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

[Rogue Sloth]

Lying beneath the tree, Crow rolled onto his right side and settled down into a more comfortable position as he began to drift off to sleep. Though he didn’t like the fact that he and Penelope couldn’t sleep next to each other while William was with them, he still took comfort in her presence nearby. He also appreciated that the older knight was keeping watch for them. It was nice to be able to rest without worrying about being caught by surprise. Ever since he and Penelope had split off from the others, they hadn’t had the luxury.

He let out his breath slowly, listening to the sound of the wind rustling the trees around them. After everything that had happened that night, he was thoroughly exhausted. It didn’t take long to let go of consciousness and fall asleep.

--

That morning, Crow slept more soundly than he usually did. Even when William woke Penelope to take over his watch, the thief merely stirred slightly and rolled over to his other side without fully waking up. He continued to doze for a while longer before he was finally roused from his sleep by the slowly brightening sunlight. Yawning widely, he sat up and stretched. His body felt battered from everything he had gone through at the castle—his left leg pained him the worst—so he took a moment to let the ache fade before trying to stand up.

Taking a moment to look around the clearing, he saw that William was still asleep and Penelope was standing off to the side keeping watch. This could be the only time we have alone all day, he realized, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm as he woke up more. Might as well take advantage of this opportunity.

He forced his tired body to get up from the ground and made his way over to the female knight, offering her a weary smile, “Morning, love.” Glancing back at William to make sure he was still asleep, Crow gathered Penelope up in his arms and kissed her, relishing the feeling of her lips pressed against his after being separated from her for so long. He trailed one hand down the length of her back and held her close to himself with the other, enjoying the moment while it lasted.

After a while, he pulled back from the kiss, but continued to hold her in his embrace. He leaned his head against hers and sighed serenely, “I missed this.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope flickered her gaze over to Crow as she noticed the thief had woken up and was moving over to her. She returned his smile with a small one of her own. "Morning." She greeted. She followed his glance to make sure the older knight was still asleep. As he embraced her, she was quick to follow his lead and wrapped her arms tightly around him. She closed her eyes and met his lips as he kissed her. The knight savored their closeness, having missed it when they had finally reunited.

As he pulled back from the kiss, she smiled at his words. "I did too..." She said softly. Penelope pulled her head back slightly to meet his gaze. Her smile faded into a look of both seriousness and affection as she moved to place a hand on his cheek. She leaned in and kissed him again, pressing closer to him as she did. She pulled back after a brief moment and met his gaze. "I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you yesterday." She mumbled softly with a slight frown then nestled her head against his, moving her hand down rest against his chest.

Her gaze shifted past him towards William. Though she was glad one of her comrades had made it, she wasn't quite thrilled that it meant she had to keep a distance from Crow. This is worse than having to hide my feelings from Crow She groaned inwardly at the thought. She glanced up at the thief holding her. "With William around, this is going to be a lot more difficult.." She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, still trying to enjoy the small bit of time they did have. "At least we don't have a castle to worry about anymore though.."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow met Penelope halfway as she moved in to kiss him once more. He smiled against her lips, running a hand through her long hair and pressing into her deeply. It felt good to be so close to her after being apart, especially when there had been a moment when he wasn’t sure if he would ever see her again. While he felt bad that Abraxas had died at the castle, he was far more relieved that it had been the young knight to perish rather than Penelope.

After a bit, they parted from the kiss, but still remained close since neither of them seemed to want to let go. “Me neither,” he exhaled, frowning at the thought of something happening to her back at the palace. He closed his eyes as she leaned into him, bringing a hand up to softly stroke the hair on the back of her head. It was fortunate that neither one of them would have to find out the answer to the question of what they would do if the other had died. He didn’t know if he would even be able to carry on with the mission if he had lost her.

Crow nodded solemnly when Penelope said that it would be harder for them to sneak around William. He longed for the freedom they’d had when they had been alone, but there was nothing they could do about it now. The older knight had been freed from the Younisians, and he was here to stay. “We’ll still find time together,” he said hopefully, glancing at the sleeping William on the other side of the clearing.

“At least we don’t have a castle to worry about anymore though...” Penelope’s words, though he was sure she meant them to be reassuring, sent a wave of unease through him.

