Dragon Quest XI: Partners Until the End

[Chapter 3]

Amused blue eyes watched the brown haired girl grumble under her breath, holding the torch in her right hand. It's been a quiet few minutes since the incident. Well...The criminal wouldn't really call it an incident. More like he helped out his new partner-in-crime by giving her a push down the pit he dug, knowing that it was only a few feet of a drop. But, of course, the Luminary didn't.

Sure, he expected her to be scared, knowing that the hole looked a lot deeper than it actually was. But boy, he didn't expect her to yell like that! It was high pitched and quite loud for someone trying to escape a jail cell. When he heard her scream, he couldn't hold back the laughter, even when he dropped down beside her. Ever since then, the poor girl had been acting extremely embarrassed and pouty.

"It wasn't that bad," The crook piped up. He walked behind the girl, a few paces back with a smirk plastered widely on his lips. She didn't say anything, but the boy could see her grip on the torch tightened. "I just thought it was a good idea to give you a hand,"

"I could've climbed down just fine," Freya muttered, bristling as she walked in the dark, claustrophobic tunnel. He laughed loudly, making her turn around with a flustered expression on her face. "Oh! I swear, you're a real piece of work!"

"Aw...Come on," He urged, speeding up so he could walk beside her. She huffed, and turned her head to the opposite direction. He breathed out, trying to catch her eyes. "It was pretty funny though. The way you yelled could have alerted all the guards in Heliodor,"

"Shut it!" Freya exclaimed, snapping her head to look at him. Her cheeks were rosy and her indignant eyes wide. The boy began howling once more and the teen quickened her pace. Rushing, Freya's companion stopped in front of her and she halted, looking up with him with a small purse of her lips.

"Alright, alright," He wheezed in between chuckles. Beneath the hood, his blue hues went soft under the glow of the torch as he extended his gloved hand out as an apology. "I'm sorry, okay? Let's just start over,"

"Fine..." She sighed, taking his hand and shaking it. The boy grinned widely at his victory, but the brunette took her hand back to playfully jab at his chest. Her eyes went half-lidded as a sneaky smile curled at her lips. "But you're on thin ice, mister,"

With that, Freya moved around the criminal, continuing down the tunnel. The boy's head turned and he stared with slightly wide eyes. After watching her for a few moments he started to follow closely again, brushing off the warmth that lingered from where she poked him and the slight quickened pace of his heart.

In a few minutes, the pair's tunnel ended with a brick wall standing in the way. With a mere glance at each other, the two, in unison, began to push at the bricks. The stones gave way easily, and clattered to the ground that laid a few feet below. Only a few removed bricks were needed before the surrounding once fell with them, creating a small gap for the couple to crawl through. They got on their hands and knees, squeezing through the hole and landed on the ground gracefully. Scanning the surrounding area, Freya's buddy gave a low whistle.

"The sewers, huh? Well, there must be a way out somewhere," He stated, turning his head to look at his companion. The boy gave a mock bow at the hips as he gestured to Freya to move ahead of him. "Lead the way—I got your back,"