Black Widow (Ethan and me YAY)

Will nods softly, "Being worried is extremely understandable... But you never know, right? If she was taken by them, she may be handling it better than you did, which is obviously saying something if thats the case." he says, trying to remain positive about the situation. "But whatever is the case, i got your back alright? Whatever you choose to do first when we get to the city, we will knock it out with flying colors."

"I'm not sure...My gut is telling me to go after my sister but you're right. Kathleen's trail is cold already and I already have a low chance of seeing any footprints left by her." Elise sighed, looking up at the ceiling, shrugging. "Well... I guess we'll just have to see." She looked at him and gently kissed his cheek. "We should both get some rest."

"I'm not sure...My gut is telling me to go after my sister but you're right. Kathleen's trail is cold already and I already have a low chance of seeing any footprints left by her." Elise sighed, looking up at the ceiling, shrugging. "Well... I guess we'll just have to see." She looked at him and gently kissed his cheek. "We should both get some rest."

((timeskip? Unless you have something planned with that spellbook ))

He went to reply, but was semi-caught off guard by the kiss to his cheek. It brought a small smile to his face though, and hopefully a not too noticeable flush as well. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan actually. I feel wiped out..." He says, getting cut off by a yawn as he sinks back down into the bed. "Goodnight."

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

A few days pass, they currently were about a day and a half out from the kingdom. Although their travels, and training, have slowed a bit. Ever since that night at the magic shop, Will hasnt been able to sleep very well, often waking in cold sweat in the middle of the night. The first night was the worst, waking up with a scream that woke Elise. Since then he managed to be quiet enough that he didnt wake her, instead going outside to get fresh air and maybe catching a few hours sleep there as well.

Elise couldn't decide what she wanted to do but her gut was screaming to find her sister. She was a princess and she would most likely be unable to defend herself or escape on her own and even if she could, would she even be able to survive in the forest alone?

All of those questions wandered through Elise's head. She didn't HAVE to rescue her sister, she didn't even know her. In fact, she could waltz right into the kingdom and claim she had hit her head and lost a lot of memories and simply take over.

But that was messed up.

She sighed, picking up her book on herbs and thumping through it. She sat comfortably on the bed at French Wench's Inn, only about a day and a half out from kingdom. It was crazy to think of how close they were to all of it.

Will walks back into the room they had rented out in what should be the last hotel they have to stay at for a while. He sets down a small bag of fruit and herbs Elise had him go get from a merchant a little ways down the street. "Special delivery to Princess Widow" He says, trying to make a small joke, but his voice just came out exhausted. He sits down on the other bed, rubbing his eyes. "Are we training at all today or should we just finish off this last stretch of land?"

Elise smiled at his small joke but quickly picked up on his exhausted tone. The first night after the book incident, he woke up screaming and woke her up in the middle of the night. He must be having nightmares...
"I don't think we need to put any extra training on you today," Elise's eyebrows drew together and looked at him with a worried expression on her face. "You haven't been sleeping, have you?"

"Hm? Oh no, Ive been sleeping alright. Just havnt been feeling refreshed, if you know what i mean. Happens from time to time." He lies relativley smoothly, but he wasnt sure if she would buy it or not. He probably has had 6 hours sleep total for the past three days. Walking was slow when they traveled and he couldnt focus on new magic at all. He looks over and gives a small smile, "Im fine, knights honor." He says holding one hand up and the other over his heart

Elise didn't want to push him but she could see that he was obviously lying. Dark circles had made their home under his eyes. She gave him a sympathetic look but went along with it. There was no point in pressing the issue. All she could do was try to find some sleeping herbs so he could get a good nights sleep at some point in the future. She would need him at his best.

"It won't take us long to get to the kingdom. We may need to stay at the inn, depending on the weather. I saw clouds starting to form and I'd rather not get stuck in a torrent." Elise stood, strapping her satchel to her back and readying them for their trip.

Will nods a little, grabbing the rucksack he kept by the bed and taking out his wrist-wielded grapple. He hadnt gotten to use it in a while, need to keep it cleaned out rust and dust free. Dont want it jamming. "Well if there is any big chance of that happening Id say we shouldnt risk it." He says, agreeing with her. "Another days wait shouldnt be too deleterious i wouldnt think." He glances out the window as he begins taking the grapple apart, inspecting the various pieces. "It does look like a storm is brewing." he says with a sigh. In all honesty he wanted to get some rest, but there was a good few hours left in the day. "Care to go down to the pub in a little while?" He asks over to her, "get a drink and con some people? Or just get a drink. either way"

Elise eyed the storm brewing outside. Heat lightning streaked its way across the sky, making zigzaggy lines but no thunder to be heard just yet. "Yes, I would love to go down to the pub." Elise smiled at Will, dropping her satchel back to the floor. She didn't want this journey to come to an end, despite everything. She wanted every moment to stay still and just to enjoy her time with Will.

A small smile came to his face through his exhausted demeanor. "Sounds good. First round on me" He says grabbing his money and leaving the grapple where he was working on it. Can always be finished later. He heads to the door, opening it politely "princesses first"

------------------
A few hours pass, Elise and Will were drinking and laughing it up with each other, telling stories from their past. Not many people were there, and the ones that were were not gambling, so the idea of hustling anyone out of some cash wasnt going to happen. Will takes another swig of mead and laughs, continuing a story. "So the alarm in the blimp starts going off, and they decide instead of trying to detain me immediately, they were going to take off flying so i couldnt get out! We were 30 feet in the air by the time i found a door, and i took my chances, jumping down into some bushes. Turns out they werent bushes, but some weird type of cactus. Not a fun time"

"Oh my Goddesses," Elise started dying of laughter at the end of his story. "You're damn lucky that they weren't poisonous!" She went into another fit of giggles, imagining Will falling from 30ft feet in the air onto some cactus.