“Yeah… right,” he shifted his weight, recalling Aeklora’s warning. We may not be as safe as we think we are, he thought, looking up to do a quick survey of the forest around them. The goddess had said there were people out there who didn’t want them to succeed, and she had considered them dangerous enough to tell him about them in person. Alert your companions. His expression turned somber as he remembered her words. As uncomfortable as he felt about telling someone else about what he had experienced at the castle, he knew he had to say something.

“Actually… there’s something else,” he said slowly, forcing himself to meet Penelope’s gaze once more. “It’s going to sound completely insane, but promise me that you won’t think I’m mad, okay?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope glanced up at him as he replied with uneasy words. She noticed him glance around the forest, making her think that he might have heard something. The knight stood up a little straighter and began to eye their surroundings for any signs of someone nearby. However, the area seemed cleared so she looked back to Crow. Her confusion grew as she noticed his somber expression.

As he met her gaze, she felt a bit of concern begin to spark up inside her as she wondered what was on the thief's mind to make him think that she would think he was crazy. "Alright..." She said tilting her head slightly as she looked at him. "I won't, I trust your word. What is it?" She began to gently rub his back, hoping to relax him a little as it seemed whatever he had to tell her would be difficult for him to say.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow nodded when Penelope said she trusted his word. He believed her, but he also wondered if what he was about to tell her would be too much for her to accept. It was quite a ridiculous story, after all. He didn’t even know if he would believe her if their positions were reversed and she was the one who had met a goddess in person. He sighed. Whether she believed him or not, he still had to tell her the truth for the sake of the mission.

He moved out of her embrace, dropping his arms to his sides. “I know you must be thinking that since I stole the king’s staff that must mean the legend surrounding it isn’t true, right?” he began, fidgeting nervously. “Well… that’s not exactly the case.” Gods, this is going to sound crazy, he averted his gaze for a moment and then looked up at her again. “When I touched the staff, I sort of… died… I think. It was only for a moment, but it felt like it was a lot longer.” He paused. He knew what he was saying already sounded insane, and he hadn’t even gotten to the strangest part yet.

“While I was… dead, I met the Younisian people’s goddess, Aeklora. She said she turned me into a spirit because she wanted to talk to me,” he winced at his own words and ran a hand uncomfortably through his hair. “I know this sounds completely ridiculous, but please just bear with me.” He sighed again and then went on, “I asked her why she didn’t kill me, and she said something about rules changing and her people being in danger and their king dying… I didn’t understand most of it, but basically, it sounded like she let me live because she needed to get the staff out of Younis before their king passes away.”

Crow’s gaze turned serious, “She also told me that there are people out there who don’t want us to get the staff back to our king. I don’t know who they are or why they care, but I think they may be the ones who sent that mercenary after us. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” He reached to take her hands in his, meeting her eyes concernedly. “The last thing she said was that all three of us need to be alert on our journey back or they’ll succeed in stopping us. So, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but even though the castle is behind us, the danger isn’t over yet.” He blinked, recalling one last bit of advice the goddess had given him, “Oh, and she also said that until we pass the border into Brerra, I’m the only one who’s allowed to carry the staff without being smote. I’m not sure why she’s only making an exception for me, but that’s why I didn’t let William take it last night.”

He lowered his gaze and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, “So… I think that’s everything. I know it’s a lot to take in, but I swear it’s the truth.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope listened as he began to explain what had happened to him. Right away it was already more than she had been expecting. She furrowed her brow as he claimed he had 'died' after touching the staff. The knight remained quiet as he continued on, shocked into a silence as his recount of the night before was filled with many things that were very difficult for the knight to believe. Even as he finished, her silenced continued for another long moment.

She ran a hand through her hair, absorbing the information he had just told her. Was he hallucinating? Maybe they laced the staff.... She shook her head at the thought since it didn't add up with how he was able to escape. Penelope ran through more reasonable explanations, certain that there had to be something. She didn't think Crow was lying to her but what he told her seemed impossible, especially since she doubted the gods would waste much time involving themselves in the mortal world. Crow isn't crazy or lying but... there's got to be some other explanation... Though she couldn't think of it, she held onto the hope that there was one.

