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

[Rogue Sloth]

Because of how far Whitebridge was from their hideout, it took a bit longer than planned for the thieves to reach the outskirts of the village. They arrived a while after nightfall, setting up camp to the east side of the village, where they hoped they would be far enough away to avoid any more unwanted encounters with the knights.

Once everything was finished, they collapsed tiredly in the grass next to a small fire, exhausted from the both long journey and the short run-in with the scouts. Not much conversation went on as they relaxed and recuperated from the trip, until Crow stood back up to announce that he was going to go on ahead to warn the villagers while there was still time.

“I’m coming with you,” Rikki announced, hopping to her feet as well and trotting up beside him. When Crow just stared at her curiously, she rolled her eyes, “There could be a whole battalion of knights in that village. You could need an extra pair of eyes watching your back.”

“Fine,” Crow agreed, a bit relieved to have the sharp thief coming along with him. “Let’s go.”

They turned and headed towards Whitebridge, leaving Simon and Alistair behind to sleep. As they walked, Rikki fell in step beside him, keeping close enough that their arms brushed occasionally. Crow glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He sometimes wondered if her advances stemmed from more than just a physical desire for him, but it was hard to tell. Flirtatious by nature and hardly ever serious, she was a difficult woman to read. However, he didn’t intend to ask about it, and she never bothered to tell him, so the matter would remain unsettled.

“So,” Rikki spoke up after they had walked in silence for a while. “What are you going to do if you have to fight either of those knights you know?”

“That won’t happen,” Crow said stubbornly. “We’re only going to fight to protect the villagers. Penelope and Olivia wouldn’t attack innocent people.”

“Yeah, okay,” Rikki frowned. “But what if?” She leaned in a little closer to him. “Say their leaders make them do it. No choice. What would you do then?”

Crow faltered a bit as he chewed on her question. It was a situation he hoped he would never have to face. Not being very close with Olivia, he didn’t doubt that he would fight against her if he had to, but to engage with Penelope… The thought sent a shiver down his spine. “It’s not going to happen,” he repeated. “I know them. They would never go after the villagers.”

Rikki nodded wordlessly at his answer, not seeming fully convinced. Like Simon, she probably had her own reservations about working with a knight, but had kept them to herself out of respect for her leader until now. He was just grateful that she at trusted his judgment enough not to push the matter at least.

When they reached Whitebridge, they sought out as many peasants as they could who were still awake. Once Crow and Rikki explained the situation, word began to spread like wildfire through the village that war was coming. Before long, they began to evacuate the women and children into the woods to the east, where the thieves had made their camp.

Fortunately, it seemed that they had come at the perfect time, because just as the last families fled the village, Crow caught sight of armor just past the southern tree line, reflected eerily in the moonlight. He nudged Rikki to draw her attention to it. “Time to go,” he said, leading the way as the two thieves sprinted into the woods after the villagers.

--

Crow spent the rest of the night getting what little sleep he could while the women and older children that had taken cover with them tried to console the frightened young ones.

When dawn came, it felt much too soon. Simon was the first one up, so he roused the others just before sunrise. They all prepared their weapons and headed back to Whitebridge, where the remaining male villagers, along with a few women who had chosen to stay and defend their home, were readying themselves to fight. Like the people in many of the other outer villages, they had already seen some of the battles and knew what was coming.

Crow’s eyes swept over the ragged warriors. They were trying hard to put on brave faces, but he could tell they were frightened—and understandably so. He frowned as he recalled the last battle that had taken place near Whitebridge. It had been one of the more brutal fights he had seen since the war had begun a year ago. He didn’t blame the villagers for fearing the battle would repeat itself that morning.

“Crow.”

He turned at the sound of Simon’s voice behind him. The blonde thief tipped his head towards the western tree line, “Hear that?”

“Yeah,” Crow nodded. The distant sounds of battle could be heard over the sounds of the villagers’ preparations. “Sounds like it started.” He signaled for Rikki and Alistair to join them. Once the thieves had gathered, he stood back to address them all, “Everyone, we’re going to the border. Right now the fighting is happening on the Younisian side, but some of their knights could still slip through and head this way. If we wait for them there, we can stop them before they reach this village.

“Try to stay in between the border and Whitebridge as best as you can. Don’t fall back unless you get injured or the Younisians start to push the knights from our kingdom this way. Also, remember to stay within shouting distance of each other so we can back each other up if anyone gets into trouble,” he looked between the three. “Any questions?”

They all shook their heads. They had seen enough war to know the drill.

After a moment, Crow nodded, “Alright then. Good luck out there, guys. Let’s all come back alive, so we have something to drink about.” With that, he drew his daggers and led the way as the four thieves raced into the forest.

[BuzzingBee]

The battle begun and the sound of blades clashing filled her ears as the two enemy forces clashed. Penelope found herself quickly locked in battle with a Younisian knight. She was vaguely aware of Gavin fighting nearby her and Olivia off in the distance among the chaos. She swiped at him with her blade and he blocked it with his own. The enemy knight attempted to slip past her sword and took a stab at her side but Penelope dodged rather gracefully. Over the two years, she had been heavily focused on her job as a knight and her skills had improved all around, making her an even more dangerous enemy than before.

However, the one problem was that she struggled to focus on her own fight. Her gaze was often scanning the chaotic crowd around her, trying to keep tabs on Gavin, Olivia, Tomas and her other friends. It was a bit overwhelming as she wanted to try and protect them if she could but also had to deal with the enemy attacking her.

You can look for them after you beat this guy.. She told herself, meeting the enemy knight's gaze with a flare of determination. She lunged at him with her weapon, moving to slip past him as he blocked her sword with his. This time she danced around him and delivered a slice to his side on the weaker part of his armor. The knight grunted with pain and charged at Penelope again. She narrowly missed his attack, coming close to having the sword driven into her. Penelope slipped past his defense and delivered a finishing slice to the man's throat, making his body crumble to the ground.

She stood back. The female knight looked around the battlefield, noticing how most of her comrades were locked in close battles and that some had already been decided. She flinched as she watched another Brerratic knight collapse to the ground. Trying not to focus on the death, she turned and moved on to face another Younisian knight that was charging towards her.

As the battle rolled on, Mia had commanded everyone to fall back a little, clearly trying to get them ready for when the other force of troops arrived. However, as Penelope fought, she noticed they were getting awfully close to the village that was nearby. "Penelope!" She left another enemy wounded on the ground when she heard someone shout her name. The female knight turned her head to see Gavin, his normally stoic expression now held a look of panic as he gestured to a group of Younisians that had managed to push past the Brerratic knights and were getting dangerously close to the town.

"Let's go." Penelope said as she hurried to his side, dodging past swords and fights along the way to get to him. She fell back with Gavin towards the village, attempting to cut off the Younisian knights. She glanced over her shoulder to see a few other of their comrades had joined them. Feeling a bit more confident with more than just Gavin and herself, Penelope sprinted forward to engage in another fight with one of the Younisian knights, who turned around just in time to block her attack.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow crouched behind a bush at the border between Younis and Brerra, his gaze locked on the distant battle. He fidgeted with the daggers in his hands, filled with nervous energy as he waited for any knights to come his way. It was hard to see what was happening from where he was hiding, but it looked like the Brerratic forces were slowly pulling back towards the village. It was only a matter of time before they got close enough to become a threat to the peasants.

He didn’t have to wait long for his prophesy to come true. After a while of waiting, he spotted a flash of movement up ahead. A couple of Younisian knights had broken away from the fighting and were barreling through the foliage towards Whitebridge. He tensed, watching them coldly from behind the bush. In their eagerness to strike deeper into their enemies’ territory, they didn’t seem to notice the thief that they were headed right towards. He smirked to himself. Their distraction would be their downfall.

As the knights got nearer to his hiding place, Crow leaped out at them, swinging the dagger in his left hand at the closest Younisian. The blade made contact with the man’s side, cutting cleanly through his flesh before he had a chance to react. The knight cried out in pain, dropping to the ground and clutching at his wound to keep his innards from spilling out. Meanwhile, Crow turned on the second knight, who had raised his sword to defend himself, eyes wide with shock at the unexpected attacker.

Without giving him a chance to strike first, the thief lunged at the Younisian. They engaged in a brief clash of blades before he managed to break through the man’s defenses and deliver a sharp stab to his chest. The knight collapsed beside his comrade with a groan, unable to continue the fight due to the injury.

Finished with them now, Crow stepped away and turned back to the battlefield, his eyes sweeping calculatingly over the battalions of knights. They had drawn back even closer to the border now, so it was time for him to pull back a bit as well. He was just about to do so, when he caught sight of something else that made him stop: Another group of Younisian knights had pulled away from the main battle and were headed towards the village, but this time, there were a lot more of them. He clicked his tongue. He could take out at least two of them with the element of surprise, but after that, he was too outnumbered to do anything about them on his own. He just hoped the other thieves were close enough to see them and join in as well.

Crow made his way over to the group, moving stealthily through the trees as he took advantage of the low morning light. As he had done with the first two knights, he jumped out from hiding the instant the Younisians had come close enough that he could strike down a couple of them before they noticed his presence. However, instead of going on to attack any of the others this time, he drew back from killing two knights and watched the others warily as they began to turn on him.

He was just about to call for aid when two other figures leaped out of the forest on the other side of the knights, blades swinging viciously as they cut into their enemies. Crow felt a wave of relief as he watched Alistair and Simon join in the battle. With his companions at his side, he felt much more confident.

“Took you both long enough,” he grinned at the thieves as they backed up to stand on either side of him.

“The hero always shows up at the last moment,” Alistair smirked at him.

“I’ve never known a hero who gets drunk as often as you,” Crow rolled his eyes in return.

“Whatever,” Alistair snorted. “I fight better drunk anyway!” He charged back into the fight, crossing swords with one of the closest Younisians.

Crow and Simon followed his lead, picking out their own targets and attacking with equal tenacity. Despite their efforts, there were still too many knights for the three of them to handle on their own and they were forced to fall back to the edge of Whitebridge. At this point, the remaining villagers were beginning to join in as well. Crow felt a surge of anger as he watched the knights take down a few peasant boys who couldn’t have been older than fifteen.

To make matters worse, it appeared that some of the Brerratic knights had taken notice of the Younisians and fallen back to fight them in the village as well. They fought ruthlessly with little care for the villagers in their paths.

Crow yanked his dagger back out of a man that he had just stabbed and slipped away to help the people of Whitebridge, who were now in danger of being attacked by both Younisian and Brerratic knights. Momentarily forgotten, he managed to catch one knight from Brerra by surprise, delivering a deep cut to the man’s thigh and forcing him to the ground. Having immobilized his first target, he moved on to strike a Younisian who was in an unfair fight with another peasant boy, dropping him as well after a short clash of blades that left him with a cut on his own arm.

The thief stood back from the fighting for a moment as he panted to catch his breath. However, he didn’t have long to rest before another Brerratic knight came at him with his sword raised. He quickly lifted one of his daggers up to block the attack and followed the motion by bringing his other blade around to deliver a swift stab to the man’s torso. The knight cried out and fell down at Crow’s feet, clutching at the wound the same way his first enemy had.

Still breathing hard, Crow looked around at the knights, thieves—Rikki had appeared at some point as well—and peasants, all locked in combat. Even though he had faced identical battles countless times over the past year, the sight still made him feel sick. Even worse was the fact that the main battle had drawn close enough to Whitebridge that there was now a sea of knights outnumbering the villagers.

Is this ever going to end? Crow thought tiredly as he ran to join in the fighting again.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope clashed with the man for a moment longer. With his focus on her, Gavin was quick to swoop in and drive his blade into the enemy knight's leg. The man crumbled to the ground and the two Brerratic knights shifted closer to each other as they took in the sight of the battle around them. Penelope panted as she watched Younisian knights fighting both enemy knights and villagers while some her comrades tore through the village without a care about the people that lived there.

"What the hell are they doing.." Gavin breathed with a hint of horror. She glanced over at him, feeling a similar shock at the cruelty that was being displayed by both sides. "They should be protecting the villagers!"

"Come on. We won't do much by-" Her words fell short as her gaze caught sight of an all too familiar figure amongst the fighting. Her green eyes tracked his movement, stunned into a silence as she watched Crow fighting from a distance. He shouldn't be here.. Why is he here!? A new sense of horror and surprise filled her as she watched him cut down one of her comrades. The thief didn't even flinch at the blood or hesitate to fight. It shocked her. This wasn't the man she remembered.

"Penelope!" Gavin snapped as he gave her a small shove to get her out of the pathway of an enemy knight that was charging towards them. The male knight defended her and quickly wounded the Younisian knight before he could strike again. Coming back to her senses a little, she turned her gaze back to Gavin, who was looking rather concerned about her.

"Let's focus on helping the villagers. Stay close and let's try to get some of our comrades to be a bit more rational." Penelope told him as she snapped back on the task at hand. While she did want Gavin to help her with this new development, she also wanted to make sure she could keep him from running into either Crow or one of the other thieves, of whom she assumed where likely fighting there as well.

As she charged forward, she silently tried to keep tabs on Crow's location, not letting him completely out of her sight. It probably would have been wiser for her to just lose track of him rather than keep an eye on him to make sure he made it out of this battle ok. Penelope used her sword to block one of their comrades from carelessly hitting a villager nearby. "Watch it Byron." She growled at the older Brerratic knight while Gavin handled the Younisian that was attacking. "Mia wants to keep our people alive."

Penelope continued to try and lessen the damage caused by her comrades, often claiming it was an order from Mia, who was farther back from the village. Some seemed to listen to her but others continued to disregard her words. Gavin stuck close, helping to fend off any enemy knights while she dealt with comrades.

Looking back ahead she spotted a small group of villagers who were trying desperately to defend themselves against three Younisian knights. "Gavin, ahead." She said getting his attention. He followed her gaze and nodded. Penelope pushed herself forward and shoved her way in between the villagers and the enemy knights with Gavin following her lead. Metal crashed together as she blocked the Younisian knights attack on the villagers.

[Rogue Sloth]

As the battle raged on, Crow and the other thieves found that they had to pull back a bit more. With no armor to keep themselves safe, they had all started sustaining injuries when their stamina began to wear down. Rikki had come off the worst, taking a stab to the leg that had left her in no condition to walk, let alone continue fighting. In the end, she had to be carried off by some of the villagers to the camp in the east, where she was to be treated by the peasant women.

The remaining three thieves gathered away from the fighting to assess the situation.

“Do you think we should fall back?” Alistair asked with a grimace, clutching at a long gash in his shoulder that was trickling blood down his arm. “I hate to say it, but I don’t know how much longer this village can last.”

“Maybe longer than you think,” Simon said as his eyes swept calculatingly over the knights. “Look at that. The Brerratic knights are starting to avoid the villagers.”

“Really?” Crow turned in surprise. Usually, neither side cared about the fate of the village they were fighting in. He gazed out at the knights and was stunned to see that Simon was right. The villagers were still under attack, but the forces coming after them were overwhelmingly Younisian now. He wondered what had changed to make the knights from his kingdom leave them alone when they never seemed to care before. Whatever it was, it meant that they still had a chance to save the people of Whitebridge.

“We’re not falling back,” he said decisively, turning back to face Alistair and Simon. “Not while we can still do something to help. Come on; let’s get back in there.” After receiving a nod from the others, he led them back into the battle, where they continued to cut down any knights that went after the villagers. There were still some Brerratic knights that got in their way, but for the most part, they found that they were up against the Younisians now.

Crow swiped one of his daggers at a man who was bearing down on a villager, cutting into his throat before he had a chance to react. As the body of the dead knight crumpled at his feet, he felt an unexpected wave of dizziness and had to avert his gaze. Not now, he thought stubbornly, running back to fight off another Younisian. Even though he had gotten over his fear of blood for the most part, it still appeared, quite unwarranted, every once in a while. However, as long as he didn’t focus on the gore of the battle, he would usually be fine.

He continued to fight off knights, focusing intently on ignoring the blood around him until the brief episode passed. As he did, he took a couple more blows from his enemies’ swords, one to his shin and another to the side of his throat—it would have been a fatal cut if he hadn’t reacted fast enough to get away before the blade cut too deeply—that forced him to pull back for a short time to recover.

He didn’t wait long before rejoining the battle. As soon as he had caught his breath, he dove into it again, making his way towards a group of villagers that were being overpowered by Younisian knights. However, before he reached them, he saw someone else get there first.

Crow’s steps faltered as he saw Penelope cross swords with one of the knights. Having been focused solely on protecting the villagers, he had forgotten that he might cross paths with her in the battle, so seeing her suddenly like this caught him off guard.

He stopped short, watching as she and another Brerratic knight fought off the Younisian attackers, when another thought came to him: Perhaps the knights from their kingdom had stopped ignoring the villagers because she had done something? With the way she was protecting them now, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she had intervened on their behalf.

After standing still for a moment, he snapped out of his shock and forced himself to keep running towards the fight. Penelope and that other knight were still outnumbered three to two, and the third Younisian hadn’t noticed the thief approaching. Even though he was reluctant to get close to her in the war, he couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

While the knight was still distracted, Crow lunged at him from behind, sinking both of his daggers into the man’s back and cutting downwards. The Younisian let out a howl of pain and dropped to the ground. The thief looked up, finding himself face to face with Penelope for a brief moment. Even though it couldn’t have been more than a second, it felt like time had slowed down. He wondered what she thought, seeing him standing before her with daggers dripping in the blood of the man he had just killed. She had once praised him for being kindhearted, but there was no denying that he wasn’t the same man as he had been back then. The war had changed him.

He averted his gaze, suddenly finding himself unable to look her in the eyes, and then turned his back on her to fight off another Younisian that was attacking two villagers.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope clenched her jaw as she fought with the Younisian knights alongside Gavin. He was locked in a fight with one of the enemies, unintentionally leaving her to have to deal with the other two. Out numbered, the female knight felt one of their attacks make contact with her arm. She winced and used her sword to block another oncoming attack.

However the swords never met as the Younisian knight suddenly crumbled as someone else attacked from behind. Penelope froze for a moment as she came to face Crow. Her gaze traced over him, subtly eying the bloody daggers in his hand. A lot could change in two years and she was beginning to realize just how much. She felt a little uneasy as she watched him leave to move onto the next fight, leaving her to wonder just how much of the man she once knew was still left.

"Hey you ok?" Gavin asked her as he finished off the remaining knight and faced Penelope.

Penelope, snapping out of her original shock, turned to look over at Gavin. "I'm fine." She assured him quietly realizing that he was asking about the wound on her arm and not her run in with Crow.

The two knights moved on to aid a couple more villagers from beingg attacked by Younisian knights. It was at that time Penelope realized that the second force of Brerratic knights had arrived and were beginning to drive the Younisians back to the border. She moved to follow the other knights as they gained the upper hand in the battle yet again. As they moved away from the village, she glanced over her shoulder, looking back on the state of the village as well as scanning for any last sight of Crow,whom she had lost track of after her ran back into battle.

"That was Crow.. Wasn't it?" Gavin asked her in a hush whisper.

Penelope blinked and looked over at him. "I'm not sure..." she lied. "I only saw him for a second.." Wanting to get away from the topic at hand, she looked back ahead and watched as the battle began to die down as the Younisians retreated. "Thank the gods that's over" she breathed quietly to Gavin.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow could feel Penelope’s eyes on his back as he ran to engage in battle with another Younisian knight. His heart pounded as her shocked face flitted through his mind. He didn’t know what she had been thinking when she had looked at him, but he could take a few guesses. He clashed blades with the knight with a new wave of energy, taking out his frustration on the man in front of him.

Damn it, he thought, viciously breaking past the Younisian’s defense to leave a gruesome cut down his arm. As the man turned around to retreat, the thief threw the dagger in his right hand. The blade connected, landing squarely between the knight’s shoulders and sending him toppling to the ground.

Why do I still care what she thinks? Crow frowned as he walked up to the knight’s body and retrieved his weapon. We’re not even friends anymore. It shouldn’t matter this much. But it did. As much as he tried to convince himself that it was over between them, there was still a part of him that craved her respect and approval. He wished they hadn’t crossed paths in the battle so she wouldn’t have seen this side of him. He never wanted her to find out about it.

As the fighting dragged on, Crow noticed that the knights from his kingdom had managed to push the Younisians back to their side of the border. He looked up from the last enemy he had taken down to see that a second battalion had arrived to reinforce the Brerratic troops. He let out his breath in relief. With the Younisians far outnumbered, it seemed that the village would be safe for now. His part in the battle was over.

He caught sight of Alistair and Simon and signaled to them to fall back to the camp. The three thieves retreated, vanishing into the eastern woods as they left the war-stricken village behind.

--

“Ow, ow, ow,” Crow winced as a peasant woman poured alcohol over the open wound in his arm. He and the others had stopped by to see the villagers for treatment for their injuries before heading back to their hideout.

“Relax, dear,” the woman said calmly, reaching for a roll of bandages. “It stings now, but it will keep that nasty cut from getting infected. You don’t want to lose your arm, now do you?”

“Yeah, Crow,” Alistair snickered from where he at nearby. “Don’t be such a child.”

“Like you’d be any better,” the thief rolled his eyes. He flexed his arm after the woman finished dressing it, testing to make sure the bandages would hold.

“Of course I would,” Alistair snorted haughtily. “I have the highest pain tolerance between the four of us. A little alcohol is noth—” he stopped short, letting out a howl of pain as Simon snuck up behind him and poured alcohol over his wounded shoulder.

“Surprise, surprise,” the blonde thief said dryly. “Seems like you’re nothing but talk.”

“That’s not fair,” Alistair rubbed his watering eyes. “I wasn’t ready.”

Simon just shrugged and walked away to begin packing up their supplies. Having received the least number of injuries among the thieves, he was already finished being treated.

“Come on, Sir Pain-Tolerance,” Crow drawled. “Stop being such a child.”

“Oh, shut up,” Alistair threw a small rock at him.

Once all of his injuries had been dressed, Crow got up to look for Rikki. Having not seen her since the middle of the battle, he wanted to make sure that she was alright. He found her in a tent that the peasants had pitched, sitting up on a bedroll and eating porridge. She looked up when he stepped inside, grinning enthusiastically, “Hey, boss. How’d it go?”