"I got one even better! I was fighting this witch right? Mountain landscape and snow everywhere so we were not only throwing fireballs at each other, but we're melting the snow and throwing it up at each other, making everything a mix of white and red." Elise laughs, shaking her head. "This bitch, out of nowhere, just head butts me right off of the cliff!" She giggled. "It wasn't only a 45ft drop or so into freezing cold water but I was damn lucky the river hadn't frozen yet." Elise sighed. "I still haven't caught her though.."

Will made a face, taking another drink and setting his glass down asking for another refill. "Damn, 45 ft? After a headbutt? Im sure that wasnt too enjoyable." he laughed a little. "not to mention a 45 ft tumble into a body of water had to hurt quite a bit as well. Anything break?" He asks, getting his refill and taking another swig. This was probably his 3rd or 4th glass, probably where he will cut off as well. "Any ideas where that witch is?"

"I broke my arm a little but it was nothing like resetting it, wrapping it up, taking a nap, and healing it with magic. I still had to baby it for a week or so but magic really speeds up the healing process." Elise smiled, shaking her head. "I don't know where she is. As soon as I felt well enough, I went back to her hovel that I had found and she completely emptied it out and moved on. I didn't have the energy or the knowledge to look for footprints in magic yet so... she was gone."

"Hm." He says quietly, resting his head in one hand on the bar. "Who knows, maybe we will come across her at some point. Its a small world." He says with a half smile, chuckling. He covers a yawn, spinning in his barstool boredly, looking around the room. Some more people were in now, but still not many. He stops spinning so he was facing her again. "Welp, i think im done at that." He says finishing off his glass of mead. "4 is generally the limit for me... Whats on the agenda for the rest of the night? Cant move anymore till the storm settles, i imagine"

"We can always scope out the town and see if anyone's worth robbing but I doubt it. I have a carrier pigeon that comes and finds me if there's work but I haven't seen it in a while. I'm also on the move..." Elise thought, tapping her finger on her chin. "Well, I can always check the job board and see if there are any hidden requests for me."

One of the nice things about being the Black Widow was that she had connections everywhere. Some farmers, fishermen, inn keepers, weapons smiths, and other various people all helped the Black Widow by keeping an ear and an eye out for anything suspicious or jobs or any sort. If they found anything but had no way of contacting her, they'd place a self ad that was coded. In the code, she'd find the base of her info and if she needed more, she'd have a way of finding the original writer of the post. It was a neat system and it worked out whenever she was bored in a large town.

"hm, sounds interesting." He says, getting out some money to pay the barkeep for the drinks they ordered. "what sort of jobs usually come up?" he asks looking back at her, "Fighting off dastardly villiany and those who abuse witchcraft for the power of evil?" He was in more of a jokey mood after the alcohol instead of a tired one. Also he was just trying to work through an oncoming headache, felt like the center of his brain was pulsating. could be an side effect from that book, but who knows

"It could be anything from procuring a magical item or ingredient for someone to murdering the queen. It really just depends on what the people need and what's going on around the town," Elise sighed. "Sometimes there's no jobs and I'll have to move on to the next town or even sing for tips. I've done that one too many times." She stretched. "Sometimes I consider going to the palace and saying who I am but I don't think I could stay there. I'm so used to this lifestyle, fighting and basically being a renegade but hey." She tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled at Will. "I wouldn't have met you if I'd gone back."

Will half smiled at her statement, "oh come on a life of ease and luxury? Thats probably something most people would take a hundred times over, over meeting me. Im No one special, just a con artist who takes blimps to get by. Living in a castle would beat the hell out of hanging out with me all the time" He says, chuckling a little, shaking his head and looking at the floor with a half smile, almost a bit shyly.

"Yeah but with you, I'm free," Elise explained, sighing. "If I lived there, they'd have me shut up in a tower, terrified I'd be kidnapped again but they wouldn't know just how powerful I've become. I don't need guards to protect me. And I'm certainly not the ball attending type."

"Hm, i imagine not. Although you would probably show up everyone else at a ball if you went, id imagine." He says with a small smile. "But wouldnt it be rewarding when you actually end up showing them you wouldnt need the guards? Get them all wide eyed and surprised. Would be fairly entertaining."

"Yeah, it would be," Elise agreed, cracking a smile as well. "I just worry that they'd lock me in a tower and call it a day. You don't have freedom as a princess..." She sighed, shaking her head.

"I am worried about Isabella though.." she admitted, a look of worry crossing her face. "She's been missing for quite a while now."

"Dont worry so much, Im sure we will find her." Will says, trying to be a little reassuring. "Maybe we can find a contact or something when we get to the kingdom? Surely someone will have some sort of idea where she could be, right?"

It could also be possible that the trail was cold and almost dead, but he didnt want to bring that up as a possibility. Much more of a glass half full person. "Can your tracking spells not help you out at all in trying to find her?"

"They'll be able to help when I get to a place where I know she's been. I have to KNOW she was there. Otherwise, I'd just see everyone else's footprints going off in all different directions." Elise sighed. "There is ONE contact we can try. I have a friend who's a seamstress that usually makes gowns and dresses for the royals and higher-ups. She might've heard something."