"Uhh..." She finally opened her mouth but wasn't sure what to say. Her words were still lost as she wasn't even sure where to begin. "Ok... So there's more danger ahead." She said trying to collect her thoughts. She decided to focus on the warning he was given by Aeklora as it was the easiest part to believe. It was easy to believe that more people would be after them now that they had the staff. They had already faced quite a bit of opposition on the first half of their journey so it wasn't too big of a stretch.

"I wonder if that means we've got more than one mercenary trailing us then..." Penelope started to come out of her shock a bit and had a more grave expression as she thought about the possibility. They had barely managed to survive one and even though they now had William with them, she feared what would happened if they were attacked again. Penelope crossed her arms. "But who would even be that concerned with keeping the staff from getting to Brerra?" She looked over at Crow as she thought about it. "Maybe the nobles from before? They couldn't stop us themselves so they could have hired someone to do it for them."

[Rogue Sloth]

I knew she wouldn’t believe me, Crow’s heart sank when Penelope responded to his story with silence. Why should she? It sounds like something out of a fairy tale. He let go of her hands as she took a moment to process everything he had said. Part of him wished he had lied about how he had found out there were still people after them, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that to her. Even if she chose not to believe his wild story, at least she could make that decision for herself.

Maybe that’s why Aeklora chose to speak to me, he mused. Among the three of them, he knew he was the most partial to believing in legends and superstitions. After all, such things were heavily ingrained in the people of the outer villages from the folklore passed down from their ancestors. Perhaps the goddess had revealed herself to him because she knew that he was the only one who would believe the experience had actually happened, whereas the knights would probably brush it off as a hallucination or a dream. I know what I saw, he thought determinedly. Even if they think I’m not telling the truth, I know it was real.

After a while, Penelope finally spoke up again, drawing him from his thoughts. “I don’t know what we may run into,” he said, meeting her gaze when she said there might be more mercenaries after them. “But we need to be careful.”

“But who would even be that concerned with keeping the staff from getting to Brerra?” Penelope went on. “Maybe the nobles from before? They couldn’t stop us themselves, so they could have hired someone to do it for them.”

“Maybe,” Crow nodded. “They didn’t seem like the types to give up easily.” He glanced back at William, who was beginning to stir, and leaned in to press one last kiss to her lips before the older knight woke up. “We should warn him too somehow,” he said softly, tilting his head towards the knight in indication. “He won’t listen to me, but he might hear you out if you tell him about the mercenary that attacked us before.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope nodded her head as she thought about the nobles they had run into before. They would certainly have the funds to hire a mercenary though she did question how they had managed to hire one that didn't speak any language she had heard before. Perhaps one of them knew it.. She thought to herself with a glance at Crow. It seemed to be adding up to the knight that the nobles were likely their main enemy, though she worried that they'd might find more as their journey continued and word of the staff being stolen got around.

She met his lips as he kissed her one last time before William woke. Penelope glanced over at the older knight after they parted and nodded her head. "I'll talk to him about it." She promised quietly as she looked over at the older knight as he rose. She hesitated before taking a small step away from Crow so they weren't close anymore as the other knight looked over at them.

"Good you're both up. We need to get moving." William said as he made his way over to them.

"Before that, I need to catch you up on something that happened while you were gone." Penelope said with a serious expression. William raised an eyebrow at her.

"And what is that?"

"On our way to the castle, we got attacked by a mercenary." She began. "Someone must have hired him to try and stop us from completing the mission but we're not sure who. I," Penelope paused, tensing up as she thought about the attack. "I killed him but I don't think we're out of the clear."

"Did you get any information out of him?" William asked narrowing his gaze.

"He didn't speak the same language as us. That and I was focusing on getting out of there alive." Penelope responded sharply. William crossed his arms and let his gaze wander over to the staff as he thought over this new information.

"I'm thinking it might be the nobles from before... But regardless, someone doesn't want that getting back to our king." She told him and glanced over at Crow before looking back to William. "We'll have to keep alert since I doubt that was the last of their tries to stop us."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow reluctantly distanced himself from Penelope when William got up from the ground so he wouldn’t see them standing so close together. The knight made his way over to them, seeming pleased that he didn’t have to bother waking anyone up that morning. Of course, his first inclination was to get moving again, but Penelope stopped him. The thief glanced at her as she told her comrade about the mercenary attack. He said nothing since it seemed like she had covered everything, and he knew that the hot-headed knight wouldn’t listen to anything a criminal had to say anyways.

