Fifteen - Tristram

I thought for sure our plan had failed. Alden kept yelling his lines ("I'll be taking that back!" and "Okay, whatever you say") to assure that the thief heard us but he sounded so obvious! Of course I had no idea what the heck was going on, I had just woken up with his scimitar in my hand, but after he told me the ruse a couple minutes later, I was sure he had given it away. Alden knew right away that I hadn't taken the sword. I was asleep when he left the camp. There was no way I could have been running through the forest one minute, then asleep another: the thief had to have been much faster. That, when added to the green glints we kept seeing, led us to conclude that our thief was a Viridi. Creating a trap was simple too. Now that we had our thief though, what to do with him...?

... Her?!?! The thief was a girl? As Alden  untied the trap I swooped in and tied her up. Then an awkward silence ensued. Honestly I had doubted we would have caught the thief, again I thought Alden had given it away, but now that we were here... what to do... With her soundly tied up I sat down by the fire only to notice Alden hadn't moved... in fact neither had the girl. They were looking at each other. Not glaring, not leering, but dazed; not wholly conscious of the world they inhibit. A look I myself have experienced when I met Elane.

I coughed, unlocking their eyes, bringing them back to reality. Alden blushed and muttered something under his breath about never seeing a Viridi before, something I truly doubted. The girl, however, took on a guilty look. She didn't blush but perhaps realized once again that she was trapped. I picked up some juk meat and knelt down by her. "My name is Tristram and this is Alden. We aren't going to hurt you." I offered her the food but she refused to acknowledge me. "What's your name?" I asked. No response... I sat down, relaxing  my knees, and thought for the hundredth time, what are we going to do with her. We can't kill her, we probably can't even harm her. Two banished foreigners have next to no privileges in Viridi territory. I guess there was only one this left to do: let her go.

"I'll let you go if you promise to stop stealing our things and messing with us." After a long moment, she nodded her head, stiffly. I untied the ropes and as soon as there was enough slack, she sprinted up a tree. We could hear her climbing away. This wouldn't be the last we saw of her. Not by a long shot. I'm familiar enough with that look to know that she won't be able to stay away... and Alden wouldn't let that happen either. Alden, the boy is huddled by the fire, still confused by the looks of it. I guess it's time to counsel him. I look once more at the tree the girl climbed up. I'll leave some meat there in the morning, perhaps even leave an obvious trail. She'll be back, and who am I to stop young love at it's first blossom?