Once again, the night was nearing its end. Still, S and the Kid slept soundly, in a similar manner to how they'd slept the night before- S with a thin layer of sand, and the Kid curled up soundly atop a bedroll. 

Grigor, meanwhile, slept far less easily within his tent. He'd been drifting uneasily between sleep and half-sleep the entire night.  He wouldn't say this out loud, but he envied the youths around him, able to maintain sleep so easily even after last night's interruptions.

In the middle of the night, Grigor decided to get up and kindle a small campfire, to see if that somehow helped. And it did, somewhat, as the gentle crackling of the fire just outside his tent lulled him into a more definite sleep.

By now, all that remained of the fire were a few scattered embers, atop the ashen pile of kindling that had fulfilled its purpose. 

The angler, this time around, sat comfortably atop a nearby rock as she stared aimlessly off into the distance. 

The night, it seemed, would end just as uneventfully as the day.

. . . 

A short distance away, a tired pink-haired thief had reached the top of a small hill, with the intent of using her temporarily enhanced sight to get a lay of the surrounding land.

The thief had been heading north for a while now, after her brief caper at Goldynrun's little soiree. She'd been hoping to find some sort of a goal or a purpose on her journey, but thus far, all she's done is eat, sleep, steal, and ride in expensive carriages from town to town alll the way up the country... It was an interesting change of pace, but she could see such things becoming monotonous rather quickly.

She'd thought about heading for the coast, taking up sailing, maybe becoming a pirate. But when she thought about it, it just seemed impractical way to live.

As she was fleeing from the last town she was in (due to a little confrontation with a traveling merchant who had far more security than she'd anticipated- Seriously, who hides golems in a covered wagon?), she had an epiphany of sorts. What she really needed now was a change of pace, even amidst her current changing of the pace. 

The town of Longfield Pass was only a day's travel away by foot. Instead of spending a bunch of her rightfully stolen gains on a fancy carriage, she could use her own two feet! 

She probably had a days worth of rations stuffed away in the mysterious pockets of her favorite catsuits, and she and her crew used to walk much greater distances all the time! A day of walking was nothing!

Indeed, what she needed now was a little time purely to herself. No jobs, no distractions, just herself and the splendors of nature. And it's not like she had to worry about any of Longfield's bounty hunters lookin' for her by the time she got there, 'cus none of the people she's pissed off had seen her real face!

Yes, taking the long walk was a great idea.

It wasn't a great idea. 

A day worth of rations turned out to be half a stale bar and some loose grains and fruit she'd scraped from a farm a while ago. Which was fine, she'd suffered way worse than mild hunger before, but the real problem, ironically, was the monotony. 

There's only so much thinking to be done in a day. And a sprawling expanse of inviting green fields and forests and the cheery blue sky overhead, eventually becomes pointless green and blue seas. 

She'd passed a handful of landmarks; abandoned caverns, decaying ruins and the like that she could've explored, but solo adventuring hardly seemed appealing. She could handle herself, but there was no sense dirtying her suits for whatever meagre loot was in the first layer of wherever she dropped in.

Walking these distances alone wasn't the same as walking with a group of fellow goons to chat with, and laugh with, and keep each other sane, between all the horrible acts... 

She wondered what Knives and Noble were doing right now... Though they were hardly friends, they were always her favorites... Though, that clearly didn't amount to much, considering they just abandoned each other as soon as they realized their boss was dead. 

... Is Branch really dead, though?

She'd been trying not to think about it, but she was running out of things to think about. 

He definitely deserved it, that much was obvious. Deserved worse than that.

He's an evil man, through and through. She'd seen, first-hand, many of the atrocities he's committed, and had others commit in his place. Unforgivable acts, best left forgotten. The man's a bandit, through and through, save for the abhorrent miracle that granted him strength of mind.

It's possible, she thought, that he is the most vile man that's ever lived, that ever will or could live. 

Yet... He was always so kind to her.

In her heart, she decided that he was dead, and left it at that. She'd continue to try not to think about it. 

Many hours after that period of thought had ceased and been mostly forgotten, she cast a spell on her eyes and stared down from atop a small hill, and we finally get back to where we started.

The first thing that caught the thief's eye was the barely smoldering embers upon the remains a small campfire, in the midst of a small campsite a short distance away.

It seemed like a nice spot to camp, the thief thought. Decently far off the road, so they wont be disturbed by passing travelers. Right at the edge of a forest, providing some sense of serenity and safety, while still keeping visibility high. And a decent ways eastward, there's some comically large, out of place oak tree sitting in the middle of the plain. Looks pretty majestic. You could get some real thinking done, staring at that thing. Especially if you sat on that big rock over there, which seems almost like it's meant to be a seat for viewing the thing.  

The campsite consisted of... A horse, and at least four people, assuming there's people in that big green tent.  Chances are there's at least five, if they've got three sleeping outside.

Except... No, one of them isn't sleeping. There's a person on sitting on the seat-rock. Short, blonde, wearing an odd amount of green. Either a child or an exceptionally short woman. Not moving, but conscious. Looks familiar somehow... Hard to tell, from here.

The others sleeping outside seem to be on the younger side, too. Youths on a camping trip, perhaps? Unwise, with all the Beasts and bandits running amok lately. Those two don't seem adequately protected from the elements, especially that one with all the holes in his robes... Also, the one with the weird hat is sleeping like a dog. Poor kid, must be troubled. 

The thief thought for a moment, and decided that she'd leave them alone. Anything valuable would probably be in the tent, which would be quite hard to sneak into, with small-green-blondie keeping watch. She could probably just mug 'em, but threatening a bunch of kids felt like it was beneath her dignity. Normally Knives'd be the one to do that.

The thief would keep following the roads, she figured. Not too much longer to Longfield, where she could get some proper rest. Maybe she'd stay a while. She had a few acquaintances who liked to lay low there, from time to time. Yeah, maybe she'll meet up with-

Her thoughts were interrupted, as something strange caught her eye.

The small-green-blondie's head was suddenly darting all around. Shit, was she spotted?

Pinkie crouched down, and focused her vision. . . No, she's got no idea. She's clearly looking for something though... But there definitely isn't anything around.  

The way the girl moved seemed deeply angry, erratic, and a little disturbing. Even moreso as her gaze seemed to lock on to something in the woods. Something that didn't seem to exist.

EVEN Even moreso as the girl got up, and started running after the nothing. Though it wasn't much of a run, more like a zombie-like limp, like her limbs weren't fully working, or she was being puppeteered. She carried on like that, into the woods... Leaving the campsite undefended.

How odd... And potentially fortuitous. 

Threatening kids was a definite no-go, but robbing them blind in their sleep? Now there's a productive way to cap off the night.