He’s going to have to learn to respect me sometime, he thought, leaning against a nearby tree and crossing his arms. Aeklora had said that they all needed each other in order to succeed. He and Penelope trusted each other completely, but as long as William refused to treat him like an equal—or even a competent member of the group—he was causing a weak link. It wasn’t like the thief was overly fond of working with him either, but he understood that they had to try to get along if they wanted to get back to Brerra alive and with the staff intact.

When Penelope finished giving him all of the details about the attack, William folded his arms across his chest and knitted his brow in thought, “All the more reason to get back as soon as possible. Come on,” he started walking off without waiting for a response.

Crow glanced at Penelope and shrugged before moving to gather his bow and quiver along with the staff—not wanting to be burdened by their weight, he had left his other bags behind before the palace raid—and following after the knight. They moved briskly through the forest, with William setting the pace. The speed was difficult for Crow to keep up with, as the wound in his leg still smarted, but he pushed forward without giving away his discomfort. Knowing they could be attacked again at any moment, he wanted to cover ground quickly too.

He fell back to walk beside Penelope, wanting to talk with someone to take his mind off of the pain. “I wonder if we’ll run into Hartley and Kip again on our way back,” he said in an attempt to make small talk. “If we go back the way we came, we’ll probably pass through Hefn.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope sighed as William took off. She hoped that her words of warning would keep the older knight on alert. But then again, he hardly ever relaxes anyways... She thought to herself as she moved to follow him, adjusting the strap of the bag she still carried. She took up the back of the group as William lead them onward. Her gaze shifted over to Crow as he fell besides her. Though they had lost the freedom they had when they were alone, she was at least glad William wasn't pushing his views about handling prisoners on her anymore. It would at least allow them to speak casually.

"We might." Penelope mused as he brought up Hartley and Kip. She certainly wouldn't mind running into the young couple again for one last goodbye but what concerned her was the route they would take to get back and their dwindling supplies. "The forest will cover us for a few days but it might get too thin to be of much use for cover once we get closer to Hefn... Though I don't think traveling on the main roads is much of an option with your bow and now the staff." The knight glanced up at the sky and crossed her arms as she mulled over their options.

"We might have to start traveling at night." She suggested. "But before that, we need to find a marketplace to restock on supplies. I still have enough in my bag to get us through a couple more days but between the three of us, it won't last long.. And we need to find somewhere to refill the canteens..." Penelope paused her ramblings and looked over at Crow with a half-hearted smile. "There's a lot to do" She sighed.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow nodded at Penelope’s mention that it would be difficult to travel out of sight when they reached the edge of the forest. He wondered what the local guards would do if they saw him carrying the staff though. He knew that they couldn’t take it back from them even if they tried, but he was curious what they would think if they saw a peasant with their symbol of divine right. Would they lose faith in their beliefs? Or would they think he had been granted authority over their kingdom by Aeklora despite not being a noble? If they hadn’t been in such a hurry to leave Younis, he would have wanted to see what sort of effect he had on the native people by simply holding onto the staff.

He smiled in amusement when Penelope went on to hurriedly list out all of the things they needed to do on their way back to Brerra. “Don’t worry, love. We’ll get everything done,” he said confidently. “I couldn’t climb into the castle with the extra weight of my bags, so I left them back in the citadel, but I did take this.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a fat coin purse. He had packed it full to the brim so the coins wouldn’t jingle against each other when he moved. “This should be plenty to cover any supplies we need when we find a market,” he grinned, tossing the pouch once in his hand and then stashing it away again. “Besides, there are markets everywhere in this kingdom. I’m sure it won’t be long before we stumble into one.”

Up ahead, William abruptly stopped walking. He held up his right hand in a fist, signaling for silence. Crow eyed him curiously for a moment before he heard voices coming from the south side of the forest. Quickly understanding what was going on, he crouched down to hide behind a large bush with the others until the sound of footsteps and voices faded away.

