(Schu notes: Many thanks to my boyfriend for helping me with the action on the fight scene Your vision on that is wonderful! Yeah, this chapter gives the story its R rating, or at least helps. If you don't like bloody violence, I wouldn't read it.)

Siegfried walked next to Raphael along the path through the sparsely lit forest. He eyed his old piece of cloth which was now tied around Raphael's shoulders. It wasn't that it was tied around his shoulders that bothered him. It was the manner. "A bow?" he finally inquired. "Why did you have to tie it in a bow?"

"Well, I couldn't possibly just hold it the whole time."

"But why a bow?"

"It must be presentable. Now I have a little shawl with a bow. Much more presentable than half ripped off clothing."

"What do you have to be presentable for? Bunnies? Squirrels?"

"The thieves that are about to ambush us."

"Thieves?"

Suddenly the bushes and trees around them rustled and a band of four thieves burst from the foliage.

"Yes," Raphael said, "thieves."

"Well you could have warned me earlier!" Siegfried retorted.

"Your money or your lives!" the lead thief yelled.

"I wasn't sure they were thieves, they could have been picking berries", Raphael calmly spoke, entirely ignoring the thieves.

"Sure, four men alone in the forest picking berries, how often does that happen?" Siegfried continued.

The thieves passed glances amongst each other, and each drew their swords. "Can't you hear me? Hand over your gold!" the lead thief screamed, growing increasingly frustrated.

"Well I assumed you were keeping guard," Raphael replied.

"Hand over your coins or the pansy with the bow gets it!"

Raphael finally turned his gaze toward the lead thief, and took a step forward while his left hand moved toward his rapier at his right side. "If you want the gold, then a duel it is."

The lead thief paused, as if to consider the challenge, then shook his head, "You're out numbered, I make the rules. Hand it all over now!"

As quick as a stroke of lightning, Raphael's rapier flew from his side and impaled the thief in the heart. Before his companions could react, and even before the corpse fell to the ground, Raphael caught the thief's sword as it fell from his lifeless hand and deftly tossed it backwards to Siegfried. He then slid his own rapier free and brought it to bear against the remaining thieves.

"There," Raphael spoke as he parried one sword stroke and dodged two others, "now be a useful body guard."

"Who said anything about being your body guard?" Siegfried asked as he caught the sword, holding it limply at his right side. He had no intention of helping him.

"You did," he spoke as he slapped the wrist of a thief with his rapier, twirled out of the way of another's vertical stroke, and used the force of his spin to sharply kick the last in the chin.

"When?"

"When you agreed to escort me home," Raphael spoke as he disarmed the thief he kicked in the shin. The thief gasped, and Raphael lunged for him, catching the thief's right wrist in his left hand. He pulled the thief against him as he ran between the other two, twisting and using the captive thief as a shield. Then, holding the thief in a head lock against his chest for protection, he continued to fight the others.

"I never agreed to that."

"The position of escort or bodyguard?" Raphael questioned as he defended himself from the two swords and fought to hold the other still.

"Neither!"

"Yes you did, to both actually. You're here, are you not?" Raphael continued to defend himself. He appeared to be having a difficult time, keeping one's sword busy with his own and twisting to block the strokes of the other with the thief in his arm.

Siegfried paused to analyze Raphael's words. He knew he hadn't agreed to anything, and was only following the demanding Frenchman until he found something to occupy his time with. Raphael was carrying all the money, Siegfried could just as easily walk away as he could fight. Why should he help him?

"Dammit" Raphael cried as a thief's sword bit into his right arm, which caused him to release his human shield. "Make yourself useful!" he yelled, then kicked the newly freed thief square in the back, knocking him toward Siegfried before Raphael returned to his defensive stance.

Siegfried sighed as the thief stumbled toward him, but resigned himself to aid the thankless Raphael. He reared his sword back behind his head, which was much too light for his tastes, and brought the steel down against the thief's left collar bone. The blade effortlessly slid through the thief's frail body, reappearing out his right side, cutting the bandit in two. A spray of blood was accompanied by the sound of the heavy flesh falling limply to the soil.

Now covered with a thin glaze of red, Siegfried turned the sword to his left side, gripped it in both hands and charged the two remaining brigands who stood between him and Raphael. The sound of Siegfried's armored stomping caused one to glance behind, who was greeted with a sword cut across the eyes. His shrill scream spurned the remaining assailant to risk dropping his guard against Raphael rather than face Siegfried's powerful strikes; he ran past Raphael and disappeared into the trees.

Raphael stood in visible shock for several seconds before he winced and reached to clutch his bleeding forearm. "Bravo," he quipped, "now get me a bandage, and finish off the screaming one."

Siegfried watched the gravely wounded thief writhe on the ground. "He doesn't have much left in him."

"But the screaming is annoying. Just do him and my ears a favor."

"Have some compassion," Siegfried said with a glare as he crouched, ripped a strip of cloth from the sleeve of the crying man, and tightly wrapped it over the bleeding cut where his eyes used to be. Siegfried helped him sit up, "When you can walk, go get some help."

"Hey! I asked for a bandage."

Siegfried looked disgusted at Raphael. "Do you see how you're acting? What would your little girl think of that?"

Raphael paused and looked pensive before he bowed his head. "Why are you so compassionate towards a thief?"

"I was one."

"I thought you were a knight."

Siegfried tore another strip of fabric, went to Raphael and tended to his wound. "My father was. I guess I have the same sort of presence he did. I loved him so much. I can't believe I killed him. I can't forgive myself…" Siegfried finished tying the makeshift bandage mid sentence and he looked up at Raphael. Their eyes locked and their faces remained close with neither saying a word. As Siegfried found himself eyeing Raphael's lips and that the two were leaning in closer, Raphael turned his head away.

"We should continue on," he said. "We shouldn't be far from town." He started walking before also saying, "And take their things. We can sell them to get you a better weapon."

Siegfried scoffed. "Who's the thief now?"

Raphael turned around to look smugly at Siegfried. "It's not thievery, it's survival. Let's find a stream first. We need to wash the blood off you. Can't have anyone asking questions, can we?"