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

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow didn’t like how intent Gavin was on staying with them. He took another step backwards, tempted to just forget about his meeting with Penelope this time and head back to his camp. However, he couldn’t do that. For one thing, he was just as curious as she was about who had so viciously attacked the nobles’ camp. He cared little about the knights who had been killed and the supplies that had been taken, but if the mysterious thieves came back, Penelope could end up hurt or dead. He couldn’t stand to think of it.

For another thing, he couldn’t simply turn around and walk back to the tunnels because Gavin could easily follow him there. He trusted Penelope to keep their camp a secret from the knights, but he knew almost nothing about this man. If Gavin was more loyal to his superiors than he was to Penelope, then he could easily give away the thieves’ location to the barons, and they would have to defend themselves much sooner than anticipated. He couldn’t be the one to instigate that.

So, trapped in the clearing by the knight’s stubbornness, Crow listened tensely as the two went on to argue about the situation. He narrowed his eyes as Gavin said a second raid happening on the same night was ‘too convenient.’ As unlikely as it seemed, the thief knew that had to be what had happened. None of his companions could have pulled off something this ruthless. They had only stayed long enough to take what they needed, and then they had all gone out to the tavern in Myrefall to drink afterwards. There hadn’t been time for anything else in between. Besides that, the four of them weren’t even capable of carrying so many supplies out of the knights’ camp without taking many trips. It had to have been done by a much larger group.

He turned towards Penelope as she repeated the same thought that he’d had about the Younisians. The enemy knights simply didn’t have the skills to pull off such an elaborate raid. It had to be someone with more skill—

Suddenly, Crow’s eyes widened as the pieces began to fall into place in his mind. Skilled thieves, large numbers, murderous intent… But it couldn’t have been them, could it? He swallowed nervously as the possibility made itself more realistic. It had been over a year since he had last seen them, and they hadn’t even been close to the outer villages, but it wasn’t impossible that they had traveled out here. He felt a shiver run down his spine. He hoped to gods it wasn’t them, but who else could have pulled off something this merciless?

“If it was another enemy, then why does he look like he knows something?” Gavin’s voice snapped Crow back to attention. He looked up to see the knight glaring at him accusatively.

The thief shifted his weight hesitantly. It was true that he believed he knew who had raided the knights’ camp, but he was reluctant to tell them. His eyes wandered to Penelope’s face. He didn’t like the fact that Gavin was nosing around, but even more so than that, he didn’t want to get her involved in something that might get her killed. If he told her who had taken their supplies and murdered her comrades, there was no question that she would want to go after them. He couldn’t let her do that. These people were too dangerous.

“I say just forget the whole thing,” Crow muttered after a long moment of silence. “It’s unfortunate that so many of your comrades had to die, but whoever raided your camp after we did already got what they wanted. They’re probably long gone to sell it all off by now. Just send in another request to the king for more supplies and move on.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope glanced over her shoulder at Crow as Gavin accused him again. The silence that fell from the thief made her feel a little uneasy but she guessed that perhaps he wasn't willing to share whatever information he had due to Gavin's presence. At his words, the knight frowned slightly. "I wish we could do that.. It would be simpler." she mumbled and let out a soft sigh. "But our supplies are at an all time low.. If there's even a chance that they kept some of them, then we need to find them. Getting more supplies from the king would take another week or so."

"Don't ignore how quick he was to try and dismiss this." Gavin warned her as he eyed Crow. "He's responsible for this and he's trying to just brush it aside!"

Penelope crossed her arms and glared at Gavin. Though she did believe Crow might have had some type of information, she still believed he was merely keeping it to himself because of Gavin. Plus the male knight's constant accusation of Crow was beginning to get on her nerves. Crow had clearly been clueless when she had accused him and she wished Gavin would accept that it wasn't him already. "Enough, Gavin. He didn't do it." she snapped sternly at her ex-suitor. "And you constantly barking that he did isn't going to change my mind on this."

Gavin wavered slightly and frowned at her sternness. "Penelope, I'm just trying to-"

"I don't need or want your protection." She added, sharply cutting him off. Penelope paused then shifted closer to Crow, briefly remembering how touchy Gavin had been with her that morning. She had allowed it at the time because of her distress over the situation but now she was beginning to realize that had been a mistake. The male knight was all too quick to jump at the chance to turn her against Crow and she realized that the thief likely hadn't been too wrong in his assumptions about him. "Just because you want it to be his doing doesn't mean that it is Gavin."

Gavin flinched slightly. "That's not it.. I just want to help you."

"Then help me find who actually did it tomorrow." Penelope grumbled then let out a long sigh as she looked over at Crow. "There's going to be a lot of patrols out in the coming days. We can't risk them attacking us again. It's another reason why we can't just let this go so easily." Penelope went on. "If they hit us as hard as they did last night, we'll keep losing supplies and people no matter how many times we request the king for more." The knight shuddered at the thought. Whoever had attacked them had made a clean getaway after killing all of the guards. They needed to deal with this unknown enemy as quickly as possible before they had a chance to strike the camp again. They clearly weren't as merciful as Crow and his thieves so Penelope didn't want to just forget about it so quickly. I owe Millicent some sense of justice.. she thought with a small pang of guilt. Even though she now knew it wasn't Crow's intention, she still felt guilty for her comrade's death. It was suppose to her guard shift after all.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow wavered again as Penelope didn’t take his suggestion to move on from the incident. He had been hoping she would accept the fact that they couldn’t change the past and that it was unlikely their supplies would ever be found and returned. After all, he hadn’t been lying to the two knights. It was entirely possible that the group who had stolen the nobles’ supplies were on their way to make a profit as they spoke. Even if they started looking now, they probably wouldn’t catch up in time to get everything back.

As Gavin tried to push the blame onto him yet again, Crow narrowed his eyes annoyedly. Either this man was completely dense, or he was hellbent on making Penelope believe the thief had betrayed her. Either way, Crow didn’t like how aggressive he was being. He tightened his grip on his daggers, ready to move if the knight chose to make things physical.

Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. He glanced at Penelope again as she snapped at her former suitor, putting him firmly in his place. It was amusing to see him roll over to her, since she was practically half Gavin’s size, but he was glad that her attempt to make the man stop accusing him seemed to work. He shot the knight a smug look, feeling pleased that Penelope had sided with him.

As she turned back to explain to him why she couldn’t give up on hunting down the thieves, Crow shifted uneasily. He really didn’t want her to get involved with these people. If he told her more about them and something happened to her because of it, he would never forgive himself. He couldn’t let her do it.

“How about this,” he said tentatively. “You go back to your camp and help the other knights clean up after what happened, and I’ll look for your missing supplies.” He groaned inwardly, already regretting the offer he was about to make. “I know how to track down thieves better than any of you nobles, as is evident by the fact that none of your patrols have managed to find us again.” His green eyes flicked towards Gavin again briefly before returning to Penelope’s face.

“You have to admit that it’s unlikely any of your comrades will find whoever took your things, but I at least have a chance,” he murmured, averting his gaze. “Just forget about hunting them down and leave that part to me.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope immediately didn't like what he was offering. While she did believe Crow stood a better chance at finding the thieves than the knights, sending him out to track them down didn't sit well with her. Whoever had stolen from them was clearly very dangerous and even if Crow could hunt them down, that didn't mean he could handle them easily. It would put him in a rather risky situation, something that she didn't like.

"No." She told him firmly as she shook her head. The knight moved to rest a hand on his arm, frowning slightly as she looked up at him. "You might be able to track them down but they're clearly dangerous. I know you can fight fine but.." she paused trailing off as she met his gaze concernedly. If something happened to him in his attempt to help them, she'd never be able to forgive herself. Besides that, she knew she'd be worried sick if she accepted his offer. She wasn't even sure if he'd have the help of his companions. He was protective of them so the knight wouldn't be surprised if he tried to tackle hunting down the other thieves on his own. Not to mention that the thief had both the unknown enemies to worry about as well as the patrolling knights.

A solution to this did come to mind though. Her green eyes brightened as she looked over at him. "We could still use your help finding them but I refuse to let you do it alone though." she gave him a small smile. "Let me help you look for them. It won't be difficult to get out of camp by saying I'm going on a patrol, and I won't even be completely lying. There's plenty of knights back at camp that can clean up after what happened.. But nothing will really be solved until we figure out who stole our supplies and I can't just sit back and do nothing."

She was determined to get help her comrades and she couldn't completely deny Crow's help. Who better to track down a thief than a thief after all? There was also a small part of her that was also excited about the prospect of working alongside him since it meant they would see each other for longer periods of time during the search for the thieves. "What do you think?" she asked him with a hint of eagerness.

"Not a bad idea, unless you have something to hide.." Gavin mumbled from behind her as he eyed Crow suspiciously. The male knight had taken his hand off of the hilt of his sword and was now quieter as he watched the two. However, he clearly didn't have any intention of leaving them alone.

[Rogue Sloth]

As Penelope continued to shoot down his alternate ideas, Crow felt his heart sink. He could see now that there would be no convincing her to stay out of this. Whether he liked it or not, she was going to try to track down the thieves whom had raided her camp and killed her comrades. He let out his breath in reluctant defeat as she went on to suggest that they work together. He wanted to be excited about the prospect of working side by side with her again, but knowing who they were up against, he just felt hollow instead.

He was just about to open his mouth to respond to her question, but Gavin spoke up first, taking the opportunity to prod at him one more time. The thief glared at him coldly, tempted to give him a sharp reply, but instead, he held his tongue. Now that the tension between them had died down, he didn’t want to say anything that would cause the knight to reach for his sword again. He wasn’t afraid to fight him, but he still wanted to avoid the confrontation if he could.

Moving subtly, he sheathed his daggers beneath his cloak and turned back to Penelope. “Fine,” his gaze softened slightly. “If you’re so set on going after them, then I’m going to come with you.” He hesitated for a moment, concern lacing his expression. “However, if we do this, there’s something you need to know…” He trailed off, looking back up at Gavin and narrowing his eyes. “Though I’d rather not say it in front of him.”

“That’s just too bad,” Gavin crossed his arms. “Because I’m not leaving her alone.”

“Stubborn fool,” Crow curled his lip. “I’m sure you’re enjoying believing that I’m the enemy, but you’re wrong.”

“If I’m so wrong, then I’m sure you have nothing to hide,” Gavin retorted dryly.

Crow glared at him for a moment before exhaling in exasperation. “Fine,” he spat, turning to Penelope once more. He wavered slightly, since what he was about to admit wasn’t something he was proud of. After a moment, he took a steeling breath and went on to speak, “I can’t tell you how I know this—” He shot one more irritable look at Gavin. “But I think I know who raided your camp.” He shifted his weight uncomfortably. “They’re a band of thieves from the inner kingdom led by a man named Jaxon, and they’re some of the most vile people I’ve ever met. They’re greedy and cruel, and they’ll kill anyone who they believe poses a threat to them… no matter who they are.” He grimaced as the memory of Jaxon’s sword running through a young noble boy’s chest flashed through his mind.

“If I’m right about this, and his group is the one that stole your supplies, then hunting them down is going to be extremely dangerous,” Crow reached out to take Penelope’s hand in his, holding her gaze seriously. “These people aren’t your average thieves, love. They kill for sport, and if they figure out you’re going after them, they will not hesitate to end your life. I need you to promise me that you will never go after them alone—in fact, don’t even try to track them down unless I’m at your side.” He searched her eyes, wearing an expression of worry as he tried to read if she would listen to his request. “Can you promise me that?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope relaxed a little as Crow agreed to work with her. As she suspected, there seemed to be something he was holding back due to Gavin's presence. She glanced over at Gavin, wishing the male knight would agree to leave. He made it clear that he made no intention of leaving them alone though so she didn't even bother to try and push him to go, knowing that he likely wouldn't listen to her even if she did. The female knight turned to look back at Crow as he began to explain that he had an idea of who had raided their camp.