“It appears word of our route has already reached these parts of Younis,” William said once they seemed to be in the clear again. “Dammit all. I wish we still had our map so we could travel a different way and throw them off course.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked over at Crow as he assured her they'd be fine. She smiled a little at his words and nodded her head before her focus turned over to William as he suddenly stopped in his tracks. At the silent command, she kept her mouth shut and listened as the footsteps drew closer. She moved to hide with the others and remained tense as they waited for the people to pass. Once the coast was clear, she stood back up and glanced off in the direction the footsteps had disappeared in.

"You're telling me." Penelope grumbled in agreement with William's words. She had been wishing they still had the map since they had gotten separated. She folded her arms across her chest as she thought about their situation. The patrols were already too close for comfort and they also had to worry about the danger Crow warned about. This isn't going to work... She thought with a soft huff. Her gaze drifted into the direction of the town before an idea struck her.

"You know... Before we reached the castle, we've been sneaking into stables to stay there at night." Penelope began. William looked over at her with an uninterested gaze. She rolled her eyes. "Look, we might not be able to get a map to throw them off our tail but we might be able to get ahead of them if we sneak into a stable and borrow a horse or two."

"You mean steal." William corrected, clearly unpleased with the idea.

"Call it what you want but we need something to get us away from these patrols." Penelope responded sternly. "So, what do you think?"

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow looked between the two knights as they complained about word catching up to the local guards about them. He didn’t see what the big deal was. Compared to the knights in Brerra, he had found evading the Younisians to be a simple task on their way to and through the castle. In fact, he would have been surprised if the guards were clever enough to track them down before they reached the border. He glanced at the forest ahead. His fears laid in the unknown threat of whoever was intent enough to stop them that they would hire a mercenary. If it really was the group of nobles from Brerra, they would probably be in greater danger once they got farther from the citadel.

He turned back to Penelope when she suggested stealing some horses to cover ground more quickly. Admittedly, it was a good idea, but it wasn’t one that the thief was particularly fond of. Having grown up in a poor village that didn’t have the capacity to care for many farm animals, he had no experience in dealing with horses. The closest he had gotten to the beasts was when they had been travelling in the wagon that was drawn by them. The thought of climbing on top of one and trying to command it was more than slightly off-putting to him.

“Fine,” William growled after a long pause. “If we must—but only until we reach the border. We may be carrying out an unpleasant assignment, but we’re still knights of Brerra. We cannot disgrace ourselves by returning to our kingdom with stolen property.”

Crow cleared his throat and held up the staff with a smirk.

“…We cannot return with more stolen property than the king has instructed us to retrieve,” William corrected, flushing slightly as he shot the thief a glare. “Let’s keep moving.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope smirked a little as William finally agreed to her idea. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing as Crow motioned with the staff at William's words. The knight cleared her throat. "Of course." She said with a small shrug. As she began to follow the older knight, she smirked to herself. Proud as always... Even after being in prison. She thought in amusement.

She moved to walk besides Crow again. "You know... I didn't realize how much influence you've had on me until William went off about being knights of Brerra and it slightly annoyed me." She whispered to him with a soft snicker so the older knight wouldn't hear her. Though she spoke to Crow, her gaze was focused on eying the forest around them. The knight was trying to remain alert now that they had quite a bit of threats, one of them even unknown.

Her gaze flickered to Crow for a moment and her smirk faded away as she became a little more serious once again. "At least with horses we'll be able to move faster..The sooner we get back, the better by the sound of it." She said with a soft sigh. It was strange how her eagerness to finish the journey seemed to be constantly changing. At the very start, she was merely focused on getting the task at hand done but when she brefriend and fell for Crow, she was much more reluctant to finish the mission. But now I just want to get this over with. She thought as she looked ahead at William. Then I can be with Collin and I can handle his enemies... I was one at the start of this after all. The more she thought about it, the more eager she felt to return to their kingdom.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow walked beside Penelope as William began to lead them through the woods again. He glanced at her and broke out in a grin when she whispered to him. “It must be because I’m so charismatic,” he teased quietly. “Maybe, if we’re lucky, I can get William to come around too. It would be nice to take some souvenirs home from this trip.” He nudged her and winked wryly.

