight of her injury and moved to hold her injured arm closer to herself so the wound wouldn’t be as easily seen. She took his hand and got back up to her feet with his help. “Yeah.” She mumbled in agreement as she looked down at her wound. Following him over to the bags, she very lightly began to pull back some of the wrapping, wincing slightly as it caused her arm to sting. The cut had been healing rather well up until now but due to it’s original deepness, it seemed it would take a little longer before she wouldn’t have to worry about it reopening.

Her gaze swept back over to Crow as she felt him take her hand and give her a soft tug. She moved to sit down besides him in the grass and began to reach for the clean bandages he had gotten out of the bag, only stopping as she noticed he had begun to unravel her current one. Penelope looked over at him as he continued to speak. “I was wondering.” She mused absently as she recalled the many scars he had on his body.

It didn’t take long for the henbane to take effect. Soon the stinging pain of her wound was no more than a light tingle. She looked over at him, returning his smile. “Alright.” She said with a small chuckle before she leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Still, consider this my thanks.” She added with a wink.

With her wound dressed, Penelope stood back up and rolled her shoulders as her gaze drifted to the looming castle in the distance. “We should get moving again.” She muttered.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow met Penelope’s lips as she kissed him and then laughed, “If that’s how you’re going to thank me, then maybe I should be considerate more often.” He stood up with her and nodded in agreement when she said they should keep moving. Gathering his bags, he glanced at the town beyond the trees. It was becoming more visible as they got closer to the castle. The forest was thinning.

He turned back to the large stone building, trying to come up with ways that they could get closer without drawing attention to themselves once they reached the edge of the trees. It was going to be difficult while he carried the knight’s bow. They needed to stay away from both the nobles and the guards in the town, and he could think of only one way to do that.

“We should stop and rest when we reach the tree line,” Crow announced, turning to Penelope. “We need to start travelling after nightfall if we want to reach the castle without being seen. There’s no way to avoid the crowds during the day, but I can get us past the night patrols easily.” He looked back at the town again. There were still a few supplies that he wanted to get before they reached the palace as well. With so little time left before they would infiltrate the castle, this was probably the only day that he could find what he needed.

“Let’s make a quick detour,” Crow said suddenly. “I want to buy some things at the marketplace over there.” He stopped walking and tilted his head back to look up at a tree. Stepping up to the trunk, he climbed up to the lowest branch and took the bow and quiver off of his shoulders, hanging them both on a bough above his head. He jumped back down and drew his dagger, striking a small cut into the tree to mark it so he wouldn’t forget where he had hidden the weapon.

“That should do it,” he said, brushing his hands off on his pants. “Let’s just hope none of the day guards get curious and look up.” Turning back to her again, he grinned. “Ready?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope moved to collect her bags, slinging the straps over her shoulders. She turned to continue moving on, noting how thin the forest was getting as well. Traveling closer to the castle seemed to get even more difficult as she thought about how the forest would not give them the cover they needed. She looked back over to Crow as he spoke up again.

“Alright,” She said giving a nod. “The forest is getting to thin for cover anyways.” Her gaze swept over the trees around them before looking back over to Crow as he suddenly wanted to go to the nearby marketplace. She nodded and waited for him as he hid away the bow and arrows in the tree above. Eying the spot from where she stood, she hoped the stolen weapon would be safe from view of any other passerby. “Hopefully they won’t.” She mused then smiled and nodded her head. “As I’ll ever be.”

She turned and began to make her way down towards the town.Penelope eyed their surroundings carefully. The last couple of days had seemed safe thanks to the distance between them and the town so upon reentering it, she couldn’t help but feel a little more on guard than usual. Luckily it just seemed like a normal, busy day amongst the marketplace as she watched nobles wander around the various stands. She noted the location of a couple guards but just like the last, they didn’t seem very observant and were casually talking amongst themselves. The smell of freshly made food wafted through the air, nearly making her mouth water at the enticing scent.

Eager to take her mind off the food, she turned to look curiously over at Crow. “So what are you looking for here?” She asked as they made their way into the marketplace.

[Rogue Sloth]

As they walked into the marketplace, Crow took a moment to make sure none of the local knights had noticed them step out of the woods. Fortunately, it seemed like they were too busy talking amongst themselves to notice their unusual entrance. He was glad they were so relaxed, thanks to their faith in their goddess. Hopefully they would be just as unaware when he and Penelope returned to the forest after he bought the supplies he needed.

“Just a couple of things,” he answered Penelope’s question absently. His eyes swept slowly over the crowd in search of a vendors that would sell what he was looking for, before finally landing on a short row of merchants by the food vendors. They were exchanging goods with a few young men who appeared to be serfs.

“This way,” he took Penelope’s hand and led her through the crowd as he made his way to the stands. Reaching the closest merchant, he looked over the wares on display until he saw one of the items he had been looking for. He waited for the merchant to finish an exchange with a serf and then stepped up to get his attention. “Excuse me,” he offered a friendly smile. “How much for a jar of almond oil?”

“Ten Tael,” the man replied curtly.

Crow dug in his bag and retrieved two silver coins, setting them down on the table, “I’ll take it.”

“Here you go,” the merchant grabbed a jar and handed it off to the thief.

“Thanks,” Crow nodded and moved on to the next stand where another vendor was selling kitchen wares. He purchased a small cooking pot from the man and stashed it in his bag along with the jar of oil. Leaning a bit closer to Penelope, he explained, “This stuff is to make the poison for our weapons.”

As they stood so close to the food stands, the aroma of cooked meats and vegetables drew his attention. It had been quite a while since they had eaten anything other than the food Penelope a taken from the wagon, and he was hungry after sparring. “We should get something to eat here,” he suggested. “This is a market for nobles and their servants, so the food has to be good. Besides, I can smell venison. Who knows when I’ll get to have that again once this mission is over.” He nudged her pleadingly. “Come on, we can spare a little more time, right?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope followed Crow over to the merchant’s stand. She eyed the various items on the table, confused what had caught the thief’s attention as nothing seemed particularly important. Even when he finally asked about the almond oil, the knight wondered what use it would have. As he bought the pot, it began to click for the knight right before her confirmed her suspicions. She glanced up at him and gave a small nod to his words.

The knight began to look around at the other shops nearby, wondering if it would be wise to stock up on some more food before they left. I think I grabbed enough for us.. She thought to herself before Crow spoke. Turning to look over to him, she let out a sigh at his pleading. Admittedly, she was hungry too and being pressured by him, she couldn’t bring herself to say no. “Yeah, ok. We can get something to eat.” She agreed.

She looked over at him and shook her head with a smirk forming on her lips. “You’ve made me soft you know that,” She teased him accusingly. “I was a respectable knight when we started this mission you know.” Penelope smiled up at him and began to move towards the food stands. Though her words were just playfully, she couldn’t help but recall a few times during the mission when she had caved into him and some were even before she had developed feelings for him. “Alright well, now that I think about it.. maybe I’m a bit of a pushover.”

[Rogue Sloth]

“Great,” Crow grinned when Penelope said they could stay to eat. He began to look over the food stands, searching for the source of the smell of cooked venison. When she spoke again, he turned back to her and laughed, “Maybe you are, but to be fair, I’m pretty persistent when I find something I want.” Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her to his side in an embrace and kissed her on the head. “I got you, didn’t I? It doesn’t matter that I’m a lawless commoner. I still won over the most beautiful woman in Brerra,” he winked at her wryly. “Come on. Let’s eat.”

Crow walked with Penelope as they browsed the stands until he found a vendor selling various meat dishes. The delicious smell made his mouth water, and his stomach growled expectantly. Venison was a luxury to a peasant like him, and he planned to make the most of this trip. Stepping up to the merchant, he selected three plates that looked especially good and pulled out the money to purchase them.

“Picking up supper to feed your family, eh?” the vendor chuckled as he pocketed the coins.

“Sure, why not,” Crow grinned, collecting the plates he had bought. He turned to Penelope and shrugged, “Don’t judge me, love. I may never have venison again.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope leaned into him lightly as he pulled her close to his side, blushing lightly at his words. “Mhm, without even really trying, might I add.” She gave a small laugh at his wink and looked back ahead as they headed over to the food vendors. It’d be lying to say that the food didn’t entice her. She certainly take a warm meal over the seeds and other traveling-safe food that she had stored in her bag.

While looking over the menu, she noticed Crow had stepped up to order. She raised an eyebrow in surprise as she watched him order three different plates. The knight shook her her, though the corners over her lips were twitched upward in amusement. “I can understand the reasoning but gods don’t go eating yourself sick.” She said, crossing her arms as she eyed him. She turned her head as she noticed a more sweet smell coming from somewhere else.

Nearby there was a small bakery shop set up. They had fresh bread,but more interesting to the knight was the fritters and pastry shells with various fruits. She had a bit of a sweet tooth. It was something that she often didn’t indulge but since Crow was going all out with his venison, she felt a bit encouraged to do the same. “Let’s go over there.” Penelope said eagerly before taking the lead to head over to the vendor. She wasted no time in ordering two of the fritters and pastry shells. She dug out a small coin purse of her own.

The merchant eyed the two but didn’t seem curious enough to inquire about the amount of food they were buy. “Have a good day.” He merely mumbled as he collected the payment from Penelope and handed her the sweets. She turned back to Crow and gave a small smirk. “Ok, I won’t judge if you won’t judge, deal?” She said with a small chuckle.