As she had guessed, the group they were going up against was dangerous, however, it sounded a bit worse than what she had been expecting. Though her determination to find them didn't waver, she began to understand why Crow had wanted them to forget about going after the group of thieves. She wished she could ask more about how Crow had run into these cruel people but with Gavin around, she knew it'd have to be a question for another time. She held his gaze with a serious look of her own, listening to his words of warning. "Alright." She agreed giving his hand a small, reassuring squeeze. "I promise I won't go after them without you." Penelope leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "We'll deal with them together."

"And that includes me too." Gavin added, giving Crow a challenging look.

Penelope sighed and looked over her shoulder at Gavin. "What?"

"If these people are as dangerous as he claims, you're going to need all the help you can get right?" Gavin shrugged. "I told you I want to help you. If that means hunting down thieves with another thief, then that's just what I'm going to do."

The female knight gave an uncertain look and glanced over at Crow. It likely wouldn't hurt to have the additional back up but she had a problem with it being Gavin. She could already guess that the knight and thief wouldn't work too well together. Unfortunately, she also doubted telling Gavin no would even work. The male knight would likely pull a similar move of following her out to meet with Crow again.

"Besides, I doubt Mia would willingly let you go on a patrol by yourself right now. If I go with you, I can help you cover this up as well." Gavin offered.

Penelope shifted and gave Crow a weak shrug before looking back over at Gavin. "Alright, fine." she gave in with a reluctant nod. Though she would have preferred Gavin to keep out of it, she also supposed there were some perks to having another knight to work with. At least she could trust him to keep her meetings with Crow a secret and even if he was reluctant to work with the thief, she knew he likely wouldn't go jumping into any fights with him so long as tensions didn't rise again.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow felt a little better when Penelope agreed not to go looking for Jaxon’s band of thieves without him. He still wished she would have just let it go, but he supposed this was the next best thing. As long as he was out searching with her, he wouldn’t be worrying about whether or not she was still alive all the time. Plus, having dealt with Jaxon before, he knew a little about how to handle the merciless thief. If or when they tracked them down, he would be prepared to face him.

However, the short moment of respite was broken when Gavin spoke up again, insisting on joining them. Crow glowered at him, disliking how quick the knight was to force his company on them. The challenging look in his eye didn’t make him feel any better either. It was almost as if Gavin was taunting him. He glanced discreetly down at Penelope. Whether she had caught on or not, it was clear to him that this man wasn’t finished vying for her affection.

Strongly opposed to the idea of the knight coming with them, he opened his mouth to tell him off, but Penelope spoke first. He turned to her in surprise as she accepted her former suitor’s offer to help. What was she doing? It was obvious that Gavin had only weaseled his way into the group because he wanted to stay close to her while she worked with a thief. He looked up at the knight again, uneasy with this new development. He wanted to tell the man that they didn’t need him, but now that Penelope had been convinced, it would be much harder to shake him off. He let out his breath in a disappointed sigh. It looked like Gavin was going to be coming with them whether he liked it or not.

“Fine,” he growled, tilting his chin up haughtily at the other man. “Just don’t get in my way.” Turning back to Penelope, he went on to speak with her as if Gavin wasn’t still there. “I haven’t decided if I want to get my companions involved in this yet, so we should meet someplace where they won’t be as likely to find us,” he paused to think for a moment before coming up with a suggestion. “Let’s meet at the edge of the road on the north side of Myrefall tomorrow morning. If we want to catch these thieves, we’re going to have to start looking for them as soon as possible.”

He shifted again, trying to think of anything else they might need to discuss before parting ways. Coming up with nothing, he gave a faint shrug. “I believe that’s everything we need to cover,” he said, casting Gavin another furtive glance. He was still annoyed that the knight had been so insistent on interrupting their time alone. He had been looking forward to seeing Penelope again for three days, and now their meeting had been spoiled by his unwelcomed presence.

Crow met Penelope’s gaze once more. “If I’m going to be forced to spend more time around him in the coming days, I’m going to need some additional rest,” he tipped his head slightly towards her former suitor and then offered her a smile. “I love you. Please don’t do anything reckless before I see you tomorrow.”

Having said his parting words to her, the thief stepped forward and slipped his arm around the small of her back to pull her close to himself. In the next moment, he leaned down and pressed a passionate kiss to her lips, caressing her neck with his free hand. It was a bit of a spiteful move on his part, since he was well aware of Gavin’s eyes on them. However, the knight had intruded on their alone time, so he deserved every bit of discomfort the scene may have given him in Crow’s opinion.

After a moment, he pulled back again to meet Penelope’s gaze. “See you tomorrow, love,” he winked at her coyly and turned to head back into the woods that led to his camp.

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope nodded as Crow went over the details for their next meeting. "Alright." she agreed as he told her where to meet him. At his parting words, she returned his smile. "I love you too. And of course I won't." she smirked a little in amusement. "I'm usually the one telling you that." As he pulled her close, she quickly returned his embrace, despite feeling a bit uncomfortable since she was aware of Gavin watching them.

She leaned up to meet his lips, kissing him back. Though it was a bit spiteful of Crow, Penelope didn't fight it since their meeting had been ruined. Due to her own assumptions and Gavin's refusal to leave, their meeting had not been quite as enjoyable as it usually was. The kiss didn't completely make up for it but it certainly helped. She even felt another stab of relief that she had been wrong about her guess that Crow had been behind the devastating raid on her camp.

As he pulled back, the knight smiled in amusement at his wink. "See you." she mumbled as she watched him leave. Once he was out of sight, she turned to begin the trip back to camp with Gavin. She met the other knight's gaze briefly before quickly focusing her gaze back ahead. "We should get back." she muttered, a bit coldly. She was still a bit angry at him for following her and now she was rather certain Crow had been right in his guess about Gavin still lying in wait. Though she had been trying to keep her guard up around him before, she felt a little more inclined to distance herself a bit from him, especially after how strongly he had tried to convince her that Crow was lying to her.

Gavin fell in step besides her and remained silent for a moment before letting out a small sigh. "Look, I'm sorry." he finally mumbled. "I just can't trust him that easily.. And I was fine with staying out of it until our camp got attacked.. I just couldn't ignore that."