As she went on to talk about how the horses would help them move faster, his smile faded slightly. Not knowing what the future held for them, he didn’t share in her optimism of getting back to Brerra. He knew she had said she would stay with him, even if it meant disregarding her status and family, but would she still feel the same way when she returned to it all? He didn’t want to get his hopes up that she would sacrifice so much for him.

At least I’ll be home soon, he thought with a pang of relief. It had been so long since he had last been a free man. Regardless of what was to happen between him and Penelope, he still felt excited about the prospect of going back to the outer villages. He missed the peacefulness and simplicity of peasant life. It would be good to come home to it all.

“Speaking of that,” Crow met her gaze with a bashful smile. “It might be pertinent for you to know that I have no idea how to ride a horse.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope blinked as he admitted he didn't know how to ride a horse. Though it caught her off guard, it didn't surprise her much as she thought about it. She guessed that the same reason he couldn't ride a horse was similar to the reason he couldn't swim, it simply wasn't common in the outer villages. Guess I should have thought of that before... She scolded herself for not realizing sooner. Riding came simple to the knight since it was often a part of her work.

"Oh." She mumbled as she thought over the situation. For a moment, she considered calling off the plan to steal some horse. She doubted William would put up much resistance to abandoning it since he had been so reluctant to agree to it in the first place. "Maybe we'll just have to figure something else out then." She said with a shrug.

The knight paused as an idea came to her. A sly smile spread over her lips and she turned to Crow. "Or, we can just share a horse." She told him, looking rather pleased with her idea. It was nearly perfect in her opinion since it would allow them to be rather close without William figuring them out. He might not completely approve but if Crow can't ride a horse, he won't be able to argue unless he wants to ride with him. Penelope thought with a smirk as she looked ahead at the older knight as they walked. "I can control a horse just fine, so all you'll have to do is get on and hold on tight." She added quietly with a wink.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow felt slightly bad for throwing off Penelope’s plan, especially since she had seemed so proud of her idea, but it was better for her to know about his inability to ride horses now rather than find out when he would inevitably try and fail later. At least this way, if they moved forward with the plan, she would be prepared for such a situation to arise.

He glanced off to the side as she tried to come up with another way to get ahead of the Younisian knights. He knew she wasn’t intending to make him feel awkward about it, but he didn’t like being the reason why they couldn’t use the horses to get back to Brerra sooner. It wasn’t his fault that he never had the opportunity to learn horseback riding. After all, that was something nobles learned that most peasants didn’t have time for even if they owned farm horses. In fact, he couldn’t think of anyone he had met in the outer villages who knew such a skill.

When Penelope spoke up again, he met her gaze with newfound interest. He didn’t know horses could carry more than one person at a time. It would be nice to be so close again, he mused, imagining what it would be like to sit next to her during the ride home. “I like the sound of that,” he lowered his voice coquettishly, brushing his hand against hers as they walked. “As long as I can hold onto you instead of the horse, that is.”

After a while of walking, a noble estate became visible through the trees. Crow glanced down at Penelope and grinned, “I’d bet you anything they have a stable.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope blushed a little at his flirtatious words and smiled at the thief. "Of course." She grinned at him before focusing back ahead as they walked. Luckily the patrol from earlier seemed to be the only one to come close to finding them as time went on. As the noble estate came into sight, Penelope looked over at Crow and nodded her head in agreement.

"William. Let's try that place for horses." Penelope told the older knight, picking up her pace slightly to catch up to him so she could point out the estate.

William slowed his pace as he looked over at the building with clear displeasure. "Alright." He grumbled reluctantly as he changed direction to head down towards the estate. He slowed as they drew closer to the tree line and let Penelope take the lead. As the place came into view, she did a quick survey of the manor. It seemed as quiet as the ones they had been to before, though she did notice one stable boy packing up his tools for the night. William crossed his arms with a scowl on his face. The female knight looked over at her comrade and sighed. "Look it'll be easy," She glanced up at the slowly darkening sky then back to William. "The stable boys should be leaving about now and it'll be easy to slip in."

"You're too familiar with this." William muttered irritably.

"I did what I had to get the mission done." Penelope responded sharply. William looked over at her but didn't say anymore, instead focusing his gaze on the estate.

"Looks like he's leaving now." He observed, changing the subject.

