Crieff rubbed his head in frustration. He knew that some thing had to be done to save Ardie, but what? The only option he knew of was to hand the kingdom over to the Ordinary Brotherhood, and that was out of question. They would cause havoc with power like that, destroying all the elementals.

But suddenly, as they walked on, Crieff thought of another option, even though the very thought of it made his heart pound.

Steal it.

If he could steal the cure, then Akhalia wouldn't have to give up the kingdom, and Ardie would be safe. Crieff took in a deep breath. This could help him prove to Akhalia that he could be trusted, and maybe he would be thought of as a hero. 

Certainly, it would be difficult for him to sneak past the guards, but he was probably small enough to not be spotted if he slunk out in the middle of the night. He smiled a little thinking about this, and placed a hand on top of Ardie's, which was still cold.

Crieff realized that Akhalia would never let him venture by himself, risking his life, but it had to be done for Arie and the whole kingdom. So when Akhalia and Xavier were asleep, he gently laid Ardie down next to Akhalia, covered her with his cloak, and put on the extra cloak he always had in hand for emergencies. And taking one last glance back at them, he ventured off into the night to steal the cure from the Ordinary Brotherhood.

-----------------------------------------------

I'm not sure who else haven't been tagged yet, so could someone give me a list? Thanks! Also sorry that it's kind of short. 

Ty! I tag @Tsuki the Skywolf

i'm sorry guys but something came up and i can't do this.  i should have told u sooner i'm sorry and i'll be back soon with the synopsis but for right now i really cant

Oh, ok. Then I guess I'll tag @Lyric.

Crieff trudged back to the palace, dragging his feet along the forest floor, stumbling over roots. 

It would be easy to give up now. To follow Akhalia’s order, to go back to the palace, to sit around while Akhalia turned herself in to the Ordinary Brotherhood, to sit around as the Ordinary Brotherhood took control of the kingdom, to sit around while Ardie died—

No, he wasn’t going to give up. He’d go back to the palace, form a plan, and then he’d be prepared. Then he’d be able to steal the cure, save Ardie, save Akhalia, and save the kingdom from the Ordinary Brotherhood. It wouldn’t be easy. But then again, no one ever said it would be.

He slipped into the palace through a back door, and stole through the silent corridors, wincing every time his boots scuffed against the tiles. If Xavier saw him—

“Crieff, what were you doing outside of the palace?” 

—then that would happen. 

Crieff flinched, turning around sheepishly. Xavier stood there, his arms crossed, his expression stony. 

“Um…”

Crieff really needed to improve his skills in lying on the spot. For the third time that night, he had no cover story.

“You tried to follow Akhalia, didn’t you? You wanted to save Ardie on your own, right? But you turned back, for some reason….” Xavier shook his head. “Crieff, you heard what Akhalia said! You can’t go after her. She doesn’t want to put you in danger!” 

He was shouting now, his voice reverberating around the empty corridors. Crieff had never seen Xavier shout before, and he hoped he’d never have to see it again. 

“Please, Xavier. Please. I just—” Crieff’s voice cracked as tears welled up in his eyes. “I just can’t sit here and wait around while everything falls apart. If the Ordinary Brotherhood takes control of the kingdom, that won’t end well for anyone. Ardie is going to die either way, right? Even if Akhalia gets the cure, the Ordinary Brotherhood will probably kill her as soon as they’re in power. Unless I do something. You know I’m right.” 

Xavier looked at Crieff, then glanced away. The truth was…he did. He did know Crieff was right. But he couldn’t just defy Akhalia’s orders and put Crieff in danger.

There was a way around this, of course — Xavier could see the solution, revealing itself in his mind. He didn’t like it. 

But there was no other choice, was there? Not unless he wanted the only people he had left in the world to die. 

“Fine,” he snapped. “Fine.”

“Wait, really?” Crieff blinked.

Xavier nodded. “But we have to be smart about this. We’ll have to pack lightly, if we’re going to be traveling on foot to avoid detection, but we should also make sure to bring everything we need.” Just like that, Xavier had begun to plan and figure out the logistics. He always had been good at this part.

“Wait…‘we’?” asked Crieff.

Xavier stopped planning. “Yeah. Did you really think I was going to let you go alone?”

***

Tag: @Moon Wolf :D

Crieff nodded, feeling relieved and a little bit excited that Xavier was coming along and not discouraging him. Now get yourself together, he thought to himself. "Uh, so you were saying about what to bring?"

"A sort of small but sharp weapon would do to protect each of us. I say we each carry a hunting knife and a dagger. Do you happen to possess any magic of any sort? Object or powers?" Xavier prompted.

"Uh..." Now that Crieff thought about it, it wasn't like he had any particular specialty. Aloud, he said, "I might know a spell or two, but that's about it."