“Better than I expected,” Crow said with a one-shouldered shrug. He moved to sit down at her side and glanced at her bandaged leg. “How are you doing?”

“Better now,” Rikki swallowed another mouthful of porridge. “The villagers left some of their supplies in here with me, including the alcohol they use to treat wounds…” she leaned in a little closer to Crow and lowered her voice. “I’m pretty sure I’m drunk right now.”

Crow laughed, “Oh, are you?” He wasn’t the least bit surprised to learn that the female thief had dipped into the alcohol.

“Yes,” Rikki smirked mischievously and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him to herself to plant a kiss on his lips.

After a moment, Crow drew back from her with a grimace, “Gods, love. Your breath is awful.”

“Maybe,” she winked at him. “But you lingered.”

“Fair enough,” Crow chuckled before going on more seriously. “Do you think you can make the trip back with that wound in your leg?”

“Think so,” she nodded. “Though I don’t think I’ll be leaving the camp for a bit when we get back, if that’s alright.”

“Of course,” he said. “I’ll go tell the others.” He climbed to his feet and exited the tent, heading back to their makeshift camp where Alistair and Simon had just finished packing up the rest of the supplies. The two turned to him as he approached.

“We should get going as soon as we can,” he said. “Rikki says she’s well enough to come with us, but we might need to travel a bit slower to accommodate her leg. Also, I’d like to take a more direct route back to the camp while the knights are still licking their wounds in Whitebridge. There are a lot more of them that need treatment, so we should have enough time to cut near their camp before they start making their way back south.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alistair said in agreement. “As long as we make a quick detour to raid their liquor stock, that is.”

“Of course,” Crow smirked. “You and I can do that while Simon takes Rikki back to the camp.”

“I’ll make sure she gets there safely,” Simon nodded.

With plans having been made, Crow glanced up at the sky. Even though the battle had been long, it looked like it wasn’t even noon yet. If they left soon, they would easily return to the ravine by dusk, which would be perfect since he still needed to meet up with Penelope that night.

At the thought of the knight, Crow’s throat tightened with anxiousness. It had been hard enough to meet with her when things were merely tense between them, but now that she had seen him kill in battle, he dreaded to face her even more. Part of him considered sending one of the other thieves to meet with her in his place, but he didn’t know if he trusted any of them enough to be alone with her. Simon was still openly hostile, Alistair was too reckless, and Rikki was still injured. He sighed. It looked like he would just have to go and pray that she wouldn’t bring up the subject.

I hope it goes by quickly, he thought, shouldering his bag as he prepared to leave.

[BuzzingBee]

As the battle met its end, Penelope looked around at her comrades, watching as the healers moved in to tend to the badly wounded and those that had smaller injuries stepped aside to tend to themselves. She kept her gaze from lingering too long on the bodies, enemy and comrade alike, as she stepped over to where Gavin was. The male knight was cleaning up a few cuts he had received, one being on his side and the other on his leg, with his friend Alan. The two turned their heads to look over at her as she approached.

"Hey Penelope." Alan greeted with a small nod to her.

"Have you wrapped up your arm yet? Looks like it's still bleeding." Gavin said with a small frown.

Penelope glanced down at the cut her had received on her arm. She had nearly forgotten about as her mind was buzzing after coming face to face with Crow and seeing the brutalness of war. Suddenly more aware of it, she began to feel it sting slightly. "I haven't yet." She admitted and Gavin immediately moved in to help her wrap it. She mumbled a thanks to him then lifted her gaze to see Mia riding towards them.

"Penelope," Mia began as she looked down at her lieutenant with narrowed eyes. "I've been hearing a lot of talk among some of the knights about an order that I didn't give... Care to explain?"

The female lieutenant looked up at her baroness. Though Penelope wasn't a strict enforcer of the law after returning back to her old life, she often tried to keep a low profile and not cause too much trouble. She was tempted to just apologize and hope for Mia's forgiveness. However, frustration began to boil in the female knight as she thought about how reckless some of the Brerratic knights had been. If this was how war was, she wanted to change it.

"Sure." Penelope said with a fiery look of defiance in her green eyes. "My comrades were hurting innocent people. Ones that were just trying to defend themselves and their home. I wasn't just going to stand back and watch them help demolish this village so I did something about it."

Gavin looked a little nervous at how brazenly Penelope spoke to the baroness and shuffled his feet. "We... We really shouldn't be killing our own people.. I mean no disrespect ma'am, I just think Penelope had good intentions.." He said, trying to support the female knight in his own respectful way.

Mia's hardened expression suddenly vanished as an amused grin broke out over her face. "Wow! Never thought I'd see the day when you'd act so boldly, Penelope!" She chuckled. Her amusement melted into a more sympathetic look. "I think you did the right thing though, so you can relax lieutenant. That being said though, I'm not sure Bennet and Edward will completely agree. Casualties are a part of war and to them, the numbers don't matter too much when you're trying to win a battle."

Though she was a little annoyed at Mia's initial reaction, she was glad that the baroness approved of her actions. As she went on to speak of the other two barons, Penelope looked a little confused at why she brought them up. Mia smirked noticing her confusion and went on to add, "If possible, I think we should try to lessen the damage of the villages out here. We're directly damaging our own kingdom and surely that will eventually have a negative effect on us as the war goes on. So we should lessen the damage. But to do that properly, we're going to need all of the barons on board with this. I intend to bring it up in the next meeting with them. Penelope, you'll have my support, but you'll need to find a way to convince them."

Penelope stared up at Mia in surprise. She hadn't been expecting the baroness to go so far as to bring it up with the others to make it an actual rule. The female knight nodded her head. "I will. Thank you, Mia." She told her with a grateful smile.

"Of course. Now then, let's get ready to return back to camp. I'll round up everyone else and ride at the back. You and Tomas take the front." Mia commanded before turning her horse to ride off.

Penelope nodded her head and then turned to look over at Gavin and Alan, feeling rather satisfied at the outcome. Gavin smiled at her, seeming to share similar feelings over this new development. "This is nice and all but what about those thieves that were attacking us." Alan grumbled. "I saw a few of our comrades getting killed by them." Penelope felt her stomach twist at the topic.

"I did too." Gavin admitted, losing his smile as he snuck a glance at her. He focused back on Alan. "I also saw them attacking the Younisian knights as well though."

"So what are they just here to kill for kicks?" Alan snorted with disgust.

An image of Crow after he had killed the enemy knight flashed through her mind. Now that things had calmed down, she thought over it a bit more clearly. "I don't think so." She told Alan. "I think they were trying to protect the villagers.. From brerratic or Younisian knight alike." It made sense to her. Crow had always tried to protect the villagers, even if before it wasn't through fighting. The war must have driven him to.. that. She thought, feeling a pang of sympathy for the thief. After seeing that today, I can understand why...

"Or maybe they just wanted to kill knights." Alan muttered rather darkly.

Penelope looked uneasily at Alan's next words. She was rather sure Crow was just trying to protect his home and it's people but then she considered the other thieves he was now with. They had spoke rather viciously when she had warned him about the trap and she doubted it was just all talk. It was the reason she had chosen to work as their informant. Now she couldn't help but wonder if Crow wasn't much different from them. She still believed he was trying to protect the villagers but perhaps another part of him also got a cruel satisfaction from killing the knights.

"Maybe." Penelope mumbled with a distant expression. "I better go find Tomas so we can get moving." She added abruptly before heading off to find the other lieutenant. Her head was clouded with thoughts of Crow, of who had been, and who had become.

