Something's wrong. 

Ah, hells... He could tell, as soon as his heavy eyelids splint apart, that he hadn't gotten enough sleep. 

No, no, there was no sense in pessimism. It seemed this would be another day of riding. He'd gotten just enough sleep. 

But this was no time for idle thought. He had an itch on the inside of his skull. Something was off.

He sat up, tried to quiet his thoughts, and listened for any rustlings outside the tent.

. . .

He didn't hear anything. Yet, the itch inside his head persisted.

Ah! 

Hearing nothing was hardly a reason to belay suspicion. In truth, he was suspicious all the more. Just as he heard nothing from outside, he heard nothing from within. Not even the rustling of his tent or his roll as he sat himself up. 

In short, it seemed that noise was being dampened, somehow. 

Or perhaps his ears were merely clogged, such things did occasionally happen when he awoke... But there were children in his watch this night, it was his duty as a man to ensure their safety. 

... Talking of watch, who had been keeping watch? He had been meaning to discuss, but he'd forgotten. The girl in the fishing clothes was always keeping watch when he lay down, and still was when he awoke. Surely-

No, this was still no time for idle thoughts!

If sound truly was being muffled, then that gave him some leeway. He inched to the door of his tent, and slowly lowered the metallic zip which held the cloth folds together… 

Sure enough, the zipper was silent. If there is a rapscallion out there, he might be able to get the drop on them. Heavens willing they don’t suddenly turn and look.

He looked through the folds of his tent. It was dark, his eyes were strained, but the pale light from the moon and the slight creeping of sunlight from the horizon was just enough to confirm his suspicions. 

An unfamiliar cretin stood on the border of the campsite, standing above S’s makeshift resting spot. She was holding some glass bottle, a potion of some kind. Inspecting it, holding it up to her eyes, conflict written all over her face. 

They had short bobbed hair, which seemed to be… Pink. 

Eh, he’d seen far more outrageous do’s in his time. A little pink hardly fazed him.

Her outfit, however, did unnerve him. The woman appeared to be wearing a skin-tight suit... Now, he had no problem with such attire, if anything, he appreciated her confidence and her form, but to wear such things around children was devilish, indeed.

Speaking of children... They were missing one. The girl with the fishing gear was nowhere to be seen.

Oh, heavens.

He sped out of his tent, only hesitating for a moment, deciding whether or not to draw his sword... No, he'd need his hand free.

"Vile fiend!" Grigor pointed directly at the pink-haired woman and tried to shout, but it sounded more like a whisper. "For what reason have you assailed our camp?"

"Bah!" The woman exclaimed, though her voice was also muffled, as she turned to him and quickly fired a small burst of flame from her hand. 

Their eyes made contact.

Golden.

Surprised. Didn't think he'd notice. Wish I'd used disguise.

He could see the trajectory of the flame, as well as its purpose. Warning shot, little real power behind it. 

His instincts told him how to dodge it, but his better mind knew that the tent behind him was much more flammable than he was.

He would take the hit. 

His nightclothes singed, slightly, but didn't catch flame. The bolt hurt. But he'd suffered worse in training.

He drew his sword. 

"Woah, easy there, big guy." The thief quietly shouted, keeping their magic hands at the ready.  

"Who are you, and what is your business here?" Grigor commandingly questioned.

A flashing image of pink. Thievery. Fire, angel, death, bliss- 

"Ah... I-I c-can be whatever y-you want me to be, b-big guy~" The thief shakily stated with a half-baked smile.

"... Excuse me?" 

"Y'know... We could... Me... You... Uh..." 

Grigor was stunned. Somehow, there was barely a thought in her head at his point. 

"Enough of this!" Grigor hadn't the time to be impressed. "Where is the girl?"

"Uh... Girl?" Confusion.

"The-"

"OH!" Short blondie. Fishing clothes. Running, freaky, puppet, woods. "She... Ran off?"

"What? Why? What did you do?

"Hold on, I didn'-" Recognition, shock- She squinted and leaned forward. "... Hold on, are you Grigor the E-"

"What happened to the girl!?" He spat. 

Concern, fear-"L-Look, I wasn't lying, alright?" She took a few steps closer. "And I didn't do anything to her, either, if you'd just listen for a sec-"

Metal sword- Lightning hand- 

"Take another step and you lose your hand, wench!" 

Shit- "Okay, okay... I'm standing still, see?... Girl hoofed it before I showed up." Should've been easy. How'd he know? Why's he up? "That's the reason I came here, she was watching you guys like a gargoyle before she split." 

Blonde staring- Unmoving. Also freaky.

How long was she doing that? No, save that for later. "Why? What caused her to run?"

Shrugging. She shrugged "Hell if I know."

Heavens... She wasn't lying. That was worse. Were her visions accurate? Why would the girl run like tha- 

He's distracted. Sleep powd-

"REMAIN. STILL." Grigor spat, stepping closer, his eyes piercing hers as he pointed his sword at her chest.

Her eyes widened, and she leaned back defensively. Thoughts incomprehensible. "A-Alright, okay, s-standing still..? Sheesh, you're a lot angrier in real life."

"A child in my care has disappeared!" He took another wrathful step. "I've hardly the wits to deal with lip from a thief! Let it be known: I'd be well within my rights to relieve you of your thieving hands, but to do so would be a betrayal of my pride as a man!" 

 Man? Pride? Hah! Cheeseball.

Sword's close. Electric ha-

Grigor moved his sword away.

DAMNIT I'm unlucky tonight!

"You're right, you don't have the time for this." She reasoned. Appeal to pride. "You're here to protect 'em, right? You ought to be out looking for the girl, not holding a woman at sword point."

Grigor knew that he was being appealed to... But he couldn't deny that it was working. 

"... Return what you stole and begone from my sight." Grigor conceded.

"Oh, I didn't..." Conflict... Resolution. "Yeah, alright."

The thief took a step back, and grabbed the potions that she'd stored in her ever-mysterious pockets, and tossed them back at S.

"I wasn't sure about robbing S anyways, to be honest." Good little guy. Felt bad. "If I'd known it was him, I'd probably have avoided this whole thing."

"I see. Now begone." Grigor still hadn't the time.

"Of course." The thief nodded politely, and sprinted off into the darkness. Grigor watched carefully as she fled.

A mischievous imprint appeared in his mind.

Wonder if he's got anything in that tent? Check while he's out.

Grigor almost found the thought amusing.