Further Sightings

[Kender Bard]

Young lingered at the meeting spot for Elda, trying not to grind his teeth or pace or any number of other signs of impatience. His search had proved fairly fruitless and he was hoping desperately that Elda would have uncovered more.

[Darastrix]

Elda arrived presently, a slight frown on her face. "Has there been any progress on your end, sir?" the guard asked, after giving Young a quick, perfunctory salute.

[Kender Bard]

Young returned it in kind and let out a hard sign, frustration written all over his face. "No," he admitted. "As you said, the description given was too vague. I've looked at several individuals and taken their alibis, but none of them seem to be our suspect. And nobody wearing a very fine black cloak that fit that description has shown up either." His voice turned wry as he added, "Incidently I've found that 'fine' is a vague description in of itself, though why on earth someone would think a moth-eaten linen cloak was fine is beyond me."

He shook his head. "I was thinking that perhaps you and I should look over the scene of the murder. I've seen it once but a fresh pair of eyes might be useful."

[Darastrix]

Elda nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. I've had no better luck around the court. If he did choose his victim there beforehand, he's been wise enough not to return that I've been able to tell."

[Deleted]

Leon, dressed in some green colored clothing and forsaking his cloak this time, sat crouched up high in a tree outside the murder scene. He grinned, pleased with this handy work. He had everyone in a running around trying to figure out what happened.
"Run little ants, run." He snarled to himself, and he put a bolt in his cross bow. He was going to have some fun. Now he would sit and wait for the "Queen" Ant to return to the hill.

[Kender Bard]

Young started his walk back to the late courtier's house, talking as he went. "The way I see it, we need to consider what motive there was," Young stated as he went along. "At the moment, that's confusing me as much as the lack of any solid clues. Why would a lower class man attack a courtier? They tend to not fraternize with anyone not their station or above, and she was well enough off to be living in comfort."

[Darastrix]

"Why indeed?" Elda murmured, watching her breath cloud the freezing air. "If it had been for robbery, he'd have likely waited until she was away at court. The way he did it sounds very personal, though it might not have been her personally. Maybe he has grudge or violent kind of envy against anyone of the upper classes," she speculated. In that case, everyone from courtier to royal needed to be cautious.

"Here's a thought," she said as she rubbed her hands together. "Do you know if the woman happened to keep a pet bird? Or any other pets, for that matter. I could speak to them." Glancing up toward the sky, she added, "I could try to see if any wild birds in the area saw something as well, though with this land's climate, most of them have long since flown south."

[Kender Bard]

"I've not heard whether or not she did," Young admitted. "If she had, perhaps the creature is still within the house."

Once at the house, Young paused and began to let his eyes sweep over the outside. He walked much slower and it was clear he was taking in every detail he could from this point on. At the doorframe, he paused and leaned down a little, reaching out and plucking a tiny scrap - no bigger than his thumbnail - of black material. "Hmm..."

[Deleted]

Leon watched the detective arrive on the scene. Pulling up his cross bow, he took careful am. But where? Where do I leave my message?
He watched as the man moved this way and that, then finally his moment came.
He must have seen something in the door frame. Young leaned over to pick it up. Perfect! His aim set, Leon pulled the trigger on the crossbow, and fired one bolt straight for Young.
He watched the bolt fly, in his excitement, it almost seemed to happen in slow motion. The bolt it's barely audible zing as it left it's housing. He watched the feather rotate through the air as it's tip lead the way to it's target.
And then it hit. Right on target! Perfect! Young's left butt cheek.

IN the ensuing commotion Leon was careful not to move a muscle, lest he accidentally give away his position, if they hadn't noticed him, they still might not if he doesn't move.

[Kender Bard]

Young had just been about to straighten up and show Elda his find, when an intense pain seemed to flow through him like cracks in a glass. He dropped to his knees and cried out (dropping the scrap of cloth in the process), as one hand reached back towards the pain. A more detached part of him thought, bewildered, I've been shot in the ass?

[Darastrix]

"Commander!" Elda quickly turned in the direction the bolt had been fired from, unslinging the bow from her shoulder and reaching for an arrow. "If the door's not locked, get inside, sir," the bird-affinity said, sharp eyes scanning the area as she nocked her arrow.

[Deleted]

Leon watched, still as a statue, just like hunting, only this was far more fun.
He watched the commander cry out and fall, and couldn't help but laugh a little to himself. And to watch all the tiny ants down below scurry about tying to do something about it, gave him more happiness than hunting animals ever could. Though in a sense, some of people were just as a bad as animals, and when animals are weak, they're put down. That's the mission he'd been charged with. Though it was never explained as such, that's how he'd interpreted it.

He watched with a smile to see what happens next.

[Kender Bard]

Young didn't really want to retreat, but gave a grunt and a nod. "Careful," he growled through clenched teeth and reached up for the handle, opening the door and crawling inside as fast as he could with the arrow still lodged inside of him.

[Darastrix]

"Guards!" Elda shouted, calling for any of her fellows who might be within earshot. She kept watch for any suspicious movement as she held her bowstring taut. "To the Romero house!"

Carefully she stepped backward, toward the open door. A crossbow had a fair range, and without knowing where their attacker was, it would be foolhardy to just rush to seek him out. She let out a few high-pitched calls, indecipherable to most humans, but any nearby birds (and some Beasts) would understand easily.

{{Who's attacking us? Show him to me, or else lead my brother guards to us!}}

[Kender Bard]

A nearby crow, having been dislodged from his perch by the arrival of the killer, flapped over and landed on Elda's shoulder, cawing next to her head. "In the tree! My tree, that tree." The bird started to fly over to the tree that Leon was perched in.