---

As night fell, Penelope stepped out of her tent, once again wearing the peasant dress and cloak. She slipped the hood over head head and glanced around the camp to make sure no one spotted her leaving. The knights had returned to camp earlier that day and most were quick to either sleep or celebrate. Penelope had chosen to sleep, knowing that she'd have to go meet up with Crow once nightfell. She was rather anxious about meeting him, as she was intending to ask him about his new fighting abilities. The knight found herself a bit scared as well. She was worried Crow had turned into a cruel person. And if he had, she wasn't sure how she'd deal with it.

He said he wanted to avoid fights. So surely he's still merciful.. She tried to assure herself as she made her way towards Myrefall. She couldn't look down on him just because he was fighting and killing, it'd make her a hypocrite. He had seen her at her cruelest when she had bashed the first mercenary's head with a rock. She hadn't taken pride in it though and it was merely due to being faced with no other options. The knight just hoped he didn't take pride in his kills either.

Penelope eventually reached the tavern and stepped inside. She swept her gaze over the inside, looking for Crow. However, she realized that this time she had been the one to arrive first. Her uneasiness about his new skills were replaced by worry about his well-being. She had lost track of him in the fight, so it was possible that the thief had gotten hurt. Stepping over to sit down at an empty table, she assured herself it was likely just because of how quickly she had gotten there, fueled by new, unanswered questions.

[Rogue Sloth]

As promised, Crow and Alistair split off from Simon and Rikki when they reached the knight’s camp. With most of the knights still in Whitebridge, they made quick work of raiding their liquor stores and managed not to run into any trouble. They stole as many bottles as they could carry and escaped back to their hideout in the ravine without getting caught.

Once they arrived back in the camp, the thieves divided up the spoils. Crow only took two bottles for himself, since he still made a point to avoid getting drunk. However, this time he didn’t shy away from drinking enough to feel the alcohol take at least a little bit of an effect on his body. After all, he deserved to have some fun after he had spent the whole morning protecting a village from war. With the knights still recovering from the battle, it was the perfect opportunity.

He sat with the others around a campfire that Simon had built, laughing and enjoying each other’s company now that the stress of the fighting was all over. Having all made it back alive and mostly unscathed, there was plenty to celebrate, and it was nice to forget about the gruesome sights of the war for a short time while they did so.

Eventually, the sun sank past the western horizon and darkness fell over the forest. Crow got up and put his cloak back on in preparation to make the short trip to Myerfall. He sighed softly as he drew his hood, still worried about what she was going to say to him after everything that had happened that day. He didn’t know how to make her understand.

“You’re still going to meet with that knight?” Simon’s voice appeared from behind him.

He turned around to see the thief standing with his arms crossed and frowned, “Of course. She gave us good information the last time. What’s the problem?”

“I don’t understand your affinity for her,” Simon narrowed his eyes. “You saw the knights today. They were absolutely ruthless towards the people of Whitebridge. Do you really think you can trust her after that?”

“I saw her in the battle,” Crow shook his head. “She wasn’t attacking the villagers; she was protecting them from the Younisians.”

Simon hesitated for a moment, “Are you sure you weren’t just seeing what you wanted to?”

“She was right in front of me,” Crow snapped at him and then froze, a bit taken aback by his own hostility. He lowered his gaze, going on in a quieter tone, “I know what I saw.”

Simon’s eyes hardened, “Why are you trying so hard to defend a knight?”

“Why are you trying so hard to attack her?” Crow accused in return.

“I’m just trying to make sure you remember why we’re here,” Simon said coldly. “The knights are not our friends. I don’t know what you think you’re going to get out of meeting with this woman, but don’t forget where your loyalties lie, Crow.”

“And you don’t forget that I’m the leader here,” Crow said with a warning curl of his lip. “You may not agree with all of my decisions, but they’re still mine to make.” He took a step back from Simon. “I’ll be back later.” With that, he turned and climbed up the side of the ravine to begin the walk to Myrefall.

--

When he arrived in the village, he was still feeling out of sorts from his confrontation with his companion. He and Simon had butted heads before, but the other thief had always relented to his authority in the end. This was the first time Simon had been concerned enough about a matter to continue arguing over it for more than one day. Crow was beginning to worry about the effect it might have on their respect for each other.

He pushed open the door to the tavern to find that Penelope was already waiting for him inside. His heart beat a little quicker at the sight of her, but he still didn’t have to try hard to keep a neutral expression as he approached her table. After such a long day, he was too tired to get outwardly excited about seeing her.

The thief sat down a bit heavily in a chair across from the knight. A wench came by to ask if he wanted anything to drink, but he waved her off. After having already drank with the others, he didn’t want anything more that night.

He leaned back in his chair and lowered his hood, eyeing Penelope from across the table for a moment as he tried to read her expression. He wanted to know whether or not he should be prepared for her to question him over his actions on the battlefield. However, he ended up finding himself more interested in her green eyes than anything else, and he forced himself to look away again.

“So,” he said, breaking the silence between them. “What have you found out since the last time we met?” He hoped that by getting straight to the point, she would be deterred from asking him about the battle.

[BuzzingBee]

A small wave of relief washed over her as Crow stepped inside. Her heart fluttered nervously as he moved to sit down across from her and she began to think over ways of bringing up what she had seen on the battlefield. Since they were so distant now, she wasn't quite sure how to approach asking him about it or how to even phrase it. However, before she could even say anything he was the one that finally broke the silence.

She paused at his question. Penelope looked across at him and raised an eyebrow as he tried to get straight to the point. For a moment, she considered just answering him. Perhaps it was wise to keep things strictly business. Her fingers drummed thoughtfully on the table. No. I need to know.. She thought to herself. Even if he proved to be the opposite of what she was hoping for, the knight had to find out.

"Well I found out that you can fight for one." She spoke with accusation in her voice. Penelope grimaced, immediately regretting the tone of her voice. She didn't want to offend him or start an argument. The knight let out a small sigh and looked over at Crow from where she sat. "Sorry.. I didn't mean it like that.. It just caught me off guard." She said in a softer tone. She averted her gaze away from him, finding it becoming more difficult to meet his gaze as she spoke.

"Look, I-I think I understand your reasonings... But when did you start learning how?" She frowned a little. "Exactly how many battles have you been in?"

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow flinched at Penelope’s sharp tone when she responded to his question. He felt his heart drop a bit as she seemed to confirm that she didn’t approve of this new change in him, and he continued to look away, unable to meet her gaze. He wished he didn’t care so much. What business was it of hers to accuse him of anything when he was only doing what was necessary to protect his people? She had trained since childhood to do the same for hers. Was he supposed to stand back and watch the villagers die, just because he wasn’t a knight?

His initial shame began to give way to anger as he prepared to defend himself, but before he could say anything, Penelope spoke again in a gentler voice. The switch caught him off guard, so for a moment, he just looked up again to stare at her. Sitting across from her now, he couldn’t help but think about the way they used to be with each other. The softness of her expression reminded him of the way she used to look at him, and her concerned tone reminded him of the way she used to speak to him.

He found himself suddenly longing to open up to her again and tell her everything—how difficult the war had been, how his issue with blood had gotten worse before it had gotten better, how he wished he hadn’t have needed to make some of the decisions he’d had to make… how he wished he could go back to be with her in Farhill and never face this cursed war to begin with.

But he couldn’t.

As much as he wanted to talk to her as they had two years ago, he couldn’t ignore the fact that things were different now. He couldn’t open up like that to the woman who had chosen not to be with him after he had put his whole trust in her. It was too painful.