"Neither could I but I'm not so dense as to ignore a man telling the truth." Penelope responded curtly. The female knight let out a sigh and shook her head. "Gavin.. I chose him and I'm not going to change my mind. I need you to understand that."

Gavin shifted his gaze to the ground, falling silent for a moment before mumbling, "I do... But that doesn't mean I'm just going to stop caring about you, Penelope. And I'm still going to help you."

Penelope hesitated and then gave a resigned nod. She supposed she couldn't ask for much more from the knight. His help could be valuable in helping her get out of camp to work with Crow in the coming days so she'd just have to bare with his distrust of the thief and hope that it would die down the more he worked with him. The two knights fell into an uncomfortable silence the rest of the way to their camp. They eventually parted ways, heading to their tents for the night.

[Rogue Sloth]

The next morning, Crow woke up to the smell of freshly cooked breakfast. Having eaten nothing but old bread and vegetables for the past few days, he was instantly roused by the enticing aroma. He got up from his bed and made his way over to the hearth, raising his arms over his head in a long stretch to shake off the rest of his lingering weariness. When he reached it, he saw that Simon and Rikki were already awake and sitting by the fire. It looked like they were the ones who had prepared the food.

“Morning, Crow,” Rikki greeted him brightly and offered him a full plate as he sat down nearby. “I got this for you.”

“Thanks,” the thief yawned widely, accepting the dish from her. He was still keeping his guard up around her, but lately, she seemed to have backed off on flirting brazenly with him. It almost felt like they were reaching a point of normalcy in their friendship again. However, he knew her too well to believe she had given up on getting between him and Penelope. She was too stubborn to quit that easily. He suspected she was just trying to find another angle to come at him from.

Whatever it is, it won’t work, he thought, swallowing a mouthful of food.

Eventually, Alistair and Hazel woke up as well and came to join them. Now all together, the five companions chatted idly about various whimsical things, since there was no pressure on anyone to discuss upcoming plans. Crow could tell that they were all in much better spirits now that their supplies had been restocked and they weren’t threatened with the risk of going hungry in the fall season. He was feeling better as well.

However, his conversation with the two knights was weighing heavily on his mind. He felt like he needed to warn the other thieves about the nobles’ additional patrols, but he didn’t know how to bring the topic up without admitting he had snuck out to visit with Penelope behind their backs. Since they had all thought they had learned everything they needed to know about the next battle—which he also needed to tell them wasn’t happening anymore—he had no good excuse for seeing her in the middle of the night before the fighting began.

He let out his breath in a quiet sigh. It was a difficult position to be in. He didn’t want to give away his meeting with the knight, but he also knew he had to warn them about the patrols somehow. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind of situation he could easily lie his way out of. He drummed his fingers restlessly against his knee, pondering over the dilemma. After a bit of thinking, he froze as he was struck with an idea.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Simon noted, eyeing him curiously.

“I know,” Crow looked up to meet his gaze, internally grateful for the blonde thief’s perfect, yet unintentional bridge for him to bring up the subject he wanted to discuss. “I was just thinking about something Penelope told me. I ran into her last night.”

“When did that happen?” Simon frowned skeptically. “You were with us until we all went to sleep.”

“I woke up in the middle of the night,” Crow lied casually. “I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I went outside to get some fresh air. While I was out, she happened to be on her way to come find me.” He glanced between Simon and Alistair, studying their faces as he hoped they would buy his story. “I told her a long time ago that she could come to our camp if she ever had urgent news for us, and she happened to have some last night.”

“What was it?” Alistair frowned.

“Well, for one thing, the battle in Myrefall probably isn’t going to happen anymore,” Crow shrugged. “The knights overreacted to our raid last night. They’re sending out patrols all over the forest to find us.”

“What?” Rikki curled her lip. “That’s ridiculous! We barely took anything. They have no reason to fight back against us so much.”

“I know,” Crow shook his head. “But they’re doing it nonetheless. We’ll all have to be careful when we go out until the tension dies down.”

“I hate this,” Alistair groaned, raking both of his hands through his long hair. “I hate being confined to this little section of forest. Those knights have more supplies than they know what to do with! Why can’t they just let us have a few?”

“Who knows why nobles do anything?” Crow huffed, rising to his feet. Now that he had informed his companions of the danger, he had no more reason to wait around. The time was fast approaching for him to meet up with Penelope on the outskirts of Myrefall.

“Where are you going?” Rikki frowned. “You just said we had to be careful.”

“I did,” Crow looked down to meet her gaze. “But I need to sell off the medicine we stole in Wheldrake. I’ll be traveling in the opposite direction of where the knights will be scouting for us, so I’ll be fine.”

“I suppose there is one positive thing that came out of this,” Simon mused. “Now that the battle isn’t happening, you can stay there until all of the medicine is sold.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Crow bit his tongue to stifle a smirk. The excuse would buy him about a week of time to work with Penelope in hunting down Jaxon’s group. If all went well, he would be back before the others knew the band of thieves were even in the area. “It’s a long trip, so I need to leave early in order to reach the market before it closes today.”

“What are you doing waiting around here then?” Hazel looked up at him, waving a dismissive hand. “Get going already.”

Crow rolled his eyes at her remark and headed over to their supplies, putting together a travel bag for himself. Since he was going to be gone longer than usual, he packed a bit more than he normally did. Once he was done, he said his goodbyes to his companions and headed to Myrefall to meet up with Penelope.

--

On his way through the village, Crow took a detour to his old home to drop off his things, since he wouldn’t be needing most of them while he searched for the band of thieves with the knights. Intending to fool the others into believing he had really gone to Wheldrake, he planned to spend the next few nights in the run-down cottage, so they wouldn’t know he was still in the area.

After discarding all of his burdens except for the clothes on his back, a mostly-empty coin purse, and some weapons, he made his way to the northern edge of the main road where they had agreed to meet. He reached the spot fast enough and without any trouble, but he was quick to notice that there were more knights about than usual. Leaning with his back pressed against a tree, the thief clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn’t want to stand out in the open where anyone would be able to see him. If he did that, it wouldn’t take long for one of the patrols to recognize him and try to fight.