Penelope focused back on the task at hand and nodded her head in agreement. There was one a single stable boy who was heading back toward the main house, likely to report to the noble before calling it a day. She waited for him to disappear through the back door before motioning for William to follow her as she hurried towards the stable door and slipped inside. The older knight begrudgingly followed.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow found William’s discomfort with stealing to be quite amusing. It seemed like the haughty knight’s pride was taking a bit of a hit from the knowledge that his comrade knew a bit about stealing. The spiteful side of him hoped that they would need to resort to more thievery and other lawlessness just because it might take William’s pride down a peg or two. Maybe then he would be more pleasant to be around—or the thief could use it as leverage the next time the knight tried to lord his ‘justice’ over him. He smiled to himself. Either way, he was going to enjoy this.

After the stable boy had gone, Crow followed the two knights as they snuck into the stable. He couldn’t help but feel a wave of pride for Penelope. She seemed to have picked up quite a bit from him during the course of their travels, even to the point where he felt content to sit back and let her take the lead on this one. At the rate she’s improving, she would make a talented thief, he thought with a pleased smile. Maybe I can teach her more when we get back—if she chooses to come with me, that is. His smile faltered slightly as he recalled that they might not still be together by then, and he quickly pushed the disheartening thought aside.

Now inside of the stable, Crow walked along the row of horses, eyeing the animals curiously. He had stolen a lot of things in his lifetime, but living animals weren’t on the list. It wasn’t because he never had the opportunity, but rather because he never had a need to take them. Besides, it was far more convenient to steal something that didn’t need to be fed and couldn’t run away. He turned to the knights expectantly, “Do we just take the horses, or do we need anything else?”

William grunted and crossed his arms, still upset about the situation, “So, there is something you don’t know how to steal.”

“This may be a little outside of my field of expertise,” Crow admitted. “But I’m perfectly capable of learning.” His expression changed suddenly as he took on a mischievous smirk. “Think of it as an honor. You get to teach me how to steal a horse.”

William grimaced at the thought and turned to Penelope, “Are you sure you can’t think of any other way to lose the Younisians?” He glanced back at the thief, who was now eyeing a black stallion with interest, ignoring the knights’ conversation. “Anything at all?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked around at the horses in the stable, barely paying attention to Crow and William as they spoke. Her gaze roamed over the stable to locate where the saddles and reins were before she turned back, noticing William had turned to address her. She rolled her eyes at his words as he was still trying to get out of stealing. "Not unless you want to risk getting lost in the forest trying to find a whole new way around." She told him with a small snort.

The older knight shot her an annoyed look and in return she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just trying to get us home, William. We've come this far, are you really going to let pride be the reason they catch up with us?" She challenged. William wrinkled his nose up at her words and cursed under his breath before pushing past the female knight to head over to where the saddles and other riding equipment was.

Penelope gave a pleased look before turning to follow him. She grabbed reins, a pad and a saddle before turning to head back. She walked over to Crow and the black stallion he was eying. "Good choice." She mused as she reached him and placed the saddle down for a moment so she could open up the stall door. "He looks strong. Let's just hope he's also fast." She grinned and then turned her attention back to the horse.

The stallion sniffed at them now that his door was open but otherwise made no moves. Penelope stepped up to him, scratching his head. The horse seemed well-mannered from what she could tell, since he made no moves to bite at her or go rushing out of the stall. These nobles probably work with them alot.. She thought. "Ready to go on an adventure big guy?" She mumbled softly to the horse before stepping back to pick up the equipment again. She put the pad on first and then threw the saddle over it and secured it on the horse with it's belt. After the saddle was properly on, she grabbed the reins and carefully slid them onto the horse's head.

She grabbed the reins and lead him out of the stall then turned to Crow. "Alright, watch how I get on because if you use the wrong leg, you're going to end up sitting backwards or accidentally kicking it." She said with a small smirk. Penelope turned back to the stallion and put her left foot in the stirrup then gripped the saddle with her hand to help pull herself up. She slung her right leg over and shifted her posture slightly so she sat more evenly on the beast. It was admittedly, a bit of an awkward feeling to be riding in a dress since she was so used to her usual knight outfit but it didn't seem to restrict her so she tried to get used to it.

Penelope turned back to Crow and held out her hand to help him up onto the beast. "Ready?" She asked him.