“That’s a bit of a long story,” Crow finally answered her with a shake of his head. “I told you before that I’ve had to make hard decisions in this war. Learning to fight was just one of the many.” He held her gaze as he went on, “But I’m sure you don’t have time to listen to any of that.” He hoped that the edge in his voice would be enough for her to realize that he didn’t intend to tell her about it. “Let’s just focus on why we came here.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope frowned at his reply. She felt a heavy stab of guilt as he mentioned the hard decisions he had made due to the war. A war that should have never happened. The knight still blamed herself for the failed mission. If she had only been a little more cautious, maybe she could have seen the attack coming. If only she had been more alert or done something, anything, different, maybe she could have saved the future she had wanted with Crow. Not to mention how she had hurt the man she loved. Or rather 'had loved' as she preferred to tell herself despite how her heart still beat excitedly when she saw him.

Perhaps I don't deserve an actual answer.. She had been planning to push him to tell her more but the knight decided it was probably best if she didn't. He hadn't seemed proud of this new change so it gave her enough evidence to believe he hadn't completely changed for now. Though, she still didn't want to just directly move onto the business part of their meeting. "You know I'd always make time to listen, Crow." She told him, still looking concerned. "War can change you, but please, don't let it ruin you."

She let out a small exhale and leaned against the table in front of her. "Anyways," She mumbled. "there's not much to report this time. The scouts will probably die down for a while since we have quite a few injured still recovering from the battle so the barons will want to make sure the camp is always well protected. From what I've heard, the next battle won't be for a while either. Maybe a week or so. Brerra may have won but we're still licking our wounds." Penelope shrugged her shoulders.

The knight paused before glancing over at him. "Also... the barons might start to enforce a rule that will help protect the people of the outer village... That is, if I can convince my uncle and the other baron that it's worth it."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow had been hoping that Penelope would just take the hint and move on to tell him about what she had learned about the knights since their last meeting, but to his surprise, she didn’t do so right away. He hung on her words, unsure what to think about the sincerity in her voice as she spoke them. It sounded like she still cared about him to some degree at least. He shifted in his chair, biting his tongue as the temptation to spill everything to her resurfaced once more. Why did she have to make everything so confusing? They weren’t close anymore, but she was still so kind to him. It was hard for him to think of her as just a formal acquaintance when she spoke with such concern. He found himself wanting to reassure her that even though he had changed, he was still the man she had known two years ago.

It doesn’t matter, he reminded himself sternly. Whether I tell her or not, nothing is going to change between us. There’s no point in even bringing it up. Feeling a bit more resolute, he listened quietly to Penelope while she went on to tell him that there wouldn’t be as many patrols for a while, and the knights didn’t plan on attacking Younis again for at least a couple weeks. It was all good news to the thief, since he knew that his group needed time to recover as well. Rikki would be unable to leave the camp for a while, and he and Alistair needed to wait for their wounds to heal before they could safely take on an enemy again. Among the four of them, Simon was currently the only one in any condition to risk a fight.

Crow was about to get ready to leave again when Penelope said something else that piqued his interest. He eyed her curiously as she said that the knights might be willing to put a rule in place to protect the villagers. It was something that he had never expected them to even consider, since they had been so focused on winning against the Younisians that they didn’t care who got in their way until now. He felt a small bubble of hope rise up in his chest. If Penelope could pull this off, it would be good news for all of the people in the outer villages, and he and the other thieves wouldn’t be so strained to protect them against both sides whenever battles occurred in the future.

“That’s great,” he said with eagerness slipping into his voice that he was too excited to contain. “When will you be speaking to them? Do you think they’re going to listen?” He blinked, realizing he had broken his stoic façade, and forced his emotions into check as he went on, “You’ll have to tell me how that conversation goes. I’d like to know.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked over at him as his stoic expression broke at her words, giving away to an eagerness that made her heart beat a little faster out of fondness for the thief. The knight tried to ignore it, chalking it up to just being excited to see a better glimpse at the part of him that hadn't changed rather than any feelings that remained. Regardless, a small smile crossed her lips.

"I'll speak with them in two days. Luckily I already have the support of the baroness I'm working under, which is a good thing since I nearly thought I was going to lose my position today after giving out some... false orders during the battle." She spoke a little less formally, encouraged by the brief break in his stoicness. Though it had been small, it had her feeling a little more relaxed around him."I don't know if they'll listen.. Their forces have been out here longer than ours so it might be possible that they won't want to change what they're doing. They clearly haven't cared so far so it'll be tough to change their minds." She admitted on a less than optimistic note.

However, she lifted her gaze to meet his, a small blaze of determination in her green eyes. "But I'll do all I can to change that." She assured him. With nothing more to inform him about, Penelope moved to stand up from her chair to leave. She paused and looked back over at Crow. "I'll meet you again in two days after the meeting." Judging by his excitement, she guessed that the thief would want to know the results as soon as possible. And, if she was being honest, she wanted to share them with him as soon as she could too. Though she wanted to help the outer villages regardless, she also desired to help Crow as well as not let him down again.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow’s heartbeat quickened as Penelope smiled at him, and he blushed slightly, knowing she had probably reacted that way because of his sudden eagerness to learn more about her plans. Despite his countless internal chidings that he couldn’t view her as more than an acquaintance anymore, he couldn’t help but find her smile attractive. He missed when she used to look at him like that every day, and even though he knew that time was long in the past, he was glad that she was doing it again now. Maybe it was okay to relax around her, at least a little bit.

As she went on to tell him about how she had given false orders on the battlefield, he raised a brow in amusement. It seemed that she hadn’t gone back to simply being a rule-obeying knight after all. He wondered if her disregard for orders that she disagreed with was a lingering impact from her time with him, just like how his care for other people besides himself had come from being around her.

Once Penelope had finished speaking, Crow stood up from the table with her. He gazed at her for a moment, feeling a swell of appreciation for her determination to help the peasants of the outer villages. It was encouraging to hear that she intended to use her high rank to try to make a difference for his people. The more they talked, the more it sounded like she was still the same Penelope he had fallen for two years ago, which was reassuring to know.

Simon was wrong, he smiled to himself. People change, but she hasn’t changed that much.

As they walked towards the door of the tavern, he turned to her with a grin. “I’m not worried,” he said confidently. “Because I’m certain you’ll be able to convince them.” He drew his hood and opened the door, nodding in a curt goodbye. “I’ll see you in two days, love.” With nothing left to discuss, he turned and began the long walk back to the ravine.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked up at Crow as he turned towards her. Her heart skipped a beat as he grinned at her and spoke of his trust in her. It seemed a bit of the distance between them was suddenly gone and she couldn't help but feel rather happy about it. "S-See you." She stuttered a bit as they parted ways. She turned and began to walk back towards the camp, her face feeling warm. Must be a cold night. She tried to tell herself. Although it was getting a bit more difficult to deny the feelings towards him she had been so familiar with in the past.

The knight let out a long exhale, trying to push away thoughts of the past like how Crow had looked at her, talked with her...kissed her. I'll always care for Crow... But I love Gavin now and I'm content with the future I ended up with. She reminded herself. However, she didn't quite feel so confident about that anymore. The uncertainty she had felt upon the first night of reuniting with Crow just continued to grow inside her despite her efforts to ignore it and be satisfied with her decisions.