So, wanting to get out of the road, he turned around and climbed up the tree he was leaning against to wait for the others out of sight.

[BuzzingBee]

The next morning, Penelope got up early so she could speak with Mia about leaving camp to patrol. The baroness was already giving out orders to others on where they should search for the thieves. She was quick to note most of the spots Mia was sending patrols in were where the thieve's old camp had been. Though they had moved since then, it was still rather close to the waterfall, making her slightly uneasy. It should be fine though.. I warned Crow about the patrols already. she reminded herself, relaxing slightly.

"Mia, I'd like to take charge of leading out a patrol." Penelope said, dipping her head respectfully to her baroness. "I caught a trail of the thieves before. I'm sure I can do it again and I swear I'll catch them this time."

"I see... Well I don't have a problem with that." Mia mused. "But I certainly hope you aren't planning on going out alone."

"Of course not." Penelope said shaking her head. Suddenly she found herself a bit relieved that she had allowed Gavin to accompany her and Crow. It would certainly make handling Mia a lot easier. "I'll be taking Gavin with me."

Mia looked at her for a moment and raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"And?" Penelope blinked with confusion.

"Penelope, the thieves are obviously very dangerous. They killed all of our guards. All patrols we're sending out must be well armed and certainly not so small as only two people." Mia crossed her arms. "Take two more people with you."

"I-" Penelope pursed her lips together, her brain scrambling for a way to convince Mia to allow her to travel with just Gavin. There weren't any other knights she could trust with the situation since it involved Crow. Adding two more knights would mean they wouldn't be able to work with the thief. But there is one more knight that could work.. Penelope met Mia's gaze. "I'll take one more. I want this to be a small patrol since it'll be easier to sneak around. If they know we're coming, they'll just escape from us again. Three will be plenty to stay safe as well as get the job done."

Mia hesitated, thinking it over for a moment before nodding her head. "Alright fine. Three."

After speaking with Mia and getting the baroness' approval, Penelope met up with Gavin and then headed off to find the third knight, which was Olivia. The other female knight knew plenty about the thieves and Penelope doubted she would say no to working with Crow. She also hoped that Olivia would help lessen the tension between all of them... Though Penelope was also too aware that the other female knight was capable of doing the exact opposite as well.

Hoping for the best, Penelope finally spotted her friend sitting under the shade of a tree. "Hey Olivia." she greeted her as she headed over with Gavin following behind her.

"Oh hey." Olivia looked over at her curiously. "What's up? Any word on the situation?"

"Sorta." Penelope shifted a bit. "It wasn't them but we're dealing with a completely different enemy. I came to ask you if you'd help us and join our patrol to track them down."

"Hmm... Can I ask why you're requesting me specifically?" Olivia smirked. "I know we're good friends and all but I must say something seems a little fishy here."

"Sounds like you already have a couple guesses." Gavin grumbled.

Penelope sighed and lowered her voice. "We're working with Crow on this. He thinks he knows who did it.. I can explain more on the way but will you help?"

"Wait.. So you two," she pointed at them. "are going to work together with him?"

"Yeah.."

Olivia stifled a laugh. "Oh darling, there's no way I wouldn't help you with this." The other female knight grinned and quickly bounced up to her feet. "Let's go."

---

The three knights readied themselves to leave camp. Penelope advised them to wear light armor that could be easily hidden with a cloak. Since they were going to be working with Crow, she wanted to draw as little attention to themselves as they could. They soon headed out of their camp and made their way to Myrefall. As they walked, Penelope spent most of the time informing Olivia about what had occurred during her meeting the night before. She noticed that Olivia also seemed a bit relieved to hear that Crow's group had not been responsible for the deaths of their comrades nor the reason so many of their supplies were missing. She also noticed Olivia tried to pry a bit about how Gavin and Crow handled meeting each other for the second time. However, with Gavin close by, she chose not to discuss it with her.

The three eventually reached the meeting spot. Slowing to a stop, Penelope swept her gaze over the area. She was quick to note that there were quite a few more knights in the area, which didn't surprise her much after noticing where Mia had planned to send the patrols. We'll have to be especially careful with them around.. she thought, hoping Crow would make it to the meeting spot safely.

[Rogue Sloth]

As he waited for Penelope and Gavin to arrive, Crow slid down the tree branch until he was laying on his back with his head leaning against the trunk. He dangled his leg lazily over the edge, tossing one dagger up and down in his hand to pass the time. It spun in the air, and he followed it with his eyes to catch it by the hilt when it came back down. Even though there were more patrols around than usual, he wasn’t concerned about being spotted when he was so high off the ground. The knights weren’t clever enough to look for a thief in a tree. It was unlikely that any of them would notice him as long as he stayed put, so he only needed to pay attention enough to notice when the others got to the meeting spot.

After a while, his patience was rewarded when he heard the sound of footsteps and idle talking below. Glancing down, he saw a small group of people step into view. He frowned. If he recalled correctly, he was only supposed to be working with Penelope and Gavin, but he counted three knights standing beneath his tree. It was either a different patrol of knights, or there was an unexpected third to join their little party.

Crow eyed them curiously, trying to figure out which guess was the right one. From his vantage point, it was difficult to see their faces, since all of them were wearing cloaks. He didn’t want to climb down unless he was certain it was Penelope’s patrol. Otherwise, he just might find himself in an unexpected fight, and the other knights would be alerted that he was seen in the area. He didn’t want to ruin their meeting place, and he especially didn’t want more knights crawling around Myrefall when he was going to be living in this village for the next week.

Fortunately—or perhaps, unfortunately—he heard the sound of a familiar voice speak up from the group.

“Are you sure he didn’t bail?” Crow recognized Gavin’s low-pitched voice. Below the tree, the tallest figure turned to one of the others, whom he guessed was Penelope. “Maybe he decided to save his own skin and get out before we figured out it was him.”

