The Thief and the Barbarian

Savior

With Tweek out cold, Craig huffed in pain as he made his escape. He grabbed what he could carry and went off into the trees. At least with this cover, he'd be harder to find once the boy came to.

"Fuck...Fucking barbarian..." He grunted as his movements caused his wounds to open a bit and bleed a little. He pushed through as best he could. Clutching his side, he looked for any kind of cover he could take for the night. "This...ngh...would be so much easier with a horse..." He grunted to himself. Stupid horse. Stupid barbarians. Stupid Tweek! His eyebrows were furrowed in anger as he made his way through the trees, resting against one every so often to catch his breath and relieve his pain for a moment.

~o~O~o~

After about an hour of stumbling aimlessly, the sky grew darker. It was getting late, and soon, the woods would be an unsafe place. Craig was, for the first time in a long time, terrified. If infection or blood loss didn't kill him, a creature of the night surely would. He prayed for a cave or some saving grace, but he was losing hope. After what seemed like forever, Craig sighed and sat down against a tree. He couldn't walk anymore. The pain in his torso was beginning to be too much for him to handle. He needed to rest. Breathing raggedly, he reached into the pouch on his belt and grabbed some more biscuits. At least that dumb barbarian hadn't confiscated these. He took a few bites and felt a slight calmness wash over him. At least he could enjoy something in this moment. After a while, he found himself nodding off. It didn't take long after that for him to drift off into a restless sleep.

~o~O~o~

Crk!

Craig's eyes snapped open as he heard a twig snap. In his lethargic haze, he instinctively, albeit clumsily, reached for his knife. His mind was foggy and his vision was swimming; probably from blood loss and exhaustion. He looked around wearily. It's not like he'd be able to defend himself that well anyway. He could hardly lift himself away from the tree he was lying against. He held the knife out in front of him, his hands shaking slightly.

"Wh-who's there...?" He asked aloud in a quivering yet authoritative tone. He stiffened when he heard a growl. After a moment, a head peaked though the undergrowth in front of him. Then the legs. Then the body. The creature stalked towards him slowly. It was a wolf. Craig gulped and pushed himself back as close as possible against the tree. "Fuck..." He whispered under his breath. The wolf growled as it looked between the boy and his outstretched knife. "G-get back!" Craig yelled as he swiped the knife at the air, hoping to spook it. This only made the wolf snarl and bare its long fangs. Then, suddenly, it was on him. It pinned him against the tree, bearing its weight down on its front paws pressed against his chest. "Ah!" Craig yelped as the wolf suddenly tried to snap at his face, but the boy grabbed its head and pushed it back.

He could feel the canine's hot breath on his face as it kept snapping. He felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. This really was how he was going to die. The greatest thief Zaron has ever known...destined to become dog chow. He felt his strength start to give, and he was about to release the animal and let it have at him. He didn't have the will to fight anymore. Not in his condition. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate. He just hoped the wolf would make it quick. But, as he relaxed his muscles, he heard a sharp yelp fill the air as the weight on top of him disappeared.

He opened his eyes, and saw none other than Tweek drop down from one of the branches above him, bow and arrows in hand. He saw the wolf stumble backwards with an arrow in its side. From behind him, Craig looked at the back of the boy's head where he hit him with the rock. There was a small trickle of blood matted into his hair. Craig shifted anxiously where he sat as he watched Tweek about to pull back another arrow, but the wolf was on him in seconds, having found a new target.

"Ah!" Tweek grunted as he dropped his weapon from the impact and immediately tried to push the wolf away from him, but the canine learned from last time and grabbed the boy's arm in its teeth before he could. Tweek cried out in pain as he began punching at the wolf's face with his free hand. Anything he could do to make it let go. Nothing. In fact, it only seemed to make it angrier. Then, as if he just remembered he had it, Tweek reached a hand to his side and pulled out a small knife. He took it and, with a rage-filled yell, drove it straight up through the wolf's skull. It dropped dead immediately.

Tweek huffed as he sat up, using his arms to prop himself. "Fuck!" He exclaimed as he kicked the wolf's dead body away from him. After a few moments of catching his breath, the barbarian boy forced himself to stand with a groan, looking towards Craig, who was still too weak to move from his spot. The thief's vision came in and out of focus. The last thing he saw before blacking out was Tweek kneeling down in front of him.

~o~O~o~

Craig awoke with a start, tensing as he noticed that he wasn't in the same place as before. He groggily sat up, wincing in pain. That's when he realized, as he felt his wounds, that he had fresh, new bandages on them.

Taking in his surroundings, he saw that he was in a large cave. Rain was pouring just outside. There was a fire several feet away from him with a rabbit cooking on a spit above it. Then, his eyes landed on the barbarian himself, sitting by the fire with his back turned to him. That's when all the previous events from earlier came rushing back to him. The boy had wrestled a wolf for him. Risked his life to save his. And what had Craig done to Tweek? Bashed his head with a rock...

And Craig felt...bad. A feeling he wasn't well acquainted with.

Suddenly, Tweek cleared his throat, gaining Craig's attention, before the barbarian boy patted the spot on the floor next to him. Craig blinked in surprise before slowly making his way over, wincing in pain as he did so. How had he known he was awake? As he settled himself down on the ground next to Tweek, he dared not make eye contact. He stared at the ground next to the fire, watching the shadows it played against the dark cave floor. However, after a long silence, Craig's curiosity got the better of him, and he looked over at the other boy. Tweek was just...blankly staring into the fire, seemingly lost in thought. So, to break the silence and try to end the awkward tension he felt, he decided to speak first.

"Thank you..." He said softly. Tweek seemed to be taken aback by this. He blinked, breaking himself from his transfixed gaze, and looked at Craig in surprise.

"O-oh, uh...you're welcome..." He said in an equally soft tone. Craig looked at the boy's arm. It was also bandaged, but the bandages covering it were already saturated with blood. The boy winced at the sight. It looked very painful. He then remembered the previous injury he gave Tweek.

"And, um...sorry...for the..." Craig motioned to his head. Tweek sighed and nodded before staring back into the fire. In his attempt to break the awkwardness, Craig only seemed to increase it tenfold. He shifted uncomfortably. "I, uh...I wanted to ask...why you helped me back there. I was going to die...and you saved me. But, not only that, you sustained an injury for me. So...why? You could've died..." Tweek immediately snapped his gaze to Craig.

"Don't read into it, thief. I'm only-"

"Don't sell me that bullshit story. There's no way you risked your life just so you could bring me back to your people for 'honor.'" Tweek seemed a bit offended by this.

"Barbarians are a very proud people. Honor is everything. Which is why, when one steals from us, being a very dishonorable thing, the consequence is death."

"This isn't just about honor, is it...?"

"Excuse me?" Tweek asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Before I knocked you out back there...you said if you brought me back...you'd get respect and get taken seriously." Tweek looked away sheepishly as Craig said this. "Are you...unappreciated by your people?" Tweek seemed to grow increasingly uncomfortable. He looked like he was about to say something, but decided to instead change the subject.

"...The rabbit looks ready..."