As she returned to camp, Penelope had to be a bit more cautious about getting back to her tent. Olivia wasn't on guard duty that night and instead it was the overly strict Millicent, someone she definitely didn't want to start asking her questions about where she had been. The archer seemed to respect her at the moment but Penelope knew just how strict she could be and how quickly that respect could change if she even caught a small whiff of what the knight was doing.

She managed to sneak back to her tent without Millicent noticing and soon settled down for the night, ready for some much needed sleep after a long day. Penelope quickly fell asleep, having a rather peaceful and deep sleep.

---

"Are you ready for your meeting?"

Penelope paced outside of her tent and turned her head to look over at Gavin as he stepped up to her. The day had come for the meeting with the barons and she was feeling rather nervous. The knight wanted badly to succeed. She had already failed the people of the outer villages and Crow once by losing the staff the first time. She didn't want to fail them again, especially after seeing how reckless some of her comrades could be.

"I think." She told Gavin with a shrug. "I worked with Mia the other day to work on my argument with her... She seems to approve of it but I'm still worried it won't be enough."

"Just remember, they have different priorities so appeal to them." Gavin instructed her. He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Penelope." He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Penelope gave him a small, grateful smile. "Thanks. I'll do my best." Her gaze flickered over to Tomas, who was approaching them to get her for the meeting. Taking in a steely breath, she bid goodbye to Gavin and headed off to join Tomas as the two lieutenants headed off to the large tent in the middle of camp for the meeting.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow spent the entirety of the following day at the thieves’ camp. Since most of them were still recovering from their various injuries, they took the day to relax without worrying about leaving to run any errands or check up on the knights. Simon was the only one who left, but even he merely ran a brief, solo patrol of the forest around their hideout. Even though Crow had told them all about what Penelope had said regarding the fact that the knights weren’t sending out as many scouts, the paranoid thief made a point to double check. Fortunately for all of them, the day went by without any trouble.

On the second day, Crow began to grow restless. Today was the day that Penelope would be speaking to the other knights about leaving the villagers alone. Part of him was tempted to sneak into the knights’ camp to try and eavesdrop on their conversation, but he knew it would have been foolish to even bother. It wasn’t like he could do anything to change the outcome of their decision, even if he was present. In fact, he would probably just cause more problems for himself if he got caught. It wasn’t worth the risk. Besides that, he trusted Penelope to deal with the situation by herself. She had proven to him over and over in the past that she was more than capable of handling herself under stressful circumstances. If anyone could persuade the other knights to change their ways, it would be her.

“Hey, Crow,” Rikki called to him from off to the side, where she was sitting on a log and whittling a piece of wood with her carving knife. The female thief was watching him with an amused expression, “You’ve been pacing over there since midday. What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Crow shook his head. He casted a quick glance towards the edge of the ravine before walking over to sit next to her. However, he was too full of nervous energy to sit still.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Rikki pressed her hand down on his thigh, which he had been bouncing restlessly as he gazed up at the far edge of the camp. “Stop that before I cut somebody on this knife.”

“Sorry,” Crow shifted to put a bit of distance between them.

Rikki stared at him for a moment longer and then narrowed her eyes slightly, “You’re really concerned about this noblewoman, aren’t you?”

“What?” Crow turned to her, a bit caught off guard by the sudden question. Recovering quickly, he shook his head and sighed, “No. It’s just…. This is the closest we’ve ever come to making a real step to save the villagers out here. I want it to go well.”

“I get that,” Rikki nodded in solemn agreement. “I want it to go well too, but—” she suddenly gave him a shove that knocked him off the log they were sitting on. “You have got to stop with that incessant fidgeting.”

“That was uncalled for,” Crow glared up at her from the ground.

“Yeah, but you stopped your stupid leg shaking,” Rikki smirked victoriously as she went back to whittling her stick. “You can come back up here when you promise you’ll sit still.”

Crow just rolled his eyes at her and obstinately laid back in the grass, propping his head on his arms and closing his eyes. With nothing else to do until his meeting with Penelope that night, he supposed he might as well pass the time by napping. He had just begun to drift off when he felt someone nudge his side with their boot. He opened one eye to see Rikki looking down at him, and he frowned confusedly. He had thought she was finished speaking to him.

“I know we usually don’t talk about this stuff,” she started a bit hesitantly, avoiding his gaze as she examined the edge of her stick. “But I was wondering… You don’t just want information from this Penelope knight…. Do you?”

Crow propped himself up on his forearms as he looked up at her with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. Even though they were physical with each other, they had never intended to be exclusive. Both he and Rikki had had other partners occasionally, but they had made a point to never question each other about it. For her to be doing so now—even though she had the wrong idea—was strange.

“I’m not interested in her, if that’s what you’re implying,” he said. It was only a partial lie. Even though he knew he still had feelings for Penelope, he also knew that nothing would ever come from it. There was no point in even trying to win her back.

“Crow, don’t lie to me,” Rikki sighed, calling his bluff. She set aside her knife and stick to look down at him again. “I’m not blind. I saw the way you looked at her when she came to our camp with that other knight. I’ve never seen you look at anyone like that before.” Her lip twitched slightly. “I don’t know what your relationship is to her, but it worries me. I mean, she’s a knight. Sure, have a couple flings with her or whatever. I don’t care, but for the love of gods, don’t let it turn into anything more than that.”

Crow shifted slightly, “It’s not like that. Besides, she has a suitor.”

“Oh, well that’s perfect,” Rikki said with a false note of cheerfulness. “I guess I had nothing to worry about!” She snorted. “Please. A suitor isn’t a spouse. I know that’s not going to stop you if you want her badly enough. All I’m trying to say is… be careful. She’s not one of us.”

Crow laid in silence for a moment, thinking over her words. He thought he had started to move on from Penelope, but was Rikki right? Was there still a part of him that was hoping they would get back together? No way, he thought stubbornly. I’ve accepted that it’s over. She’s wrong.

“Look,” he said after a moment, getting up from the ground to sit by her on the log. “I appreciate the concern, love, but there’s nothing between us.” To prove his point, he leaned in and pressed a deep kiss to her lips, wrapping one arm around her back while he traced the length of her thigh with his free hand. After a bit, he pulled back again and smirked, “See?”

Rikki chuckled breathlessly, “Good effort, but it’s going to take more than that to convince me.”

“You’re insatiable,” he laughed, nudging her playfully.

Even though it didn’t seem like he had convinced her, the tension between them had lifted, and they were able to spend the rest of the evening talking comfortably with each other until it came time for Crow to leave. Once darkness fell over the ravine, Crow got up to get his cloak and headed out to meet with Penelope in Myrefall.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope stepped into the tent with Tomas and sat down as the meeting began. First they just went over basic things, checking in with each other and making sure that the battalion would be ready in time for the next battle. Eventually, Mia clear her throat as the discussion died down, drawing attention to herself. "There is one more topic we need to discuss." She announced, glancing at Penelope. "Penelope has brought to my attention the damage that is caused by our own knights to the villages the war occurs at. She believes that we should take measures to ensure that we are protecting the villages rather than aiding in its destruction."

"This is absurd." Edward growled nearly immediately. "War brings unavoidable destruction. It's just how it is."

The female knight glanced over at her baroness. Mia looked over at Penelope expectantly, silently conveying it was now her turn to take control of the conversation. Feeling a surge of determination, she sat up a bit straighter and met Edward's gaze. "Not quite. Of course we can't prevent every casualty but there are steps we can take to make sure we're not killing our own people. Brerratic knights were killing just as many villagers as Younisian knights. They fought recklessly until I spread word of an order to be more mindful of the village."

"An order that was not actually made either." Layth growled from where he sat. "You were out of line to do such a thing."