[Rogue Sloth]

“You underestimate my appetite,” Crow smirked. Granted, three full plates of food were a lot for any one person, but he hadn’t had what he would consider a full meal since before he had been arrested. The portions he had been allotted in prison had only been large enough to keep him alive, and the rations the knights had assigned for their journey weren’t much better. Being so physically active as a thief meant expending a lot of energy every day and therefore also eating large meals to replenish it. Food was an important necessity in such a demanding lifestyle, so he was going to make up for lost time.

He followed after Penelope as she went on to find something she wanted to eat, slightly surprised to see her head for a bakery. Of all the places she could get supper, she was looking at a place that made bread? His lip curled upward in amusement as she purchased a few different sweets from the merchant. He never would have guessed she had such a childish side, but then again, he was learning a lot of things about her lately that he didn’t expect.

“Looks like someone has a sweet tooth,” he teased.

“Ok, I won’t judge if you won’t judge, deal?” Penelope said.

“I’m not judging,” Crow smiled at her. “I just didn’t take you for the kind of girl who likes sweets. It’s cute.” He led her over to a tree just beyond the marketplace where they could sit and eat away from the crowd. Digging into his first plate, he let out a content sigh, “I suppose there is one perk to nobility if you get to eat food like this every day.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smirked a little. “I’ll admit it, it’s a bit of a weakness.” She chuckled and followed Crow over to the tree. She sat down besides him and ate one of the fritters she had bought. She looked over at him and nodded her head slightly. “It’s true,” She mused. “This food is good but some of the banquets and feasts that I’ve been to before easily beat it. Some of the best tarts I’ve ever had were at this one feast I went to to celebrate the engagement of one of my comrades.”

The knight leaned back against the tree as she thought back on the memories. Nobles tended to show off their wealth by hosting such things and despite often being looked down upon, Penelope could recall a few feasts and other parties she had attended. She took a couple more bites from her food and looked up at the sky. “Good food but stuffy people.. Act a certain way or you’ll offend someone or they’ll think poorly of you. It’s kinda ridiculous.” She sighed as she thought about how careful she often had to be around other nobles.

The thought made her realize just how relaxing it was to be around Crow. There was nothing she had to hide about herself or be careful about telling him. Not only that but he was also so warm. It was nothing like she was used to, especially with how cold her family was. Affection and love wasn’t something shone by neither her father nor brother. It was always something Penelope just assumed was there. I don’t have to assume with him though.. She snuck a glance at Crow and smiled to herself as her heart swelled with affection for the thief. She shifted a little closer to him as she continued to eat her sweets.

[Rogue Sloth]

“Really?” Crow raised an inquisitive brow. “Maybe I’ll have to sneak into one of these banquets and try the food for myself. Although, I’m not sure I’d be a very convincing nobleman.” He shook his head at the ridiculous thought. “It would be difficult to pretend to be interested in all of the pomp and castle gossip for an entire evening. I don’t know how you’ve managed to do it for so many years.”

He popped another bite of venison into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Even if nobles enjoyed seasoned food and cushioned homes, he preferred his simple life as a peasant. It was harder, yes, but it wasn’t bad. The outer villages were full of hardworking, honest people who helped each other when life got difficult. He couldn’t count the number of times people like Evelyn had given him refuge from the knights on the border—and he wasn’t even an upstanding member of the community. Their kindness was invaluable to him, and he wouldn’t exchange that for all the food in the world.

Crow looked up again as Penelope went on to talk about the pettiness of the nobles she had encountered. “If they’re so easily offended, then why bother?” he shrugged. “If I were you, I wouldn’t go out of my way to please such narrow-minded fools. There’s no point in giving them what they want if they’re never going to accept you for who you really are. You’ll just end up going ‘round in circles kissing their rings while they keep you from reaching your own potential.” He swallowed another bite of food from his second plate and turned to meet her gaze. “It’s much simpler to just end the whole mess and stop caring what they think.”

[BuzzingBee]

“It’s easy to stop caring if you’ve got enough riches or no one depending on you.” Penelope mumbled with a soft exhale. “I didn’t put up with it because I cared or wanted to. I did it because I had to. Most of my family had already casted me aside and my father was trying his best to train me as a knight but I couldn’t rise in rank if I didn’t start making some proper connections.” The knight gave a shrug as she turned her head to look over at him. She gave him a half-hearted smile. “I wanted to repay my father for all he gave me and make my own name as a noble and knight. I think I’ve done a pretty decent job.

“Well maybe until the whole falling in love with the most infamous thief of Brerra part.” She added with a soft laugh. Penelope gave him an affectionate look that soon faded as she began to think about the troubles that lied ahead. All that work trying to repay my father and in the end, I might just turn on him completely. She looked away from him, looking distant yet again. While there was some reluctance to leave behind her job, she felt more torn at the thought of how her family would react to her just up and leaving them behind. Even if she told them where she had gone, she doubted that they’d be very understanding.

Stop thinking about it, Penelope. She scolded herself as she took a couple small bites of her food.