The thief rolled his eyes. It seemed like Gavin was still set on trying to convince Penelope that he was the one behind the brutal raid on their camp. The man was as stubborn as an ass. His eyes wandered to the dagger in his hand, and he smirked as an idea crossed his mind. If he wants to think I’m so dangerous, then I’ll give him dangerous.

He looked back down at the knights and cocked back the blade in his hand. In the next moment, he threw it at a spot on the ground between Gavin’s feet. As the blade flashed in front of his face, the knight visibly jumped and hurried to draw his sword. He looked up into the tree to see where the dagger had come from.

As their eyes met, Crow laughed, hanging haphazardly from the tree branch he was laying on. “Oh, this is too easy,” he snickered, shooting the knight a feral grin.

“Is this a game to you?” Gavin growled, obviously not finding the situation as amusing as the thief did.

“No,” Crow shrugged carelessly and sat up. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to have any fun with it.” Climbing to his feet, he made his way back down the tree. When he reached the ground, he dusted off his clothes and retrieved his dagger, which had embedded itself in the ground near Gavin’s feet. Returning the weapon to its sheath, he glanced at the third member of the group, still curious to find out who else Penelope had brought. He was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a familiar face.

“Well, look who it is,” he grinned at Olivia. “Long time no see.”

“Hey, Crow,” Olivia smirked at him in return, seeming amused by something. “Still up to no good, I see.”

“Naturally,” he shot her a wry wink and turned at last to Penelope, stepping over to press a brief kiss to her lips. “And hello to you, beautiful,” he smiled at her flirtatiously. “Ready to go hunt down a band of murderous thieves?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope turned her head to look over at Gavin as he spoke up. "I doubt that." she mumbled. The knight was about to explain to him that the thief was likely being cautious do to the extra amount of knights in the area but before she could, a dagger suddenly hit the ground by Gavin's feet. The sudden blade made her jump but she was quick to realize who it likely belonged to and her gaze flickered up to spot Crow in the tree.

The female knight smiled faintly and shook her head as Crow and Gavin spoke. She had a feeling it was going to be a challenge in itself to have the two working together on this. She couldn't help but wish that Gavin would have just stayed out of it again. However, he was clearly too stubborn to leave and she had already told Mia that she'd take two people with her so there was no going back on it now. As long as he keeps his bitter comments to a minimum, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. she thought with a glance at Gavin.

Her gaze shifted back over to Crow as he turned to her and leaned in to meet him as he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "Ready as I'll ever be." she mused returning his smile. Penelope glanced over at Olivia before meeting his gaze again. "Turns out Gavin was a bit right about my baroness not wanting anyone to patrol alone.. She ended up making me take one more person so that's why Olivia came with us." she told him, feeling like she needed to explain the other female knight's sudden appearance.

"Yeah, you don't have too many choices of knights that would work with a thief at our camp. I won the spot by default." Olivia smirked and shrugged her shoulders.

Penelope gave a small nod then looked up at Crow curiously. "So what's our first move?" she asked him.

[Rogue Sloth]

Compared to the night before, Crow was in a much better mood about tracking down Jaxon’s group today. He was still nervous about facing the thieves, since he knew how bloodthirsty they could be, but it had finally struck him that in helping the knights capture their attackers, he would get to spend quite a bit more time with Penelope. He was excited to be able to see her outside of their late night meetings. Besides, he was probably worrying for nothing. They had survived murderous men before—a few such foreign mercenaries came to mind—so he was a bit more confident that they would be able to do it again.

The only downside was that he had to spend more time with Gavin. He wished there was a way to lose the persistent knight, but he couldn’t think of an easy way to get him to leave, especially after Penelope explained that her baroness had only allowed them to leave in a group of three. If the knights’ leaders didn’t let them leave alone, then he supposed Gavin’s company wasn’t as bad as a knight he didn’t already know. At least this way, he and Penelope didn’t have to hide their relationship like they had when William had been traveling with them two years ago in Younis.

Crow glanced up at Olivia with a bemused smile when she said she had been chosen to go with them because none of the other knights would work with a thief. Of all the nobles who could have joined them, he was glad she was the one to do so. While he wasn’t very close with the wily knight, he found her antics entertaining and got along with her well enough. He had no qualms with working alongside her to catch the band of thieves.

“So, what’s our first move?” Penelope’s voice caught his attention and he turned back to her with a thoughtful expression.

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” he shook his head. “I’ve never been on this side of the chase before, so this is all new to me.” He paused, folding his arms across his chest as he pondered over the question. His eyes wandered to Olivia and Gavin as another thought crossed his mind. In order to hunt down Jaxon’s group most effectively, he was going to have to give away a few trade secrets. He didn’t like the idea of doing that in front of them. He trusted Penelope to keep everything he said between them, but he didn’t know either of the others well enough to believe they would do the same—especially Gavin.

Crow shifted his weight, eyeing the man with distrust. “I actually have a few ideas,” he started slowly. “But before I say anything, I’m going to need you all to promise me that what I tell you doesn’t leave this group.” While his words were directed at all of the knights, his eyes never left Gavin’s face. “Is that clear?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small nod as Crow admitted he wasn't sure where to begin. "I suppose we could just start by trying to gather any information around here. Seeing if anyone's noticed any new faces in taverns and such." she suggested, glancing over at the other two knights with a small shrug. "It's difficult to figure out where to start since we have no idea where they might be located. They could be far from Myrefall for all we know.."

She looked back over to Crow as he admitted to having a couple ideas. Penelope gave a firm nod. "Of course."

"Alright." Olivia added casually with a shrug.

Gavin didn't speak right away, holding Crow's gaze stubbornly. Penelope glanced over at the male knight and shifted uneasily. She knew Gavin had reservations about working with Crow and the only reason he was doing it was to keep an eye on her as well as uncover Crow as the culprit for their stolen supplies. It was likely why he was even willing to bend the rules so much, since the male knight was usually very strict when it came to them. She understood why Crow was so hesitant to share with him. Crossing her arms, Penelope narrowed her gaze at him. "Gavin, if you're going to work with us you're going to have to agree with some of his terms." she sighed.