"She's my lieutenant. I'll decide what is out of line." Mia told him, narrowing her eyes at the male knight.

"Regardless, it had a positive effect. Many lives were saved." Tomas input looking between Bennet and Edward.

"So you want to make this an official rule? That there will be no reckless fighting within villages?" Bennet asked.

"Yes." Penelope nodded. "We're supposed to be defending our kingdom and that includes the people in it, wouldn't you agree?"

"We're doing our job. They're just getting in the way." Edward snorted. "If we hold back like you're suggesting, we'll lose this war fast. We can't afford to try and please the outer villages while we're out here risking our lives and fighting for the kingdom."

A mumble of agreement from Bennet caused for a small spark of anger in the knight. They were cold, only thinking about themselves. No wonder the war had been so devastating to the outer villages with these two barons having been at the head of it. It was unlikely for her to get them to empathize with the villagers so she'd have to try a different approach if she wanted them to agree with her. Gavin's words flashed into her mind and she quickly came up with an idea.

"Well, if that's the case, then I suppose you'll have to start contributing more gold into funding this war." She mused. The two barons exchanged a glance.

"What do you mean?" Bennet huffed.

"Saving the outer villages is an investment." Penelope stated, despising the argument she was about to make. "Tax season is coming up and the money collected from the outer villages will likely be used to keep funding us with supplies. However, if we continue to fight as recklessly as we do, pretty soon there won't be as much income from the villages as the people are killed. Consider it an investment."

"We'll still have the rest of Brerra to help fund this war." Layth argued with a snort.

"That may be true but regardless, the funding will dip without the contribution of these villages. Supplies that are plentiful now may become scarce as this war continues." She remarked swiftly, shooting her brother a stern look.

Silence had fallen over the two barons, seeming to consider her proposal much more seriously now. Though the method of getting them to that point felt wrong to her, she was glad that she seemed to have stricken a cord with them. Penelope looked between Edward and Bennet. "Our knights are skilled and strong. Surely you can trust your forces to still win battles while protecting the people of this kingdom.. Unless, it would be too much of a challenge for them." She stated boldly.

Mia looked across at Penelope with a pleased look. She grinned widely and glanced at the other two barons. "I of course support this. Faas, Vermillion, what do you say?"

"It seems to be a smart move to make.." Bennet mused before finally nodding his head. "I'll agree to this."

"Edward?" Mia asked again turning her head to look over at the other baron. Edward crossed his arms over his chest and curled his lip, seeming displeased with the situation.

"Fine." He growled at last. "I'll agree to it for now."

"Then it's settled. We'll alert our battalion to the new rule." Mia said with a nod of approval.

--

Penelope was in a rather good mood for the rest of the day. She had managed to convince the barons to agree to the new rule and that meant the outer villages would now have more support from the knights of their kingdom. She couldn't wait to tell Crow the good news. As night fell, she quickly got ready, her heart beating excitedly at the thought of seeing him again especially with the good news she had.

"Off again?" Olivia's voice caught Penelope's attention. The female knight looked over at her friend and nodded her head.

"Yeah.. Will you be on guard duty tonight?" She asked quietly, wanting to find out if she would have an easy time sneaking back in.

"Yep. So I'll see you when you get back." Olivia paused before giving a mischievous wink. "If anything exciting happens be sure to tell me."

Penelope rolled her eyes at the other knight before moving onward towards Myrefall. She was rather focused on getting to the tavern. With Crow and her beginning to be on better terms, the anxiety that had come with meeting him before had begun to melt away, allowing her to feel a bit more joyful about seeing him despite herself. So much so, that she didn't realize that Gavin had spotted her before she had fully disappeared from sight. Or that Olivia had decided to tell him to follow her to see where she would go.

It wasn't long before she reached the tavern in Myrefall. She stepped inside and glanced around for Crow, trying to hide her eagerness to tell him the news.

[Rogue Sloth]

In his excitement to hear about the outcome of Penelope’s talk with the other knights, Crow traveled a bit faster than usual to Myrefall. It was fortunate for him that there still weren’t many patrols out so soon after the war, because he wasn’t paying as close attention to his surroundings as he normally did. Instead, his mind wandered to his eagerness to see Penelope again. As her soft smile appeared in his mind, his heart began to beat a little bit faster. However, in the next instant, Rikki’s voice echoed: Be careful. She’s not one of us.

His upper lip twitched slightly in annoyance at the unwelcomed thought, She was wrong. It’s just the remnants of my feelings for her. I’m not going to do anything about them. Having fooled himself into believing he was moving on, he felt more at peace as he made his way down the street that led to the Ivory Hatchet.

Now in the village, he slowed his pace so he wouldn’t stand out if any local knights caught sight of him and watched the alleyways between houses more carefully for signs of movement. While he was still excited to see Penelope, he couldn’t let himself completely forget about the possible dangers he might face if a knight chose to approach him. Still wounded from the last battle, he wanted to avoid fighting for as long as he could. So, he kept his head down until he reached the tavern.

Crow selected an empty table near the far end of the room. Now that he and Penelope were meeting there more frequently, he wanted to alternate where they sat so the regulars at the tavern would be less likely to notice their recurring visits. He sat down in a chair facing the doorway, so he could signal to the knight when she arrived, since she probably wouldn’t expect to look for him in the new location.

Shortly after he sat down, a wench came to ask him what he wanted to drink. He drummed his fingers on the table for a moment before answering her, “Two honey meads.” He figured that since Penelope had gone out of her way to help him save the villagers, the least he could do was pay for her drink.

“I’ll be right back with those,” the girl nodded.

“Thanks, love,” Crow offered her a friendly smile as she turned to fetch the drinks. Once she had gone, he turned back to watch the front door again, fidgeting slightly in his excitement as he waited for Penelope to walk through.

[BuzzingBee]

It took a moment for Penelope to spot Crow at the new table but once she did, she quickly began to walk over to him. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, unable to completely hide it as she approached the table. "Hey." She greeted him. The knight was just beginning to sit down across from him, eager to tell him the news, when suddenly, she heard an all too familiar voice. "Penelope.. What are you doing here?"

Her excitement gave way to panic and she quickly stood back up, as if hoping that would make it seem like she hadn't been meeting with Crow. The female knight whirled around to face Gavin. Her suitor walked up to her with a confused expression on his face as he looked over her peasant outfit and then, the thief that she was meeting with. Penelope cursed quietly under her breath, wondering how she hadn't noticed the other knight had been following her. She wasn't sure what to tell him, worried about how much she could actually trust him with. To make matters worse, they were at the far end of the room, meaning getting past Gavin wouldn't be easy for Crow if the male knight chose to go after him.

"Wait.. Is that the thief?" Gavin gawked quietly before going on in a more demanding tone, "Penelope, what's going on?"

"I was.. Just catching up with him." Penelope said quickly. She was normally better at lying but he had caught her off guard. He knew that they had been friends at one point on the journey so she just hoped that was enough for him to buy the narrative that she was trying to push on him. "After the battle the other day, I decided to get in touch with him again." She paused before adding, "He helped us in the fight so I figured I owed him a word of thanks."

She held her breath as she watched Gavin's reaction, hoping that he would accept her words. Though the male knight seemed a little uncertain about the situation in front of him, he eventually gave a small nod of his head. "I see.."

Trying to recover from her shock, Penelope cleared her throat awkwardly and paused before turning to Crow. She met his gaze for a moment before quickly averting her eyes away from him. "Crow, this is Gavin," She introduced. The knight paused before adding reluctantly. "my suitor."