The Thief and the Barbarian

On the Road Again

A week had gone by, and life was pretty good. The boys hunted together, played together, and talked every night about their lives, what they've been through, and what they hope to accomplish in the future. They got along quite well, and found they had a lot in common.

Craig's wounds had finally closed up for good, and all that was left was scarring that was still tender, but allowed Craig to move as he pleased to an extent. Tweek's head wound had healed up and, thankfully, didn't result in a concussion.

They'd spend every day living carefree, exempt from responsibility and expectation. Tweek came to learn that being away from his tribe was just what he needed. He'd never felt better. Especially when he got to spend his days with someone who was so accepting and kind to him. They did butt heads now and then, as people living together do, and they'd settle their scores with a bout of roughhousing. This was one of those moments.

"Agh! Get off me!"

"Not until you say sorry for taking and breaking my favorite spear!" Tweek growled as he triumphantly had Craig pinned to the ground.

"Dude, you have, like, a whole collection!" Craig exclaimed as he struggled beneath him. He hissed in pain under his breath as Tweek's leg pressed into the scar on his side as he straddled him.

"But you broke the best one! You weren't even supposed to be using it! You took the only one you're not allowed to touch!" Tweek and Craig furrowed their eyebrows as they stared each other down. If looks could kill, they'd both be dead. After what seemed like an eternity, they couldn't hold it in anymore and both suddenly broke into a small fit of laughter.

"Pfffthahaha, all this over a sharp fucking stick?"

"Hehehe, dude, I'm sorry, but you should know better than to go through my stuff."

"Yeah, yeah." Craig chuckled as he pushed Tweek off of him. "You're almost as big a crybaby as Clyde." He teased.

"Yeah, well at least I don't go around taking stuff that doesn't belong to me." Tweek spat playfully. Craig gave him an innocent look.

"Hey, you know I can't help myself." He said with a sheepish shrug. "I got issues."

"A lot of issues." Tweek giggled. Craig scoffed and threw a fistful of dirt at him. "Hey!"

"What's what you get, whiner."

"At least I win every fight..." Tweek said with a pout. Craig rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Whatever, you big baby. Why am I friends with you again?" He joked.

"You know you can't get enough of me." Tweek said with a smirk as Craig rolled his eyes and offered his hand to him, who took it and allowed himself to be helped up. Tweek was surprised, though, when Craig didn't let go of his hand as they started heading back to their home. Tweek didn't question it, he just stared at their hands before averting his eyes to not make it weird. He wondered if Craig even registered that their hands were still connected. He decided to just let it be as he was enjoying the closeness. He'd never been so close to anyone since no one in his tribe gave him the light of day. So, now that he actually had a functioning relationship with another person, he would take what he could get.

~o~O~o~

Later that day, Tweek was out hunting while Craig sat in the cave, weaving fish traps together. While he was doing so, he was deep in thought, barely keeping his mind on the task at hand. He was thinking about how much this one barbarian boy changed his life in so little time. After how his life had been up until that point, he realized that, even though he hid it well, he had been very unhappy. Sure, he struck out on his own of his own volition, but it was only after he was driven to that by his own people. Eventually, he got so good at hiding how unhappy he really was, that he even fooled himself. But, now, taking into consideration his life now compared to how it was, even though it had only been a week, he was...actually happy. And it was all because a barbarian tried to kill him. Ah, good memories.

"Craig!" He suddenly heard his name. "Craaaiiiig!"

"What?!" He called back as he lifted his head. He saw Tweek run up to the cave entrance.

"Craig, you'll never believe what I found!" He said excitedly. Craig cocked an eyebrow.

"Food? You know...like you were supposed to be getting?"

"No, even better!" Tweek replied as he suddenly grabbed something next to him and pulling it into view with some words of encouragement. Craig blinked in surprise as Tweek lead a familiar horse by the reigns into the cave. He smiled and stood, putting down his equipment and walking over to the mare, petting her snout.

"Well, if it isn't the horse you made me lose." Craig said as he gave Tweek a playfully unamused expression. Tweek looked at him sheepishly. "I can't believe you found her. Where was she?"

"She was just wandering around in the forest, grazing. I, uh...might have thought she was a deer and almost shot her...heh..." Tweek said as he patted the horse's neck.

"Dude, first of all, deer look nothing like horses. Second of all, she's white. How many white deer have you seen?" Craig asked with a playful glare. Tweek shrugged slowly.

"Uh...heh...albinoooo...?" Tweek offered. Craig rolled his eyes before smiling.

"Well, I'm glad you found her. Something else to take care of, but she could be useful in carrying things and transportation."

"And as a pet!" Tweek said excitedly. "I've always wanted a pet, but...I was never allowed." He said with a wide smile as he was absolutely transfixed on the horse and the prospect of having an animal companion.

"Yeah, that too."

"At least I'll be able to get to more decent hunting spots in less time. Do you think, tomorrow, we could take a road trip on her and just...have a relaxing day out?" Tweek asked hopefully. Craig thought for a moment.

"I mean...I don't see why not. Could be nice." Craig smiled as he stroked the horse's muzzle. "But, for now..." Craig pushed the reigns into Tweek's hands once more. "...you get us food like you were supposed to while I finish up these traps."

"Yes, mom." Tweek said playfully as he effortlessly hopped onto the horse's back. Craig was impressed. He always had to use a stump or something to give him leverage onto the horse's back, and here this boy was, making it look like nothing. "So, how do I make her move?"

"Just flick the reigns like this." Craig made the motion with his hands. "And press your legs against her sides. Don't kick." Tweek did as he was told, and the horse started walking.

"Wow, cool!" Tweek smiled widely as if he just discovered the greatest thing in the world.

"Then just flick the reigns if you want her to go faster."

"Got it." Tweek said as he did so, and the horse was off. Craig let out a sigh as he watched him leave. He looked good on horseback. Almost natural. Craig blinked and shook his head. Right. Back to work.

~o~O~o~

The next day, Craig was setting up the horse for their trip. He had makeshift saddlebags on her that had snacks and canteens of water.

"You ready?" Craig asked as he turned towards Tweek, who was putting his boots on.

"Just about. I'm so excited! I haven't really traveled at all. The furthest I've ever been from home was when I was chasing your dumb ass." Tweek giggled. Craig scoffed.

"Well, asshole, traveling is fun. You get to see new places and experience new things." Craig suddenly tried to hop on as effortlessly as Tweek had the day before, but unfortunately couldn't clear her back and fell right onto his backside. "Damn." Tweek couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"Pffft, you really need to work on your core strength and flexibility, Feldspar, the mighty thief."

"Shut up and help me out, will you?" Craig asked in an annoyed tone as he stood up.

"Gladly." Tweek replied as he helped Craig onto the horse, much to the other boy's embarrassment. He then hopped on behind him.

"Off we go." Craig said as he snapped the horse's reigns and they began moving.