The male knight glanced briefly at her then looked back at Crow. "Fine." he sighed reluctantly before shooting a glare of warning at Crow. "As long as you don't give me a reason to, whatever you say won't leave this group."

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow held eye contact with Gavin as the knight didn’t agree to his condition right away. Considering how the knight was acting, he was glad he had brought up his need for secrecy before jumping into telling them all about what he knew. It was starting to look like Gavin wasn’t as willing to keep information from his comrades as the Penelope and Olivia were. He narrowed his eyes, noticing the knight’s jaw clench slightly as if he was preparing to refuse the condition. If he did, it would be much more difficult for the thief to offer any assistance to the others, because he wouldn’t be able to explain the thought processes of criminals in his trade. He simply couldn’t afford to let that information get back to the other knights because it would just end up hurting him and his companions in the long run.

After a tense moment of silence, Penelope spoke up and managed to convince her former suitor to accept Crow’s terms. While he still didn’t know if Gavin would keep his word, he relaxed slightly. Now that the knight had verbally agreed to keep quiet, he trusted that he could count on Penelope to make sure he didn’t spill anything to the others in their camp. After all, he was certain that Gavin still had feelings for her. He was stubborn, but he likely wouldn’t do anything to turn her against him.

I suppose there is one perk of his infatuation, Crow mused, sweeping his gaze over the three knights as he readied himself to speak.

“Your idea was good,” he said to Penelope. “But if we do that, we should limit ourselves to the villages closest to the Younisian border. For them to have taken so many of your supplies, those thieves are out for a profit, and the Younisians pay a high price for Brerratic weaponry. I’d bet anything they’re on their way right now to sell everything off.”

“And exactly how would you know that?” Gavin growled accusatively. He seemed to have already made the connection and just wanted to hear the thief confess to it, himself.

“Because I’ve done it too,” Crow shrugged apathetically. He couldn’t have cared less what Gavin thought about what he did with their stolen supplies. In fact, he even felt a twinge of satisfaction watching him squirm under the discomfort of knowing his battalion’s weapons had been handed over to the enemy kingdom. “It’s good money,” he explained simply. “Any halfway decent thief would be a fool to pass it up.”

“So, all it takes to convince you to sabotage your homeland is a few gold coins?” Gavin went on angrily.

“No, not sabotage,” Crow shook his head. “We steal from you, yes, but never enough to greatly hinder your efforts in the war. We just need money, and you all just happen to be the richest targets in the outer villages. It’s as simple as that.” He waved a hand dismissively. “But you’re missing my point. I only brought this up because I know these thieves. They’re greedy, and they have little to no stake in this war. They probably saw this as an opportunity to secure a handsome pay from the Younisians in exchange for all of your stolen supplies.”

“Alright,” Olivia spoke up, crossing her arms. “If they are going to Younis, which path would they take?”

“If they’re headed to the same baron who’s been paying me and my thieves, the fastest route is through the forest between Aramoor and Whitebridge,” Crow said thoughtfully. “I can’t say exactly which way they would have gone, since that all depends on where they’ve been camping. It’s also a vast area to cover, so it could take some time to narrow down exactly where they are.”

“What I’m hearing is that we should leave now,” Olivia smirked, turning to Penelope with a mischievous glint in her eye. “It was your idea to interrogate the villagers, so what do you say? Which one should we try first? You’ve got a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right. No pressure, or anything.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope gave a small nod as Crow suggested they stick closer to the border. It wasn't overly surprising to hear him admit to selling off their supplies to the Younisians and it certainly didn't bother the female knight as much as Gavin hoped it would. She noticed the male knight glance towards her in his frustration with the thief, clearly looking for some kind of reaction to the news. Unfortunately for him, the female knight merely shrugged and focused on the task at hand as Crow explained where the thieves had likely traveled through.

As Olivia turned to her, Penelope rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks." she mused sarcastically. She paused for a moment, thinking over the options. Without much information on the thieves, they'd be taking a shot in the dark regardless. But we should still be smart about this.. She look at the others with a hint of confidence in her gaze. "Let's go to Whitebridge." she told them. "I'm not sure if we'll be able to find anything there either but it'll likely be safer for us to start there. When I spoke to Mia earlier, most of her patrols still seemed to be focused south of our camp."

The knight looked over at Crow. "I'm guessing it's partly because when after I was away for a full day I told them you all had headed down towards Silverpool to keep them from looking around near Azmar and Farhill." She gave him a small apologetic look. That might have been helpful for them at the time but now it was likely backfiring since the thieves had relocated near their old camp again. "But we can at least use that to our advantage now. Maybe it'll even cause for these thieves to head north anyways to avoid the knights as well."

Gavin sighed. "I don't like having to sneak around our comrades so much but the less chance we have of running into them right now the better."

"You'll get used to it eventually." Olivia snickered, causing the male knight to shoot her a disapproving look.

Penelope shook her head at the two then looked back to Crow, giving him a small smile. "Ready to go?" She asked him, moving to take his hand in hers.

[Rogue Sloth]

Crow nodded when Penelope said they should search Whitebridge first. His mind wandered back to the bag he had stowed away in his house in Myrefall, as he wondered if it would be wise to pick it up before they left. Both Aramoor and Whitebridge were quite a long way from the village—at least a full day’s walk, if not more. While the knights could get back to their camp easily enough, he would be far from where he had originally planned to sleep for the night. It would be easier to just set up camp somewhere in the village they were going to search rather than spend the whole night walking all the way back to Myrefall.

Having come to a decision, he listened in to the rest of the knights’ conversation. When Penelope suggested that the southern patrols might push the thieves north, he nodded in agreement. Jaxon’s thieves may have been ruthless, but they were no fools. If the nobles outnumbered them too heavily on the southern part of the border, they would have no choice but to find another route. After all, they could only kill so many knights before they began to lose members as well, and he knew Jaxon wouldn’t put them in such a position. The band leader seemed to consider his strength to be in his numbers, so he would want to avoid losing any if possible.