"Then we can't rely on it," Xavier concluded. "So we each pack a good supply of water, enough food to at least last for a few days, weapons..." Crieff couldn't hear the rest as Xavier recited the list at a very fast pace.

Xavier quickly packed his things into a single small backpack, and assisted Crieff in doing so as well when he wasn't fast enough. "Now we must go before Akhalia reaches there first. Do you remember which way it was?"

"North from the palace," he said, pointing in the direction of the Ordinary Brotherhood headquarters. 

"Then we should head northwest," Xavier said decisively. "And when we can see it across from us, we can go quickly over there without being seen by Akhalia."

They waited until the night to travel in order to avoid detection. Then, Xavier gave a thumbs-up signal and raced out of the castle, quickly followed by Crieff. 

They traveled all night, and only stopped to rest when dawn was approaching. Crieff leaned against a nearby tree as he panted to catch his breath. He reached into his bag to grab his precious supply of water, and took a small sip. Xavier warned him to use it sparingly.

As they rested, Crieff felt a curious, almost funny feeling that they were stealing something. He had done it before, obviously, but it was for himself, or Gruff, perhaps. He had never done it for someone he cared about out of his own free will, even if they were only friends. Even though he felt a little uncertain about doing such a task, deep in his heart, he knew it was the right thing. 

Once they had rested and evening began to fall, the two continued into the night. Even though it was such a dangerous and life-saving mission, and Crieff felt a lot of stress underneath such a task, he took some time to appreciate the night. He hadn't quite appreciated it before as much as he did that time. He could feel the night breeze blowing across his face, hear a faint hoot of a nearby owl, see the glow of the half-moon against the dark night, alit by the twinkling stars. He felt free, free of pressure from Gruff to constantly please him and do well. The feeling he had...it was a feeling of an almost wild freedom.

But the next thing he knew, they were camping across from the Ordinary Brotherhood, and the serious part of their mission had begun.

***

Assuming we're starting a new round, I tag: @Lyric 

Hi!

Please forgive my absence from this thread. I haven't been here for forever.

I see that the Tag Game is up and running...somehow. I'll see what I can write when I get tagged, but please be patient since I really need to catch up...

...I've probably been skipped a million times now. 

Crieff fidgeted a little. It was nervewracking: this was his second attempt to steal something. The first hadn’t ended well. And this time, failing wasn’t an option. If he messed this one up, he knew he’d never forgive himself for letting Ardie (and Akhalia even though she disapproved of his plan) down.

“Do you know anything about this cure?” Xavier whispered. He was eyeing the guards who were standing in front of the Ordinary Brotherhood hideout and looking forbiddingly stern. He was probably trying to figure out how to get in.

“No,” Crieff whispered back. “If anything though, Gold has it with them.” Saying the Ordinary’s name felt heavy, like the metal. He gritted his teeth slightly as he said it.

“...Okay…” Xavier seemed a little startled by the aversion in Crieff’s voice but quickly dismissed it. “Whatever the cure is, it must be extremely guarded or rare. The Ordinary probably wants to kill elementals more than they want to cure them. They wouldn’t make it easy for the elementals in their power.” He shuddered. He hadn’t really bothered to imagine what the Ordinary Brotherhood did to elementals exactly, but now that he had seen what Gold had done to Ardie…no, best not to think about that.

“If it’s guarded, then we’ll be outnumbered. Maybe there’s a way to create a distraction and then go. Or maybe if Gold has a room to themself, we could sneak in there while they’re gone and take the cure. If it’s there.”

“If it’s there,” Xavier agreed, sighing a little. There were too many if’s in this plan. “Maybe we could discreetly ask where the Ordinary stores medicinal or magical supplies?”

“Ask who? Something tells me that those guards over there won’t be very friendly.”

“Once we’ve gotten past the guards. Which means they have to be completely unaware that we’re going inside the Ordinary Brotherhood.” Which means they might have to be…unconscious.”

“No, there’s a better way,” Crieff said, suddenly.

“There is?” Xavier frowned.

“Ivy. When Ardie escaped from here, she climbed out of that window over there and down the ivy. It’s quieter. We don’t want anyone to notice we’re here.”

“Oh, good idea! Then we’ll climb in through that window, ask someone who looks in a hurry and probably won’t remember us where the medicinal or magical supplies are, then take the cure and go.”

“Sounds good to me,” Crieff said.

They slid through the shadows to the unguarded side of the wall and quickly reached the window. The Ordinary must not have thought that the wall could be climbed by ivy when they built it, because the window opened easily. There was no need to break the window, thankfully. It had always felt wrong to Crieff.

It led to a dusty storage room, high in the castle. Faint light and the confused noise of voices talking over each other leaked through the door.

Xavier opened the door. Crieff gulped, silently. There was no turning back now.

***

Sorry for taking a long time to write this! Tag: @Tsuki