Eight Intertwined

137 - Steorra

When morning came, the plan was fully laid out, and the travelers set out before the sun could even come up. They hadn't slept as well as they should have because of the constant paranoia of being followed by Lucia, but it seemed as if she had left the city entirely when she realized Yvon was going to end up dead after his fight with the travelers. No one wanted to linger in Stonegard long enough for Lucia to show herself once again, so they teleported off to Noblecourt as quickly as they could before charting a course for the shrine located near the quiet farming town of Wispermill in the northern region of the Flatlands. 

Primrose did her best to not seem too distracted while walking on the road that led out of Noblecourt and into the greater Flatlands. She couldn't help looking over her shoulder though. So much had changed since she was last there in Noblecourt. Back then, she had just killed Rufus, and she was trying to make sense of the next direction she had been given. Her path was set to take her right back home, but instead of facing it right away, she hid herself in her room and waited for Therion's mission there to end. It had been the easiest option at the time. 

But Primrose had to wonder if she could really go on like that forever. She was going to have to tell the rest of the group that she had to go back to Noblecourt eventually. That was assuming they hadn't already figured out that she was set to return home based on how anxious she had been when they were last there. Primrose loved traveling with the rest of her friends, but she couldn't keep her eyes on their paths forever. She had to pursue her own ambitions one day, and that meant hunting down the second of the crows. He was there in Noblecourt. They didn't have time to stay there at the moment since they had a god to fight in the upcoming shrine and herbs to collect in Saintsbridge, but Primrose couldn't help wanting to turn back as she walked away. She had to go back home eventually. She couldn't run forever, and accepting that truth made her feel sick to her stomach. 

Primrose almost didn't even want to keep on with this revenge plot if she was being honest. It was a thought that occurred to her disturbingly often, and she had no idea how to fight it off. The mere thought of pressing on made her anxious even though that had been her sole purpose for ten years. That had been before she had a group of friends who she could love like family. Now, she was far less composed, and she barely even cared. She spent her downtime flirting offhandedly with H'aanit without even really knowing what she was doing. Primrose meant it when she said that she would be happy to spend the rest of her life with the huntress even if H'aanit didn't take it seriously. Primrose had even gotten her to admit that she was only interested in women, but it hadn't gone anywhere. The dancer was too afraid of making it go anywhere, and the idea of going back to Noblecourt only made her fear the idea more. 

"Trouble with women, Primrose?"

The dancer's shoulders went stiff at the sound of Therion's voice, and she let out a thin breath through her nostrils. She glanced over to see him standing off to her right, tossing an apple and catching it again absentmindedly. Primrose didn't know how he had managed to steal an apple when they were only outside Noblecourt for a few minutes while they charted their path ahead. They hadn't even gone into the city. Therion clearly had though, and he was unbothered as could be as he took his first bite of the apple. 

Primrose forced herself to focus on the actual matter at hand though: the subject of Therion's snide remark. "I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," she told him tensely. "I don't know what you think you've seen, but it's not true."

"Harsh," Therion muttered, but his tone told Primrose he didn't care at all about how feisty she was with him. They had both said worse in the past, sometimes to each other and sometimes around each other. That was the nature of their relationship. They knew a lot about one another even without needing details, and that was what made Therion so terrifying to her. The thief didn't seem to care about Primrose's paranoia at all, instead just glancing up at her with a glimmer in his eyes that already made her stomach churn with worry. "I know about the conversation you two had back in Stillsnow, you know."