Thinking about Jaxon again, Crow wondered what he would do if or when they found him. After slipping out of the man’s group a year ago, he had made every effort to stay away from him. To purposefully go looking for him felt strange, and part of him was anxious about what the band leader’s reaction would be upon seeing him again. Jaxon wasn’t a man who took betrayal lightly. Whatever was going to happen, it couldn’t be good.

He blinked as he felt Penelope slip her hand into his and looked down to meet her gaze. “Almost,” he smiled, pushing his worrisome thoughts aside to focus on her instead. “But if we’re going to Whitebridge, I need to get something first.” He paused for a moment and then brightened slightly as an idea came to him. “Why don’t you come with me? With so many patrols around, I wouldn’t mind having an extra pair of eyes.”

“What’s so important that you have to get it right now?” Gavin frowned at him, seeming put off by the idea of the thief going anywhere alone with Penelope.

“Let’s see,” Crow looked up at the tree in exaggerated thoughtfulness, counting off on his fingers. “A bedroll, a water flask, some food, flint to start a fire…” He turned back to the knight with a cheeky smirk. “Relax, tough guy. I packed a bag earlier today just in case I’d need to set up camp. It’s not far from here, and it won’t take long to get.” He gave Penelope’s hand a tug. “Come on, love. Let’s get out of here before he finds a way to accuse me of killing someone with camping supplies.”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope looked up at Crow and nodded her head as he asked her to come with him. "Sure." she agreed rather quickly. She saw it as a chance to get a bit of alone time with him and even if it was short, she'd take what she could get. In the coming days, it was likely they wouldn't have much time alone, especially with Gavin breathing down their necks, so she'd be quick to jump at any chance to get out of his watchful gaze.

The work they were dealing with might be serious but Penelope didn't think it wasn't anything the group couldn't handle. She had fought against a number of dangerous enemies, including a few near deadly fights with mercenaries, so surely it wouldn't be too harmful to enjoy her time working with Crow a little bit. She looked up at Crow as he gave her hand a tug and smiled in amusement before glancing over at Gavin. "We'll be back in a moment." she assured him before turning to follow Crow.

As they headed off, Penelope made sure to keep an eye out for any patrolling knights. Though she did just want to spend a bit of time with Crow, she didn't let it completely distract her. With everything that was going on, she needed to remain alert. "I know the situation isn't ideal but gods, it's nice to know I'll be seeing you everyday, even if it's just for a short while." she sighed once they had put some distance between themselves and the other two. She wondered if she might even be able to buy a full day away from camp so that she'd be able to spend the night with him. It might be pushing for too much, both because she doubted Mia would be quick to agree with it and not mention Gavin would likely oppose camping with Crow. However, with everything Crow had told them, the time might come when they had to regardless of what Mia or Gavin thought.

The knight paused and lowered her gaze shamefully as she thought about the thieves and her previous meeting with Crow. "Also.. I'm sorry about the other night. When I accused you of all of this.." she mumbled softly. "Everything just seemed to suggest it was you aside from the crime itself."

[Rogue Sloth]

As Penelope agreed to go with him to get the bag he had left behind, Crow grinned. He was eager to have some time alone with her, even if it was only going to be for a short while. As they turned to walk down the road that led into Myrefall, he glanced back over his shoulder to see Gavin watching them with a concerned expression. He rolled his eyes. The knight looked like he thought the thief was going to kill her. Unable to help himself, he smirked back at him and subtly casted a rude gesture with his free hand, earning a snort from Olivia, who had caught it as well.

Feeling satisfied, he fell in step beside Penelope and lapsed into a comfortable silence as he enjoyed finally being alone with her. As long as Gavin and Olivia were traveling with them, he doubted they would have many more opportunities to get away like this for the next few days. He wanted to make the most of it while he still could.

As Penelope spoke up, he nodded in agreement. “Yeah,” he murmured, pressing a quick kiss to her head. “It’s kind of like a small taste of the future… except your former suitor and nosy friend are there.” He shook his head, wrinkling his nose slightly in distaste. “I can’t wait for the real thing, when we won’t be bothered anymore.”

At her following words, he looked at her thoughtfully. He could tell that she was still feeling guilty about how she had confronted him the night before. It had been a bit impulsive of her to assume that he was the one who had done so much damage to her camp, but he could understand why she had jumped to such a conclusion. After all, he and his companions had built up quite a reputation in the outer villages, and they had stolen from the knights many times before. Besides that, there was no way she could have possibly known about Jaxon and his band of thieves. Until this point, as far as he knew, they had been operating out of the inner kingdom. If they had come to this part of Brerra, it had only been a recent change.

“Don’t worry about it,” Crow shook his head, meeting her gaze with a fond smile. “It was just an unfortunate coincidence that these thieves attacked on the same night I raided your camp. You couldn’t have known it was them—you didn’t even know they existed.” He let go of her hand to wrap one arm around her shoulders in a comforting embrace. “I’m not upset. It’s in the past now anyway, so let’s just focus on here and now, alright?”

[BuzzingBee]

Penelope leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She was glad he didn't seem to hold a grudge against her for her mistake and his words relieved her of some of the guilt she felt. After this experience, she'd be much more careful if anything like the raid ever came up again. She doubted it would but the least she could do at the moment was continue to ignore Gavin's constant accusations against the thief. The knight hoped they'd die down soon so he could focus on the real enemy.

"Alright." she agreed softly with a small nod as she wrapped one arm around his middle. Penelope paused before giving him a small smirk of amusement. "Though speaking of the past, I think this is more a taste of that than the future.. Three knights, a thief and a dangerous mission. It's all too familiar to me." she gave a small chuckle. Remembering how concerned he had been the night before, her smile wavered slightly. They might have gotten through a castle before, but the mission had ended in failure rather than success. She hoped that this one wouldn't have any sort of similar outcome. Thinking about, she felt her own concerns grow slightly.

Focusing her gaze back ahead, Penelope glanced over their surroundings, she began to recognize the area a bit more. It looked a little different in daylight. The small homes looked even more run down now that they weren't heavy with shadows under the moonlight. "I'm guessing you stored all your stuff at the house huh?" she asked him, glancing ahead towards his old home.