Synopsis "Zoran's Apprentice (in English)"
Kevin: "Who has the duchess?" I demanded, holding the letter to the side to interrogate the imposter. He audibly released a breath, stepping forward again and indicated the name at the bottom of the note - Killian. Doubtful. I glanced at the name, then looked again to the cloaked man, who still stared at the letter. "Yeah, I saw that," I informed him, "And you are?" No response. He grabbed the ransom note out of my hands and continued to stare at it as if he hadn't seen it before. "And now I'm to presume that you're an innocent?" I inquired impatiently. He shrugged again, then turned and walked back down the path from whence he came. "Hey!" I called, hastily pursuing him. He took off at a run, dropping the letter on the ground. "HEY!" I yelled again and raced after him. Killian: I watched as Kevin ran after Fu's private messenger, then strode forward through the main-gate entrance, halting in front of the nearest guard, who fortunately had not noticed the commotion. "See that this is delivered to the duke," I said and handed him the letter from Fu describing the duchess' detour to reside at my residence for the weekend - the letter I had stolen from the messenger and replaced with the ransom note. He nodded, and I turned, continuing back down the trail. A grin turned up the corners of my mouth, and a maniacal gleam came to my eye. The game was afoot. Kevin: It was about an hour later when I found myself chasing the weasel into the black-wood forest, or rather what was left of his trail. I hadn't seen hide or hair of him for the last mile. I halted in my steps, running my eyes over the length of the trail. The egis had deviated off the pathway. I looked over suddenly at a stick cracking beneath a miscalculated step behind the large oak to my right and barely caught a glimpse of the man's cowl as he silently dove behind the thick shadows of the next tree. Well played, but it wasn't going to work. I strode forward, being careful of the loose shrubs on the ground as I made my way to the tree in question. I didn't bother stopping before I reached around, and yanked him out from behind the tree. He'd already been a considerably better opponent than I'd expected, so I wasted no time in returning his greetings. I threw my fist at his gut, kicking his feet out from under him, and threw him on the ground. I pinned him down with my own weight and pulled his arms behind his back. He grunted slightly. I pulled harder. "Agh!" it cried out. I paused uncertain, then pulled back the hood just to make sure. Long, raven strands fell over the shoulders of the form beneath me. I released my hold just as quickly as I had taken it and stood, moving a step away from the panting figure hidden beneath the cloak. I stared. 'What the heck?' The woman lay relatively still for several moments, then slowly pushed herself up, although I could still hear her groaning under breath. I took a step toward her, my expression concerned. "Are you alright?" She scoffed disdainfully, now turning toward me. "I can see how that would truly be a huge priority for you," she snapped, holding her side painedly, I noticed, as she limped past me down the trail. I frowned after her. "Woman!" I shouted, "I could have killed you! What were you thinking?!" I wasn't sure why that was really important, especially given my not-guardian was an assassin by trade, but it seemed like the right thing to yell at that partciular moment. She grimaced and glanced back at that, still clutching her side.
