Jenna, Kraden reflects, is hardly your average damsel in distress. For example, damsels in distress very rarely resort to passive-aggressive acts of tiny revenge against their captors. They are much more inclined towards breathy sighs and gazing out towards the horizon, where their rescuer surely waits for the right moment to sweep them off their feet.
"I'm gonna dunk Menardi's scythe in the river," Jenna whispers with grim satisfaction. "Let's find out how long it'll take to get all dull and rusty."
Kraden risks a cautious glance towards the dark shape of Menardi's sleeping body. "She'll notice," he warns her, raising his bushy eyebrows.
Jenna shrugs and peers through the gloom, watching the steady rise and fall of the woman's chest. "So? Felix won't let her hurt me. What's she gonna do? Scowl?"
Kraden shakes his head. Or steal from another innocent bystander to pay for a new scythe, he thinks. But he knows better than to get between Jenna and the only outlet for her frustration. "Don't let her catch you," he says quietly, resigned.
"That's the spirit," Jenna replies, flashing him a quick smile before she begins her stealthy crawl towards the pile of packs, gear, and weapons. Menardi's vicious-looking scythe is easily distinguished from the rest, even in the darkness that comes with the hour, and it doesn't take long for Jenna to find it and scurry back towards Kraden by the fire.
This is not the first small rebellion Jenna has enacted upon their "companions". Menardi is the usual target. Kraden suspects that it has something to do with the way she pulled Jenna's hair and roughly shoved her during the initial abduction. It may also be due to the general vague amusement with which Saturos regards Jenna's antics; he is not a satisfying person to prank.
As he watches her weigh down the shaft of the scythe with rocks on the riverbank, letting the blade submerge in the rushing water, Kraden remarks, "You're not very good at fulfilling the stereotype, are you, dear?"
She looks up and cocks a thin eyebrow at him. "Huh? What stereotype?" she asks. Kraden observes the grass stains on her hands, the mud on her knees, and the way that she spits into the water, savage victory written on her features.
"The young lass pining away for her hero, waiting for rescue from the villains, of course," Kraden says with a tiny smile curling the edges of his lips.
She may be blushing a little, but of course it could just as easily be a trick of the firelight, flickering on her face. After making a few adjustments to ensure that the scythe will stay where it is for the night, Jenna shuffles over to sit beside Kraden by the fire.
"That's a stupid stereotype," she says with just the right amount of contempt. "Besides, even if Isaac does show up-" And this time it is certainly a blush - "everyone's just gonna end up fighting anyways. So it's better that he stays away. For now," she adds quickly. "I mean, it's not like I'll never see him again, so why would I even..."
She stops as she notices Kraden's suppressed smile and laughing eyes. "You're making fun of me, you stupid old man!" she snaps, enraged. "Who's pining, anyways? Who says anybody's my hero? I don't need to be rescued! In fact," she says, getting up abruptly, "I'm going to go hang Menardi's boots in the tallest tree I can find!"
And so she does. That seems to prove some important point in her mind, and Kraden watches as she sleeps soundly for the rest of the night, deeply satisfied with herself. He can only hope that the inevitable explosion in the morning will make her efforts worthwhile.
Indeed, Jenna does not do much in the way of sighing or gazing, and perhaps she is more petty and vitriolic than the average damsel in distress. But maybe, he thinks to himself as he lets his eyes fall shut at last, Jenna has more in common with those lovelorn damsels than she'd like to admit.
A/N: Oh, Jenna. :) She makes me smile. In my headcanon she is something of an immature, prickly Fiery Redhead. Thus: a damsel in distress who steals her captors' boots and weapons. I imagine she occasionally uses fire psynergy creatively when she's feeling bold.
If Jenna/Isaac disgusts you for some reason, sorry. I am not big on Golden Sun shipping, so I don't really know if I'm trodding on toes... But it's canon, so there can't be too much hate, yeah? I am not good at shipping D: